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Month: January 2019

Organization is Good

My schedule makes me free. If I keep repeating that, I’ll come to believe it, right? >_> Well, here we are. It’s time once again for KD Sarge’s not-quite-yearly attempt to get organized. Falling, as usual, right after KD Sarge’s nearly-annual freakout about how little got done last year. Whee? Eventually, I believe, I’m going to get my carp together. It’s going to happen. I have faith. I’m back on the BuJo train again, but this time I’m staying away from Pinterest layouts and such. My bullet journal will never look like those, because that’s not what I want to spend my time on. If it reminds me of the things I need to remember when I need to remember them? That’s all I need from it. I’ll just save my pretty gel pens for my adult coloring books with pretty mandalas and swear words. And also Postcards to Voters. And my washi tape for…random craft projects because I totally do those. Yeah. I’ll figure something out, I’m sure. But the thing with my BuJo, which probably had something to do with my dropping it the last two times I tried, is that it can’t help me if I never open it. So I’ve got a schedule too. I wrote it on a chalkboard on my wall (large, because I am amazing at ignoring with singular attention anything I’m supposed to be doing, but obviously, the bigger it is the harder to ignore, so…) That’s for my after-work evenings, when…

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Starting Out with a Pain

Yeah, so 2019 has started off kind of rough for me. But to be fair, this all started late last year. It’s just carried over into this year. So, about six months ago or thereabouts, I began having pain just above my right heel whenever I would stand up. Because I typically have random aches and pains that end up being nothing, I didn’t even think about it. But then my mom saw me hobbling around and asked what was wrong. I was like, “Oh, my heel hurts. No biggie.” Well, because she has heel spurs, she was pretty worried. And then it progressed to all the time. So it was time to see the doctor. He diagnosed Achilles Tendonitis, told me to rest it/ice it/take Motrin and call him if it wasn’t better in two weeks. Well, it ended up being longer because the holidays were coming up and being that I don’t drive, I had to wait for someone to take me. So it was in October that I finally saw the doctor again. He wanted an MRI; my insurance squawked and made me get an X-ray, another find-a-ride-ordeal. I finally got my MRI right after Thanksgiving. My doctor’s office called me and told me the results: Achilles Tendonitis (you don’t say?), edema (swelling), and a complete tear of the anterior something-something ligament. In other words, a very severe sprain. Now, most people who aren’t me probably know when it happened. They either fell, twisted it funny, or…

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The Elusive Tom Sawyer’s Island

Last week, we went to the Happiest Place on Earth. (Or is that Disneyland?) It could, potentially, be labeled the most overwhelming place on Earth, but we’ll ignore that for now. I hadn’t been since I was a child, which was a long time ago. And while many things have changed over the past twenty years (at one point I stood in the middle of Fantasyland with the weird sensation of knowing that someplace should be familiar and yet failing to find anything that was at all recognizable), some things have stayed the same. One of my very favorite places in Disney World is Tom Sawyer’s Island. It’s an island in the middle of a lake between Frontierland and Liberty Square which is, as the name makes obvious, is based of the book Tom Sawyer. It’s got Aunt Polly’s house and Harper’s Mill, and secret caves, and a fort, and is generally a really fun place to explore. The only way to get to it is by river raft. And I’ve missed it the last two times I’ve gone. It closes pretty early in the day, basically as soon as there’s any hint of the sun going down, which I assume is for safety reasons. But it means that if you’re not on top of it, you’re out of luck. When I last went, at 14, we had a single day at the Magic Kingdom, and I missed the last raft. And I missed it last week, too, though we…

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2018 at Turtleduck Press

Congratulations, you have survived another trip around the sun! Happy 2019 to all of you fine readers. We know 2018 was a bit of a dumpster fire for many; here’s hoping that this year is kinder. But the publishing industry doesn’t brake for dumpster fires — if anything, making art becomes even more important in difficult times. So making art is what we’ve been doing… 2018 was the Year of the Sequel at Turtleduck Press. We released two fantasy novels: In the Forests of the Night (Seize the Fire Book 2) — an M/M fantasy adventure series by KD Sarge (get Book 1 here) Fireborn (Reaper Girl Chronicles, Episode 2) — a straight paranormal fantasy series by Erin Zarro (Episode 1 can be found in our anthology Under Her Protection: Stories of Women to the Rescue) We’ve also been busy putting out free short stories every month. We have several fantasy serials going right now — “Sun Touched” by Erin Zarro, “Coat of Scarlet” by Siri Paulson (me), and “Curiosity Killed the Cat” by KD Sarge, mixed in with standalone stories by both Kit Campbell and Siri Paulson. If you missed them, you can find them all (plus excerpts from our novels) on our Freebies page. Look for another installment of “Coat of Scarlet” in February! And you can find out what all four of our authors are up to over here on our weekly blog. What does 2019 hold for us at TDP? More free short stories and blog…

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Coat of Scarlet: A Clockpunk Tale, Part 3

by Siri Paulson Read previous installments: Part 1 | Part 2 Marius bowed to Master Poole yet again, praying his customer would leave. Yes, Marius had done fine work on Master Poole’s vest, up to the last instant; yes, he had risen to the occasion despite the short notice for the party, for which Master Poole apologized once more; yes, he would be called upon again in future, with more notice this time, no doubt, although one never knew when an event would arise unlooked-for, when a society hostess might decide that her longstanding monthly party must be a masquerade this time, or when the fashions might change at the drop of a hat, so difficult keeping one’s wardrobe up to date, thank goodness for a good tailor… Marius let his thoughts drift towards the tall, dashing airship pirate with the incredible cheekbones who was even now preparing to sail away on the evening air currents. They’d made an agreement, he and Niko. He was to come along to finish Niko’s coat, and in return Niko would introduce him to the weavers of spider silk. And maybe he could get to know Niko better. The glimpse he’d had of Niko’s smoothly muscled chest had made him hungry for more. Of course, Niko was a pirate captain—he wouldn’t be impressed by a lowly tailor. But the heat in Niko’s eyes the last time they’d met…maybe there was hope. Master Poole kept on talking. All the time, Marius watched the sun drop…

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