Okay, so maybe it’s a little early for the Christmas reference. And it’s not that kind of list. Last week I learned about this program, Hive. It’s built more for teams working on projects, but there is an individual option, and I’ve been using that to try to organize all my different writing projects. You can add subtasks to each action item and even to each subtask. And due dates, which I always have trouble predicting how much time something will take, but this makes it easy to change those. But, I picked five of my projects(well, there’s actually 9 projects, but some are part of series, so I included the next one in those as well), figured out next steps, and potential due dates.
And then yesterday I decided I actually just want to focus on creating this month, and revision next month(since that will leave November for creating for NaNoWriMo), so I made a whole different “project” that lists out all the projects that need to be outlined and/or written. I plan to make another for the ones that are to the revision/close to publishing stage. And I set recurring due dates for the first 5 on the list for the rest of the month. We’ll see if I can stick with this for a little longer.
Writing
I started out the week trying to work on each of those 5 projects each day. That was a bit too much, though. So I decided to focus on one project a day.
Jax of All Trade, Book 4
I started writing this. Still on Chapter 1, but I have a little more than 1000 words added.
Prove Me Wrong
I finished the first 3 scenes of Chapter 7, and got scene 4 started as well. 2484 words.
Rounding for Home
I set up the team’s roster for this, figuring out a bunch of details for all the players. I also figured out what other teams they’d be playing, and a schedule for the games(the timeline is one of the issues in the first version, it’s all messed up).
Slanting Sunlight
I read through this on my kindle and made a bunch of notes. I also have notes to add from the critique of the first 2 chapters from a couple months ago. But, that will wait until next month.
The Mirror to Perfection
I got a new outline written for this, and next week I’ll get back to actually writing the rest of the story(I’d already written the first scene when I realized I needed some more direction).
Reading
Teach the Torches to Burn
I got the audiobook of this through my library(actually through a partner library, I do love that I can do this through Libby). I was a little worried about how it was going to end with it being a Romeo and Juliet retelling(but gay), and there was one point I was almost ready to throw my phone. So glad I kept listening, though.
And there was this line, that actually made me laugh out loud:
“I would reward you handsomely for your death, of course.”
Crafting
I’ve been working on another ‘And Proud’ design. It’s not finished yet(in fact, I ran out of thread, so it won’t be finished until I get more of that), so not much to share here.
Story
I have another story from my Castlemore Residences series this week. It also happens to be the last story from any of these series that I have finished, so I’m not sure what I’ll have for you next time.
Mai Huang glanced up from the computer screen then pushed her chair back. "Marta, are you looking for Aodhan? He was here earlier but stepped out a while ago."
Marta Suden shook their head. They looked around then brought their gaze back to Mai. "I honestly forgot why I came in here. I knew Aodhan wasn't here, though. He texted me when he left. He's considerate like that."
"Okay," Mai said, drawing the word out. She'd been running through a new game with Rohit and Lars, but they seemed to have gotten the hang of what they were doing. She stepped away from the computer area, drawing Marta with her. "Is there something I can do for you?"
Marta frowned, and Mai hoped she hadn't upset them. Hopefully it wasn't that Aodhan had been spending time with her here. Mai was happily married, and as far as she could tell, Marta and Aodhan didn't have that kind of relationship. Some of the residents weren't sure they had any kind of a relationship, beyond being roommates. Mai was of the opinion it wasn't any of their business, unless Marta or Aodhan wanted to share that information. It might not be a popular opinion, but she'd had enough unwanted speculation on her own sex life. She waited while Marta seemed to think about what she wanted to say.
"I wanted," Marta said slowly, as if still picking out the words they wanted to say. "I mean, I was hoping..." They let out a long sigh, which almost sounded as if it had wrapped around a growl. "I just thought maybe you could teach me how to play one of those things. Then, maybe I could understand what interests Aodhan so much about them. That's what you do, isn't it?"
"I do," Mai responded calmly, although from someone else, that last sentence might have had her bristling. But, Marta was picking at the edge of one of their nails, as if this was the most nerve-wracking thing they'd ever done. "I run a couple clubs for kids, here and at the middle school, which I think you know, or you wouldn't have come to me."
"But, you can't teach me," Marta said, their teeth replacing their fingers. If it had been her stepson or even one of her students, she might have done something. But, Marta was a full-grown person and could self-soothe however they wanted. "I just wanted to understand. He always listens when I go on about storm chasing, even though I know he doesn't have any interest in it. And I feel like I'm tuning him out when he talks about his games, and I don't want to be that person. I thought maybe if I..." They shook their head. "I don't know. It was probably silly."
Marta turned away, and Mai saw a quick flash of something in their eyes. The same something she'd seen in students' eyes who'd been told, already just by the time they were in middle school, over and over that they just weren't trying hard enough, that they had to do better, no matter if they were already doing their best. This might not be anything like diagramming a sentence, but even Mai understood social interactions could be graded on an even steeper curve than any school exam.
"I didn't say that," she told Marta. "Just that I'm usually teaching kids. I don't see why I couldn't run through a few different games with you, though." She glanced at her watch. "Lars's father will be here soon and Janina's working late, so I need to make sure he has everything together. I can come back down after that, or if there's another time that works better..."
"Thank you," Marta said fiercely. "Sometime this weekend. It doesn't have to be today."
"Tomorrow morning would work best for me." Janina usually slept in when Lars was at his father's, but Mai never could seem to do the same. She could usually get a lot done when her wife was still sleeping.
"I'll be here," Marta said, then she was gone.
***
Marta knew they were overreacting about everything. And they weren't even sure why. Marta knew it didn't bother Aodhan that they had never been interested in his hobbies. He was certainly never going to go out with Marta when the conditions were ripe for a tornado. And that was fine.
So, why had they got it so into their head that they needed to figure this gaming stuff out?
Marta shook their head as they paced the hallway out in front of the computer room on the ground floor of the apartment building. They knew exactly why. "I can't believe you think he'll actually stick around when you never take any interest in what he does. Even you can't be that selfish, Marta."
Since when had Marta started letting their sister get in their head like that. Realized that just made the prickling under their skin even worse. Aodhan wouldn't care, so why did their sister? And why did Marta still care so much?
And where was Mai? She'd said she'd be here this morning. Of course, they hadn't set up an official time, but Marta had been awake before six. And they'd worried their pacing would wake Aodhan, so they'd come down here to wait. And it was almost eight now. How late did she plan to get started?
"There you are."
Marta whipped around so fast, they thought their head might actually roll off their shoulders. Okay, they knew that wasn't actually possible, but it felt that way in the moment. "Aodhan. What are you doing down here?"
He smiled, and it just made Marta's stomach feel even more sour. What would he think when he found out what they were doing? And that they hadn't just come to him.
He was still smiling, though, even though Marta hadn't said anything. Not that he wasn't used to that or anything. Marta didn't always quickly get their thoughts from their brain and out of their mouth in a timely fashion. Teaching was different. They knew what they were doing with a lesson plan in front of them. Aodhan had been the only person who seemed to have an unlimited amount of patience to let her get her thoughts in order.
"Is there a storm on the radar? You usually use your own equipment for that, though." His brows were starting to furrow. Marta had to say something. So why did their lips feel like they were glued together?
"Oh, Aodhan. Did Marta ask you to teach them to game instead?"
Aodhan turned from Marta to look at Mai. He cocked his head to one side, and Marta could tell the pieces were falling into place. This was so not what Marta had wanted. They'd needed to figure this out before letting Aodhan know. Otherwise he would...
He turned back to Marta without saying a word to Mai and grasped both of their hands. "You know you don't have to do this. I don't care about that. I never have. We each have our thing, and you listen when I go on about my latest project. You don't have to understand everything about it. You don't have to do this, Marta."
She let out a weak laugh. "You make it sound like I'm going to battle. I just wanted to learn a couple games, so I knew what you were talking about."
"I can teach you if you really want," Aodhan said, "but if you don't care even after that, it's fine." He brushed his lips over their forehead. In their apartment, he might have kissed her, but he'd always been good about respecting their boundaries.
"Well, I guess I'm not needed here," Mai said, and Marta could hear her footsteps moving away.
Aodhan wrapped an arm around their shoulders. "And next time your sister says something that gets into your head, just talk to me."
"How did you know?"
"Because whenever you start to spiral, she's the one to blame. Whatever she had to say, it doesn't matter. Only what is between us does. Now, let's get some breakfast then I'll show you some good starter games. Sound good?"
Yes, it certainly did.