Motorbike Rides, Heavy Fog and Writing

The drive to Paso Robles was nice, but a third of the drive was in thick fog. That made me nervous, but thank Goddess, the road wasn't curvy. The hotel was so incredibly nice. It came with a breakfast bar in the morning and a ticket for a free drink at night. We did bring Mr. Mozart, and he loved the long walks and all the hotel guests wanting to love on him. He got so many pats on the head, and a few people said he was such a good dog. I think he's just too old to really be bothered to bark. 

We went to a winery and did a sidecar motorbike tour. It was so much fun, and we learned so much about the vines and how the wine was made. I guess all wine is white, but red wine gets its color from soaking in the peels. 

There were 14 owl houses on the property to hunt the little critters that get into the  field. I got to hold owl vomit. It sounds gross, but it was mostly dirt and bones. 

The day was warm, and the drive around the fields was exhilarating. I guess either all the vines came from France or a few came from overseas. It was interesting because they were clones of the original plants. The legality of it was interesting. I guess these plants can't come over if they are in bloom, so they come over as sticks.... I'm guessing the sticks have roots, but I never asked. I guess that's a Google search for me! 

We went to Sensorio that night. It was worth the cost because it was so magical. I wish I were talented enough to make something so beautiful. I asked the three communes that we travel between if they would start saving wine bottles for me so I could build a replica of the art.... They said "working on it." 😂😂😂 What fun people. I know and they know I could never make something so extravigant. It's a thought though.

Writing Update:

I worked on 9 stories so far this month. This is why I'm not getting anything finished. I feel so stuck in one project and jump to the next. I guess my brain has to sit on the ideas and play with them. 

I really need to get F.C. and C. updated this month. I have really been dragging my feet on these projects and they are the ones I want to finish this year. 

Started working on editing a very naughty fic.... I'll have to see what I'm actually doing for this one because I wrote it so long ago and I don't think I knew where it was going. 

Sliding Rock, Chasing Vortexes and Writing

Sue is up at Roseville (about 5 hour drive from the valley), so I haven't seen her all week. She's having drinks with her friends. She's usually the only reason I leave the house as much as I do (besides leaving in the morning to work out with Emory), so it's been pretty quiet. I'm getting so much writing done and a lot of doom scrolling.

Emory and I made plans to go to Sedona, Arizona, with our friends in a few months. The little cabin that we're staying at is not too far from Slide Rock. It's so pretty there, and it's hard to explain Slide Rock. It's this area that people go to swim at, but the natural rocks are smooth, and you can actually use them as slides. I enjoyed it a lot as a child, but even in the summer, the water is freezing, but then again, it's Arizona.... we're used to it being burning hot and our pool water to be as warm as bath water.

Sedona, Arizona, is known for its vortexes. I'm so excited to explore. Emory and I hiked Devil's Bridge, and I don't think I could do that again. It's probably not the scariest climb in the world, but it is for someone who is afraid of heights. I'm hoping to find more awesome hikes and some crystal/incense shops. 

I just spoke with Ann, and she's going on a 3-week vacation! I couldn't imagine being gone from the house for three weeks. Her dog (baby) Ollie is going to be so incredibly sad. He's one of the smartest dogs I've ever had the pleasure of goofing around with. He knows exactly what you tell him. Mozart isn't that smart. You tell him "no more," and he begs even harder. Ollie just walks away if you tell him "no mas." So he's a bilingual doggie!

 I might start cleaning. I tried. It's boring. I'd rather be writing.

Writing Update:

T.C. (finally named this, but it still feels like a placeholder): I'm stuck. I wrote about 1200 words on chapter 5, but I changed one of my alpha's job roles, so I am stuck. 

B.W. (need to change the title because Emory thinks it's too dark): based off a real life situation, I can see why the concept might be dark. I worked on the first chapter. I've been putting this off. Do I start with the character's death? Do I start somewhere else? I want to start after the "situation" so I was stuck. I tried writing the "before" and it feels like this might be too long. I'm now writing from the start of the death scene and I like it better. 

But alas! I'm not working on the projects I need to be working on! So I might need to slow my roll and get back into my listed projects for this year. 

Paso Robles, Jeffrey is Badass and Writing

Emory and I wanted to go to Cambria for the weekend, but the hotels are pricy. Maybe it's not too bad for most people, but I can't justify spending that money in our economy right now. I'm so scared, for more reasons than I can count.

So we decided to try Paso Robles. It's cheaper, and there are some cool things to do. We're trying for a dry January, which means we're not drinking, but that's like going to Napa Valley and not drinking. Paso Robles is known for its wineries. Farmer Bill (Scottsdale Commune) and Sue (Porter Commune) said that Paso Robles has really great wine festivals. I think I saw that in November, but I really want to be careful how much I drink in general. I've already thrown up 2x in 2025 from drinking too much.  

Jeffrey had surgery to fix a 3-point bone break. He's in good spirits. We laughed because I told him he could never do anything half-assed. He has to go all the way. He said if he's going to do something, he's going to do it right. He's a trooper, and he's always happy. Our conversation went to pirates because I'm reading a pirate book, and he asked if it was true to life. I told him absolutely not! I tried the "true to life" pirate stories, and they turn my stomach worse than American Mary. 

That's right! American Mary will forever be my limit on anything I can watch. (And I only watched her for a total of 7 minutes and had to turn the movie off.) I thought John Wick would be in that category, but I can still stomach him. 

Our heater is still broken, but it's about 70 degrees in the apartment, so that's not bad. It's chilly to me, so I have no idea how I'm going to do Alaska. Please! Any advice! I'm excited, though.

Writing Update:

B.N.F. What in the world was I thinking, trying to edit this? I think I'm spinning my wheels. I wrote this for NaNoWriMo and actually reached the 50,000 word goal that year. This was almost 20 years ago, and I think that the story needs so much work. I wrote a synopsis for it, which means I was planning on doing something with it. It's so badly written. I have no idea what I was thinking. I'm glad I waited. I don't know if I can save the story or if I should even try. Emory is encouraging me to give it a try.

Untitled Omega/Alpha: I'm on chapter 5, and I'm skipping scenes. I want to get to the meat of the story so I can figure out how the heck I'm going to adjust the chapters. 

Untitled Fairy: This was going to be M/M omega/alpha too, but I'm thinking I'm going to make it maybe a soulmates story.

E.W. : This is another one that I feel like I've been editing on FOREVER. I need to read it objectively and see how much really needs editing.

I told myself that I would work on the two stories I have posted and then I'd work on the two stories I plan to publish. That's four novels altogether.... So far, I've been working on more than that. At this rate, I'm going to be lucky if I get anything done. 

New Years Kiss, Sale Items and Writing

We made it! It's the new year. I am hopeful. I have a list of resolutions ready to go! I will only share one: I need to write more. I've been slacking. 

It's been raining all week, but that didn't stop the fireworks. Emory and I did manage to stay awake until midnight for our New Year's kiss. Then we crashed.

We already went shopping at a few places. Sue bought me a Halloween puzzle. She saw me looking and asked if I really needed another puzzle. I told her it was Halloween. She said she'd get it for me, and she did! Such a sweet woman. In one of the stores we went to, they had Martha Stewart on a Self... like Elf on a Shelf. She's so stinking cute! Emory says there was a Snoop on a Shelf, too. I would have bought both, not that we need more stuff, though.

The communes on all ends have their New Year's traditions, so it's pretty funny getting pictures in group chats. 

I bought a heated shawl for when we start traveling. I want to go to Alaska this year, and I remember it being extremely cold the last time I went. It's funny because my aunt told us to dress like an Arizona winter.... which we dressed for a Phoenix, AZ winter (not a "Flagstaff" AZ winter), which isn't terribly cold in Phoenix. We got to Alaska and had to buy coats because it was freezing. 

Emory got a bone-conductor headset and a special pillow. We both got a new air fryer for the household.

Writing Update:

Untitled: I'm a little worried about how much world-building I'm just assuming people will understand and how much I need to explain to people who are brand new to the alpha/beta/omega trope. I am on chapter 4 and already feel like I need to start rewriting it. Emory and I had a long discussion, and he thinks I should just finish the story and then go back and do my edits. I really agree. I've already decided in chapter 4 that one of my lead alpha characters is adopted by beta parents. I need to world-build that better. I am also debating that, instead of being a private organization, maybe my two major alpha characters should be rivals in government sectors. So much to go back and rewrite, considering I'm about 9,000+ words into the story. Also, I feel like I might be stepping on real-life issues with "transitioning an alpha to an omega" in this fictional world. Tropes are awesome in fanfiction, but how do they translate in the general population? Also, is this story Plot What Plot? Porn with Plot.... Men Loving Men. 

Two of my stories got translated into another language. That was a little bit of a surprise because I got the warning after it was done. Cool. I hope they didn't add anything that the author wouldn't personally touch with a ten-foot-pole.... and I do touch a lot with my fingertips like poisonous bugs in the hot Florida weather. (Not kidding!) 

F.C. 1,219 words on this project for chapter 11 so far. I'm really hoping to get this chapter finished soon. I'm a little worried I'm rushing. I'll be finished with this novel by sometime this year. (fingers crossed) It was never supposed to be this long. I was thinking maybe 3 chapters at most and it was going to be a small project. Now I'm up to chapter 11 and who knows when it's actually going to be done.