Farrah Wethers:

Feeling Pins and Needles (book 4)

#NANOWRIMO2020 (and some other stuff)

AMBER LOVE 30-NOV-2020 My work is supported by monthly backers at my tip jar on Patreon.com/amberunmasked. If you have enjoyed any of my books, it would be helpful to me if you could leave a five-star review at Amazon; anything three-stars or less tanks the average. Also, pick up a digital copy of Insider Art at Gumroad for only $10. It’s 270 pages of comics, crafts, and short essays. Lots and lots of cats! And those cats have now been featured on Insider Art fabric at Spoonflower.

The Plan:

My only concern with the plan was whether or not Gus would allow me time to write every day. Though he spends time staring at me with piercing looks and his pointy fangs showing, some days he only cries in long intervals. Other days, he has full tantrums.

The plan was thrown off when the Butler’s family was exposed to COVID-19 and they tested positive. He does so much around here on the weekends including making sure Oliver has his patrols around the neighborhood. Instead, the Butler had to leave and tend to disabled family which meant intentionally exposing himself to the virus. We won’t get to see him for at least two weeks and that’s if he remains symptom-free. Those 36 hours were stressful and I didn’t get any writing done on Saturday. I tried to make myself feel better by ordering a ridiculous amount of accessories for Gus on Etsy (which the Butler said he would pay for). Mind you, Gus hates wearing anything. He wants to be naked and free all the time. Oh, yeah, he bolted out the door once this week into the backyard (luckily not near any roads).

Progress:

Fortunately I was able to make up just enough words on Sunday that I’m on target to reach NaNoWriMo’s goal of 50k words on Monday. The story is not complete so that means I get to keep writing. The thing is I have to alternate now between writing cat detective case files and working on this draft. I foolishly thought I could sit in bed and write at least one case file for December, but that did not happen. The mobile tablet was at zero percent battery so I plugged it in to charge and ignored it. I watched a marathon of New Tricks on Prime instead.

ProTip:

Back your work up in more than one place. We discovered the automated backup was over capacity and failing. Every few days I upload a compiled document from Scrivener into my Google Drive anyway, just in case.

Mental Check In:

Believe it or not, I’m still not reading easily. I’m only seventy percent through the Ann Cleeves book. It has this Knives Out quality to it — the largest house in town that used to be filled with family and staff is now a struggling burden for the heir and a murder took place on the property and another one in the forest nearby. Family scandals and all that good stuff.

I tried reading the advanced review copy of a Nellie Bly graphic novel but even though this one loaded onto the Kindle and actually opened, it’s still illegible. I wish NetGalley would make comics as readable as prose on tablets.

My check engine light is still on too. And I’m  still ignoring it.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.