Technically, this is the last day of my vacation. Everything remaining is the weekend. They’re still leisure days, so who cares about technicalities.
I wanted to get some kind of word count out of the deal, and am satisfied with how things went. Mari left her last mentor and headed into the wilderness once more.
She wound up in a new town and used her newfound sense of smell to some advantage. I made it kind of embarrassing, because she had to sniff the abandoned saddles of the killers she’s after.
All told it came to most of a chapter. I’d like for her to spend more time here, but she’s probably discovered everything she’s going to and needs to move on.
President Biden posed a new problem for me. In “Old Paint,” Lizzie is manipulated into helping a secret branch of the FBI with a paranormal problem. I’ve posted about this before. However, the leverage was her unpaid student loans.
Part of my story is based upon an earlier era, where they used to seize assets to pay the loans down. Most typically a car. It’s fiction, and really happened, so I’m content here.
Biden threw me a curve by forgiving student debt, but I can work with it. First, Lizzie’s debt exceeds any forgiveness being offered. (Spoiler) Since Lizzie takes a lot of her hits from everyday life, I decided to add the debt forgiveness to the story at the end. Meaning, she does all this work to pay her debt, then after she finishes, the President forgives it all anyway. It really feels like something that fits into Lizzie’s journey.
What I don’t like is having this put a timeline on the series. I don’t want to release this book until early next year, and will stick to my guns. I kind of like reflecting some current events in these stories, like the various conspiracy theories that get into Night Bump Radio.
I’d rather not have been so spot-on, but really don’t have a choice. I can ignore the reality and forge ahead, or include it. I’m choosing to include it. I need a few more words for that story, and if Lizzie has a big tantrum it might even help.
On a side note, my Story Empire friends and I had a laugh about things I dream up coming true. I’m the guy who published Viral Blues two months before an actual global pandemic. The latest jab was the death of the weather witch in Good Liniment. Seems like the weather has gone to crap since then.
After the student loan thing, maybe I should write about the cure to cancer, or Covid. I really wish the grid from Grinders would come true, but it seems I don’t have control over that.