arilin

The case of the missing italics

So Patreon's bold new "embrace the evil paramecium" site design appears to have broken the ability to display italics in stories. Since I use italics kind of, like, a lot, this is an issue. As it turns out, Patreon is still storing the italics, they've just broken it with the web font they're usi...

Update and no update

No update: I am taking this week as a ”working holiday” to see if I can get a chapter or two ahead on Hurricane, as I’m behind where I want to be. (Technically I’m not behind behind, but I like to be comfortably ahead.)

However…

Update: There’s still a po...

“Hurricane”

I am still not positive that is the title of Serrano’s story, but it is seeming increasingly likely. (It may be ”Something Hurricane” if I can figure out the something that is thematically interesting and not too obvious.)

And, yes, I have finished a draft of the firs...

State of the Rha

So, here’s what’s going on!

As I wrote in the last update, I’m working on a new project around Serrano. I have two chapters in draft now—these are relatively short chapters, like those of <...

Looking Toward 2023

So, what now?

Some of you know that in mid–2022, I moved across the country to be close to an elderly parent who had been living alone and, after some (still ongoing) medical issues, needed a helper. While I’m happy to have done this, balancing time between caregiving, the full-time job...

Big Trouble starts Wednesday!

But that’s a good thing. The serial’s name is subject to change, but this one is growing on me. (Nora would give me the side-eye for that line…)

As mentioned, this is a noir-influenced detective story set in the same world as Goddess. I still suspect it’s going to be novell...

The next story…

So, those of you who’ve been following me on Twitter know I’m working on…something.

If you’ve read Goddess, “The Perfect Secretary,” or “The Sea Monster of Dorgissey Harbour,” you’ve been introduced to an alternate-earth setting of mine: it’s furry, it’s the m...

Scheduling note (redux)

The next Moira episode will go up on November 10th, next Wednesday, not tomorrow. Episode #29 came out two weeks ago and "Coyote Sky" last week, so while this means three weeks between episodes instead of the usual two, it brings me back to the "every other week" schedule. (This may also give me ...

Coyote Sky

In my extremely informal tradition of Halloween stories, I have a new one! This one's less creepy than last year's, and may be more unabashedly button-pressing, at least for certain buttons. (This is a standalone story, not connected to "Moira" or other serials.)

• • •

...

Scheduling note

I will probably have a slightly silly and smashy Halloween vignette ready this week, which I will post as "bonus content" for all patrons—even just at the $1 level—before it goes up on FA if I get it done. (By "slightly silly" I mean the idea is mostly an excuse for smashy stuff.) It's possib...

The Rha status report

So, what’s been going on since we last spoke over a month ago?

As predicted, I didn’t get a lot of writing done since the last post. I’ve started the next Moira episode, but it’s been unusually slow going, I think because it’s structurally a “pivot point” in the overa...

Winter updates

So: the chances are I'm not going to be able to get a whole lot of writing done from mid-December through mid-January. I'm going to have family obligations, the stress of traveling during a pandemic, and an extremely variable amount of necessary solitude.

If possible I’m going to...

Quick update…

I'm slow, as usual for this rather cursed year, but have another episode of Moira almost finished. I'm going to turn off the next billing cycle; I don't know if I'm going to get another episode out in December, although I certainly hope I will. (Unless plans change, I am going to be traveling cro...

Wildflowers

This is a horror story for Halloween! It may have some disturbing images, depending on what disturbs you, and note that while it's not overly explicit, it's certainly sexual.

“Man, this would be an incredible place to hold the wedding, wouldn’t it?” Jeremy h...

Moira #10: Peaches and Cream

“Here’s another one.” Diana looks up from her computer worriedly. “And I think it’s talking about my place.”

All four of the goddesses are in “her place,” Diana’s house, at the moment. Nothing requires them all to stay together, but they seem to have come to an unspoken ag...

Moira #9: Low Profile

Moira hadn’t expected the farmers' market to be this crowded, and it isn’t. There’s something else happening.

This isn’t the park Rhiannon had her misadventures in a few days ago. It’s in a neighboring city, and the park’s a huge field between the waterfront and a big, palatial ...

Moira #8: Training

“All right.” Rhiannon raises her arms over her head. “Let’s practice.”

They’re standing near the top of a hill—if a rise of just a hundred feet earns the name—at the center of a municipal park. It’s a crowded day, but nobody’s any closer than the hill’s base. Moira rem...

Moira and the Mind Map

 If you follow me on Mastodon or Twitter, you may have seen me talk about “mind mapping” rather than outlining for the Moira serial. What the hell is ...

Moira #7: Natural Order

“This is a much nicer area than it was a few years ago.” Diana waves her hoofed fingers around. “All the paint is fresh, the buildings are clean, the sidewalks are spotless.”

“And about half the stores look like they put in new ramps recently.”

“Maybe Hazel’s been impr...

Moira #6: Potluck

Moira’s kept herself entertained for centuries blending in with mortals. Mostly blending in. She’s been the inspiration for a few tall tales over that time, a few new legends, a fair number of conspiracy theories, and so many love poems and war poems and drinking songs and bar fights...

New episode coming!

I am behind expected schedule (hello, 2020, you are still quite a year) but should have a new episode of Moira's story up by next weekend. I'm hoping to get on a more consistent schedule again by the end of July.

In other news, I'm getting ready to serialize the Red Savina screenpl...

Moira #5: Interview

When Moira steps into the restaurant, the disdain from the maître d’ as he looks her over is palpable. “May I help you?”

She doesn’t think she looks that bad. Yes, she’s in jeans, but they’re jet black and unfaded. She’s got nice sandals on her paws. She’s...

Moira #4: Checkpoint

There’s a line of people ahead of her, and there shouldn’t be. Some idiots have set up portable fences around the three blocks or so that make up the city’s burgeoning waterfront hotspot. They’re only letting people in on foot, through two side-by-side gates. A police cruiser’s parked n...

Updates!

First: I’ve removed the “Grumpy Bunny” name from the Moira vignette series. While the name’s funny and not inaccurate, it’s maybe a little too comical for what seems like it’s becoming a real ongoing story project. Right now the tags are just “Moira”; maybe there will be ...

Moira #3: Parking Permit

Moira doesn’t have great luck with parking spaces. She’s expecting downtown parking to be its usual bitch and she’s heading for a garage a few blocks away in, so she almost drives right past an open spot. The curb right behind it is painted blue, marking a permit-only disabled parking space...

Updates, of sorts…

So my output has been a bit, ah, sporadic recently. While that started with me stepping back to rethink Kani’s story, the last few weeks of increasing panic over global pandemic has certainly not helped my concentration levels.

I began the shift to this sort of looser “post when you can...

Moira #2: 15 Items or Less

15 Items or Less

The rabbit woman examines the onion she’s just picked up from the produce display. Round, yellow, papery. Yes, it’s sure an onion. Should be the last thing she needs. She drops it in her basket and heads toward the checkout lines. A few guys give her ap...

Stuck in the middle with awoo

So, I’m still stuck.

At this point, this is a sign that the scene I’m working on is, no matter how cute, wrong for the story in some respect. Maybe it just needs a little tweak, but there’s something I need to figure out that I haven’t.

When I wrote “2020-03-06 01:08:46 +0000 UTC View Post

Moira #1: Two Wolves

I’ve been continuing to wrestle with writer’s block—while the Kani story is “flowing” a bit more than it was, it’s still not nearly as easy writing as Saida and Autumn, for reasons which remain a little mystifying.

While I was working on S&A, I wrote a trashy vignette called...

Kani's Story 3: Oh, She's Big

Kani had been gaping at the campus’s entrance archway for at least a half-mile. Once the coyote stood underneath it, it seemed, if anything, even more incredible.

It wasn’t a classical arch, straight sides with a semicircular curve at the top; the sides curved gradually inward, the base...