Collected Thoughts

I got my flu and covid vaccines this morning. *fingers crossed* I don’t have any major reactions. I also hit Walmart and Agway while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park.

(I was awake for a couple of hours in the middle of the night being all irritated about Monday’s appointments and wondering just how disruptive mom’s radiation appointments are going to be (since they’re daily for five weeks), and I decided to get the things I already had on next week’s Walmart list today so I could at least stop being annoyed about having to miss my usual shopping day. So, that’s one thing off my mind now.)

I hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I also went to the bank, donated to my local public radio station, and placed a Chewy order.

I typed in ~1,300 words of fic and hand-wrote ~800 more on a different fic. I was on a fic roll today! I also watched some HGTV.

Temps started out at 51.8(F) and reached 75.9. The morning temp was a huge surprise. TWC originally called for it to be 39, then last night when I looked it said 43. I did not expect it to be over 50.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay. ( more back here )

⌈ Secret Post #6846 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.


( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #977.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

There was a delay on some of them; I wasn't sure if the person reviewing had stopped for lunch or if there was a problem.

Dark Winds (tv)

Kate Shugak series (Dana Stabenow) [and yes, Mutt is a character]

The Saint (tv)

The Equalizer (tv, 2021) [this is the one with Queen Latifa]

This Rough Magic (Mary Stewart)


I have some ideas for a couple of them.

I haven't written up my Dear Author letter yet; how could I when I haven't picked out what I want to write? I don't see nominations as being about my writing -- I put in something I'd like to write, yes, but others simply should be in the lists because I know of other people who would like to write them.

And, speaking of writing, I spent the other four afternoons this week in a free 8-hour workshop on publishing from Hay House. It was worth the time, I think, to get a better sense of how that business works and what it does and doesn't do; that has all changed a lot since I wrote my first manuscript decades ago. (You will never see that one; it has been burned, it was that awful.)

fancake is a thematic recommendation community where all members are welcome to post recs, and fanworks of all shapes and sizes are accepted. Check out the community guidelines for the full set of rules.

This theme runs for the entire month. If you have any questions, just ask!

Sign-ups are now open for hlh_shortcuts 2025, the long-running annual Highlander "Holiday Shortcuts" fanfiction exchange! (The "Shortcuts" nods to the 500-word minimum, from the days when most events defaulted to a 1,000 word minimum.)

When:

• Sign-up: October 1 to 11, 2025 at 11:59PM CDT on AO3
• Receive assignment: By October 14, 2025
• Default deadline: November 20, 2025
• Submissions: By December 15, 2025 on AO3
• Stories revealed: The first on December 20, 2025 (the winter solstice, Duncan's birthday) and the rest a few per day as long as they last, per tradition

How:

• This year's collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/hlhshortcuts2025
• Guides: HLH_Shortcuts AO3 Sign-Ups + HLH_Shortcuts AO3 Submissions + HLH_Shortcuts AO3 Defaults + Find a beta-reader / be a beta-reader

Yay, Highlander fun and friends! Come play with us...?

We had another visit from the coyotes this morning; this time around 4am. Thankfully they weren’t as close to the house (aka, as loud) and they moved through quickly. (I also think I heard them yesterday morning at some point, but Pip says he didn’t hear them, so I’m not sure whether I dreamt it.) They haven’t been around all summer, so I guess it’s our turn to host them. o_O

This was another no-shopping day, but I got in a walk around the park even though it was Very Cold. Pip called me just before I left downtown because he was in a “pickle”. I groaned, because his pickles become my pickles. There was a snafu and I needed to run to the tractor supply store to pick up some parts. It was still so cold at that time (about 8:30am) and I’d just been out in it for a walk, that I was thinking I would be too cold to get my usual ‘reward’ smoothie. However, between the sun and the heater, I had gone from cold to toasty by the time I got there, so I did get my reward smoothie after all! *g*

I visited my aunt, did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for a couple of walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter. We had grilled hamburgers and potato salad for supper. (The potato salad was so good, if I do say so myself!)

I read a bit more in Winging It and watched some HGTV programs.

Temps started out at 35.2(F) and reached 65.5. The temp must’ve been lower in the morning because there was frost on the old t-shirts (lol) Pip used to cover the mums when I left the house this morning.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay today. ( more back here )

Fandom: Nail Polish (Industry) (the AO3 tag, probably worded to disambiguate from at least two bands by that name. I’m calling it Nail Polish Blogosphere, since the characters are using and reviewing rather than manufacturing the nail polish.)
Pairings/Characters: Gen; OCs
Rating: General Audiences
Length: Only Once: 449; Only Once Remix: 1,960
Content Notes: modern in-universe folklore, nail polish connoisseurship, possible unreality, the sad beauty of transience
Creator Links: (AO3)Sineala; (Dreamwidth) sineala; (Tumblr) sineala; (AO3) woodpusher
Theme: Uncommon Settings, Folklore & Fairytales, Friendship, Magic, Social Media
Summary:

Sineala: The story of the most beautiful nail polish in the world.

woodpusher: Like a good manicurist, this story fills in some plot holes and smooths some rough edges from Only Once.

I was trying to boost my readership so welcome to the newly gifted.

Comments are welcome!

Author’s Notes: ( Cut_for_length. )

Reccer's Notes: ( Cut_for_length. )

Fanwork Links:
Only Once, by Sineala for Lysimache; Yuletide Madness 2011
Only Once Remix, by woodpusher for Sineala, Meltha, kuramas30, Viridian5, Qem, and Lysimache.

⌈ Secret Post #6845 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.



( More! )

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 08 secrets from Secret Submission Post #977.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

to write every day for the rest of October(should get me to my habit GYWO goals, if I get it.)

Sign-ups are now open for hlh_shortcuts 2025, the long-running annual Highlander Holiday Shortcuts fanfiction exchange! (The name "Shortcuts" nods to the 500-word minimum, from the days when 1,000 words was the usual minimum.)

When:

• Sign-up: October 1 to 11, 2025 at 11:59PM CDT on AO3
• Receive assignment: By October 14, 2025
• Default deadline: November 20, 2025
• Submissions: By December 15, 2025 on AO3
• Stories revealed: The first on December 20, 2025 (the winter solstice, Duncan's birthday) and the rest a few per day as long as they last, per tradition

How:

• This year's collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/hlhshortcuts2025
• Guides: HLH_Shortcuts AO3 Sign-Ups + HLH_Shortcuts AO3 Submissions + HLH_Shortcuts AO3 Defaults + Find a beta-reader / be a beta-reader

Yay, Highlander fun and friends! Come play with us?

Hey all!

A Discord-fan named Mal has come up with a due South/C6D fanwork challenge (though they extend it to every fandom, if someone prefers!). They have a bunch of song titles from a Canadian punk band, and you're invited to create fanworks for it!

It's an open-ended challenge--just let them know you've created something and give them a link to AO3 or wherever you've housed your work, and they'll link it on their page.

SNFU Fanwork Challenge

Have fun fanworking!

I won the bid for kingstoken at sunflower_auction!! Their offer was to create a cover or moodboard. I asked for a cover for either of my Jessica Fletcher, Agent of SHIELD stories, or for the series as a whole.

kingstoken made two different versions of a cover and I thought that they would both work great, one for the series and one for the second fic. They agreed and kindly added text to both covers and made me TWO covers.

Thanks to kingstoken for creating such wonderful covers and for going above and beyond!!


~*~

How is it October already?!!

I had a chiropractic appointment this morning. Today was a no-shopping day, but I got in a walk around the park while I was downtown. I stopped at Stewart’s on the way home and returned a book to the library on my way to mom’s.

I did a load of laundry (washed, dried AND folded) , hand-washed dishes, did a load in the dishwasher, boiled potatoes and stirred together potato salad after they’d cooled in the fridge, formed burgers for tomorrow’s supper (to have with the potato salad), went on several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter.

I started a new book (Winging It with You) and wrote ~1,000 on a new fic! (If you’re thinking it’s a Hudson & Rex ‘fix-it’, you’d be correct. *g*) I also watched some HGTV and Hallmark.

Temps started out at 39.4(F) and reached 66.6. It was cold this morning. A taste of winter that I do not appreciate.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing pretty well today. ( more back here )