Looking Back, August
Posting this a week later than intended, but I've had a lot going on lately (mostly work). I've also been hard at work writing, both for my WIP and my ongoing Vellas.
Blog
Two things of note: I have a new short story up, both available for purchase or free, for new and current subscribers. I also wrapped up my mini-series, Revising the Vampire.
Books
My debut novel, Fluid Bonding, also released last month! Near the tail end of it, of course, but I had very good success! Thirteen preorders (solid lucky number), and then nine more orders from being featured in I Heart Sapphfic's newsletter. I've sold six copies so far this month, and hope to get more by the end of it.
All these sales come from Amazon, but I did get one from one of the mobile apps. Not sure which at the moment, but Amazon is the clear winner right now.
I had a little depressive slump shortly after release, which I've heard is normal. The only cure is to write more books, it seems. And I'm on the right track for it! I will say I'm starting to feel the strain from balancing several projects at once, and that's due to the demand of my job and working fulltime.
I really want to wrap up The Threads That Weave by the end of the year, ideally sooner. But to do that, I need to finish my WIP first. It's my main priority right now. And speaking of! I found a cover artist who is also a POC (Latina) and draws black people well. I'm so excited to work with her!
Life
As mentioned before, work is eating me alive. It should be easy in theory, washing dishes, but we really need a better dish machine to make the process seamless and easier on all of us. But I'm so lucky to be working with a good team and a manager that really cares! My manager is pretty sincere and determined to respect my pronouns and ensure I'm being treated well.
He's also very considerate of my allergies and always tries to make sure there's gluten free options for me and the few students who can't have gluten. It's a nice job, and I might stay longer than intended. I still want to take a month or two off to recover when I hope to get top surgery next year (fingers crossed!).
My allergies have also been much better, mostly because I'm not inside as much anymore. And there's little to no carpet at my job, which is even better. The Xhance nasal spray (super Flonase) has also been a huge help and is slowly reducing my enlarged turbinates, including the inner ones. I haven't had breathing issues in over a month now, it's glorious!
I've also forgotten to mention the pills I've been taking (over the counter), a natural alternative to allergy pills, called AllQlear. They contain quail eggs, which have been studied and have been linked to a reduction of allergies. I've been using this product for three months now, and the effects were almost immediate (two weeks).
I gradually became less irritated by the dust and dust mites in our home, to the point where I could go a full week without experiencing sinus pressure. It's been a few weeks since my last incident, so I'll continue taking these with my Zyrtec and other medications.
I'm hoping to avoid sinus surgery altogether, and so far things are looking to be in my favor! I'll keep y'all posted.