Three months ago, I posted an update saying that I was planning to take a month off for various reasons. One month became two, and then three. By the time I do return, it’s going to be four. Compared to what’s happened in the interim, my original woes now seem like trivialities. So, what’s been going on?

A whole lot, starting with car trouble in Nebraska that left me and my brother stranded for a week, then slowly escalating until my dad was diagnosed with Leukemia in mid-October. It was originally CML, and very much treatable. In early December that changed, and he’s now fighting one of the AML flavors of Big C.

In the face of that, everything else seems incredibly small by comparison. It isn’t all bad though; in the face of tragedy, my whole family has come back together. Even if I suspect a couple of the worse ones are only hoping to ingratiate themselves for the purpose of inheritance, I’m not letting that get in the way of taking solace in the moment.

As far as writing is concerned, I must confess that I have been writing under a different name for the past month, mainly flexing the creative muscles that have been dormant for a season. That project, though, is finished now and I’ve started getting back into Tricked. I’m not going to link the other handle since it’s served its purpose now and I strangely feel rather guilty admitting I’ve done that. That being writing something else when I know a few people are still hoping to see my main work return.

A couple of people did recognize my style, and that was incredibly heartwarming to see; you know who you are<3. I intend to wait just another handful of weeks and develop a backlog of chapters. I’ll be back full-time with Tricked on Friday, January 12th 2024, with a daily release through the weekend. The normal schedule (twice weekly) will resume the following week (the week of the 14th).