Shawn’s vet texted me yesterday morning to say she was really sick and not able to come into work, so we’ve rescheduled his dental surgery for next month (next available slot is right before the holidays, which means I get to spend Christmas being paranoid something will happen while everything is closed–fun times!). While I’ve been squirreling away money for him for the past year–it seems more reliable to just do it myself than pay for insurance and cross my fingers they pay out–a December surgery means anything above and beyond what I’ve saved away will be paid for with Charon’s Gold sales, so if you bought that one (or any book) in October, thank you. (If you bought it any time, thank you as well; it’s just that December’s going to be very tight, so all those October sales will be helping.)
Unfortunately–or fortunately?–I didn’t get the text until a few minutes after I’d given him his initial sedative he needs to be calm at the vet, so he still ended up drugged a few hours later.
I used that time wisely.
He’s almost four and I feel like there are fewer and fewer people who understand this reference, so here you go.
Speaking of sales, I think I’ve figured out what’s going on with all these paperbacks from Amazon I’m not getting paid for. I’m testing one part of the theory and will report back next week.
The bird app is continuing to go down in the most spectacular fashion, with the blue check “verified for $8” fiasco–and this is why I cannot leave until the site is well and truly gone (which will likely be soon). The parody accounts all getting verified and shitposting nonstop has truly been one of the highlights, like when Trump got COVID, or when the fly landed on Pence’s head during the debate.
We are dying as we lived and it’s glorious.
I still grieve it. This is a place that has connected me with my closest friends; with clients; with readers. Yes, there is plenty of bad, but while it may be a hellsite, it is MY hellsite. It’s chaos, and all the good and the bad that chaos entails (and I am, if nothing else, chaotic). And there is not currently an alternative for all the things I like about it, so when it goes down, I’ll cross my fingers and hope for the best for my career. But while I mourn, I must laugh, because gallows humour is just how I cope.
The flight to Mastodon for some has been interesting to behold, and I’ve watched a pronounced, mostly racial split among my timeline. This article articulates a lot of what I’ve been watching, in that there’s a certain digital white flight aspect, because the fact is that a lot of the sudden “concerns” about Twitter have always been present for marginalized people–and is present at all social media being touted as alternatives–but now that it’s threatening white people, they’re moving to another platform. And Mastodon is…interesting. I know some folks who have loved it for years, and that’s great for them, but the way any time it’s brought up people get incredibly patronizing if you have trouble with it–if not outright hostile over very valid criticisms (like weaponizing inclusive language and content warnings to prevent discussing things white folks get uncomfortable about)–make it a very unappealing place for many of us (myself included). Mastodon evangelicals are basically the vegans of social media–I’m allowed to make that joke as a mostly vegan vegetarian btw–so understandably many of us have no desire to hang out there if that’s the userbase. There’s also “no ads!” being touted as a good thing, but that means the work of moderating is being done by unpaid labour of volunteers. That makes me deeply uncomfortable, considering my years of volunteer experience.
So yes, I’m going down with the ship.
There was more I was going to post about (my new Audrey doll; mutterings about learning to identify whether you’re the audience for something or not; untangling plot threads with the WIP), but I have chores, and there’s always next week.
Plus I have to watch this Doug Ford verified parody account and laugh before it gets nuked.
Writer of urban fantasy, thrillers/mysteries, and horror.
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