Forsan et haec olim legisse iuvabit.

I woke to zero no snow. It was due in at 2 AM. It starts instead exactly at 930 but friday is now a half day for me. I leave at noon. In those 2 1/2 hours it had snowed about 3-4 more inches. I can't see the road in town. Worse, I can't see it on the major highway but traffic is moving...until 1 1/2 miles from my place. Ahead of me I see two 18 wheelers skid, jack knife and bump into each other. I pump the brakes and naturally I'm not stopping. Worse, the 18 wheeler next to me also can't stop and he begins to jack knife. Luckily I DO stop without hitting anyone or skidding out. The 18 wheeler stops without taking me out.

No one behind me hits me. I'm like well a) glad I wasn't crammed and hopefully that stays that way b) I'm gonna be here forever c) I forgot my ereader. I call my parents to have something to do and then realize after dad says 'go grade something.' oh right I DID bring 6 folders of grading to do. that kept me busy for the next hour and 10 minutes. The truck drivers came back to be sure we were all okay. So no one was hurt. the big tow trucks come and the road is opened on one side and immediately the chucklefuck in the pick up behind me starts BLARING his horn at us. Dude, the cop is still in the road. When he says we can go we will.

I finished that vampire story about 800 words over. I might leave it that way because they said they'll read a little over and that's not that much.

I wrote something for halfamoon Here you go

Title: Bad Girl Gone Good

Summary: Cherri finds herself doing things she never imagined herself doing like writing letters and thinking about changing her ways.

Rating: teen

Notes:Written for spikesgirl58’s 6 word challenge. The words were Tangible, Imaginary, Patch, Sheet, Persuade & Breakable and halfamoon's prompt of the outlaw

( at the above link or under here )

And here's my friday fannish 50 recs


14 Days of Valentine's Day Hazbin Hotel

The Hazards of Being Jack O'Neill Stargate Atlantis

Battle Of The Library Torchwood

When In Rome Stargate SG-1

Return of the Hale Pack Teen Wolf

Late Night Arrival The Owl House

Lost Love, Lost Life Torchwood

the Love Songs of the Urban Borahae Bird 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS

Weirder Weather Torchwood

Episode 2: Exist Ugly Dolls


Vulcans Don't Feel Guilt (Usually) Star Trek: Enterprise

Not Everyone Gets a Second Chance Inspector George Gently

talk (let's have conversations in the dark). Merlin

Wait for Back-up Prodigal Son


The heart on the right side. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Consequences 9-1-1


honesty is the best policy 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù


nightmares The Amazing Digital Circus

Ombrielle The Amazing Digital Circus

In the Know Teen Wolf

Resting MCU

Which is better title than Rocket is a shit (but he is) So I called my bank. They called both phones...to sell me INSURANCE!?! I was too stunned to say anything other than what? Oh all kind but health. WHY would you not have just said that in the message? I hardly slept last night thinking I was hacked and cleaned out because you left me two messages on two phones to call you.



It's a beautiful snow on my road. It was really pretty, at least to me. And then I got to the top of my hill (in the opposite direction of the hill I'm looking up for this picture) and the accident is still there. An 18 wheeler jackknifed and went over the guard rails. That metal plow on asphalt noise I heard must have been the guard rails failing. It was still there 14 hours later when I went to work. Luckily the cab seems to be whole so hopefully the driver wasn't too badly hurt.




It's not a great pic but there was a whole crew up there and I didn't want to seem ghoulish.

And Rocket IS a shit. He wanted out this morning. I tried to put him back in when I left. He refused and ran. Fine you'll be in the snow for hours buddy. I come racing in because I needed to do something in Jackson and then had a faculty meeting. I'm sitting here on Teams after Rocket races inside He immediately jumps in the litter, throwing it everywhere and poops. Well then. I guess he's decided that he likes to poop in a box and make me clean it (after 4 years of hating that box) or more likely he can scratch thru the ice to poop.


What I Just Finished Reading:

Cooking with Monsters - a graphic novel about monster hunting chefs.. ha. It wasn't bad.

What I am Currently Reading:

When the Moon Hits Your Eye - weird and I'm not sure I like it

The Final Problem - mystery set in the 60s

Dark Life - YA book (so far so good)

The Parable of the Sower graphic novel (this is not the right time for this dystopia but if fulfills a reading prompt)

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - liking t his better than I expected.

What I Plan to Read Next: La Grand Familia Zombie Day Care and something by Alison Bechdel about being superhuman. Oh joy an exercise memoir. Nearly done.

Luna Park history - it was an amusement park in Pittsburgh around 1910. Mostly interested because it feels like a place to set a story. I mean a lion escaped from it and ate a woman.


And have I mentioned that I'm doing the American Cancer Society February readathon. You can see more about it here on facebook.

Today was fine and the writer's virtual meet up on Discord was fire but there was some really unpleaasant things today

For one, it snowed nearly 10 straight hours. There was so much salt on the roads that it wasn't sticking there much but we did get a few more inches. It was a gentle snow though, so very pretty.

But right before my afternoon class started, I thought I heard my phone in my office but I was down the hall talking to a coworker. I didn't have time to look at it. By the time class was over and I got home it was nearly 5. I saw there was a message on my land line phone. It was this collection agency that didn't autofill the name or the case number and I did call them a couple weeks ago when they did that and there was no viable phone number. I doubt it's for me but I DO want to know what it is.

But also on there was a call from my bank. Turns out they called my cell too. It's a real phone for my bank. My bank called BOTH my phones. OMG. WHY? We all know that it's not for anything good and I have to wait until tomorrow to ask after it. God I hope I wasn't cleaned out by a hacker.

Then just before seven I hear a metallic noise outside. I figured it was the blade of a plow. But as I'm talking to my parents a half hour later I check my cell to see if they canceled tomorrow. Turns out that was a crash where my road meets the highway and I'm cut off. I didn't see anything so I'm assuming it's opened now. DOn't know if anyone was hurt.

I did put in for money for my work con. I could go to that Mexican all inclusive I went to last year for two weeks for what this costs. Sigh. And I guess I'm to pay for an uber to get from the airport tp the con hotel but it's like 24 miles and no one has a shuttle. When I put in for a shuttle it said it was 385 and showed and SUV. I checked renting a car and it was the same cost so I'm assuming if I want to get there I have to rent a car or pay for uber (which I've never done since we don't have any here)

Such a weird day.

for allbingo's valentine's fest

Separation & reunion	Helplessness	Ethical Sluts	First kiss	Sensory Deprivation
Love Without Limits	Hate sex	Body Worship	Chocolates	Our Song
Biting / Sucking	Negative Self-Talk	FREE SPACE	Balcony scene	Sarcasm
Self-Sabotage	Sending flowers	Roaring Twenties	Refusing to Be Wrong	Manipulating People
Ménage à trois	Leather / Latex	Toxic Relationships	Humping on the couch	Masturbation

Don't get me wrong, I don't care what people wear or try to police it. On the other hand I did my time working in an ER and I don't get this trend of men wearing basketball shorts and short sleeves, no coat, in the dead of winter. It was 19 today and as I'm trying to park at Kroger two men, a few minutes apart come out dressed like this and I used to see this in teens but one guy was 30-40 and the other 50+ For that matter last week I told my students I guess I don't have to tell you no flipflops/slippers in our lab (it's a safety issue) since it's so cold but thursday I had to say okay I guess I DO have to say it because what did I see walking down the hall but a girl in backless flipflop styles slippers. I'm like are you actually serious? You're going to bust your skull open when you fall on the ice but okay you do you

I feel like a crotchety old woman.

Oh wait....

I did get to Jackson. I got to Tractor Supply, to Kroger, to the library and to the coffee shop (had to embed myself in an ice floe for that). Speaking of which I did decide I can't safely do the chocolate walk next Thursday. There's too much ice to do it in the dark. I will die. And I'd have been alone in the cold. two friends didn't want to and I would rather never go anywhere with L again and TH...he couldn't manage this walk. Ah well. I didn't go last year either for pretty much the same reason. This leg, the gift that keeps on giving.


I did start a vampire story I've been wanting to write but I need to keep moving because the deadline (I found yesterday) is in 2 weeks.



Science Saturday


Female Doctors May Offer Better Patient Outcomes, Especially To Women I've always said this. Been accused of bias (well duh) but this is not a small study.



South Carolina's measles outbreak nears 790 cases — making it the biggest in decades Pointing this out to my class...which by the way I'm not supposed to do according to OH gov. God I hope we end up with a dem governor this year


New triple-drug treatment stops pancreatic cancer in its tracks, a mouse study finds

Wistman’s Wood: An Ancient Temperate Rainforest That Feels Like A Tolkien Fantasy


Imposter Syndrome Is Common In Perfectionists – But Not If They're Also Narcissistic some how this feel obvious

But this has too much ice for me. They warned us they couldn't get all the ice off. Let it be known NO ice/snow had been removed from the handicapped lot in and in front of the building was a literal rink. Another coworker was out and he walked in with me in case I couldn't do it (No issues0

The heaters are broken so the rooms are icy.

When I left at five all the feet had taken off the snow. It was a bare ice floe. I could barely walk to the car. I texted my coworker and said end your lab. You'll never make it in the dark. I called off for tomorrow. I missed Wednesday's lab might as well miss both.

That'll get me down to Gallipolis earlier so I can hit the library and lunch before my mammogram.

community recs just remember halfamoon, the prompts are up, let's celebrate the ladies of fandom

and fandomtrumpshate is up and running. Auction off your skills, help people. Fandom helping people is a great thing. I need to get my offer in.

Rocket made me laugh. He wanted out this morning. I opened the door. That -5 F (-21C) air hit him, he dropped to his belly, scuttled backwards and used his litter box. Yeah I thought so.

And there is about 6 inches of snow which is relatively less than we were expecting right? But there is a thick layer of sleet ice between the snow. Someone plowed the drive some but obviously not near the cars. It's a thick snowbank there and ontop my car is several inches inside an ice shell that I have to get off because if I don't and it blows off it will shatter a windshield of anyone behind me. It's dangerous.

The ice is holding me up as I jackhammer this stuff off the roof of my CR-V...until it didn't. Naturally it gives out on my bad leg side so down I go onto my bad knee and shoulder. My head hits and my hat takes off. It takes a second to realize that was a cushioned fall and I'm fine. My knee bent the natural way so I didn't hurt it (and at this point I can't damage the cartilage more. It's gone) My next thought is, well glad no one saw that. I crawl to my back car door because I will need a handhold to get that bad leg under me on the ice. Had to look like a walrus trying to get up on the rocks to wave to the crowd.

My pants are covered with ice. Ditto my wool pea coat. I get my hat and at least my glasses didn't break. I finish cleaning the car. The ice breaks again but under my left leg so I could catch myself. It takes an hour to do this. Roscoe the three legged mini chichuahua races out to yap at me. I talk to his mom who is furious that the cleaner only cleaned in front of HER apartment and not the other three buildings. She gives me the rest of the salt so I deal with that

My knee is sore. My shin has a goose egg because the blood thinners made a big-ass hematoma but otherwise, I have bruises on my ribs/arm/shoulder but nothing bad. BUT my county and the county the school is in are both still at level 2 snow emergency so no school tomorrow either. I.e. we ran out of salt to fix the roads so we're fucked.




That's the ice sandwich I was walking on and knocking off my car. I otherwise did nothing else I said I was doing today but did get distracted by 3sentenceficathon somebody come slap me.

For Fannish 50 I had a few things I wanted to talk about but now I'm forced to deal with fans needing a good grip on reality. Between Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, the Mighty Nein and the Amazing Digital Circus, it has to be said, YOUR head canon is just that. Yours. You don't get to threaten the creators when actual canon doesn't match it. You can disappointed sure. You can even quit the fandom. But nothing gives you the right to threaten the creators, the voice actors and other fans. I keep having to write this same blog post time and again (not that the ill behaved members are going to see it).


One of the big name Huskerdust fans quit in a huff (no threats, just they're done). I was wondering who'd be the next BNF (not me, my stories don't seem to hit well in this fandom for the most part but I have a small loyal following that I appreciate) but they're basically 'if you're following me for the fandom might as well unfriend me now. I refuse to have anything to do with this because...basically it didn't match their head canon and they'll be deleting stuff.

Have you ever done this? I mean I'm sure we've all quit a fandom for various reasons. I hated what Marti Noxon did to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I didn't see half of S6 of Buffy and most of S7 (I only watched a tiny part of it knowing it was the end and I hated what I saw) Ditto the last season of Angel and part of S3 of Angel. I've faded away in other fandoms. What I haven't done is get so mad that fandom didn't match my head canon that I deleted my profiles, erased my stories etc.

I'm not saying that it's wrong. That's something personal to you (not like the death threats and other threats of violence I'm seeing) But I'm curious if you have gotten that mad, why did you feel compelled to delete it all? (Then again I've known some people who have deleted everything just because).

Out of fear of jinxing anything I shall say nothing until I know this storm is fully over. But one of the things I did today was to try and entertain a bored feline. I turned on my tesla coil...only to remember this wasn't the tesla coil Halloween decoration but it does have swirling mist. Rocket could care less. And I had a flipping fish toy that you have to plug in to charge.

I was standing in TJ Maxx excited to find this. the lady next to me was too. We both scampered off, happy dreams of excited kitties dancing in our heads. I charged it today. I got my video recorder ready. I even swept the carpet so it'll look better. I pour out a line of catnip on the fish and get it to flipping. Rocket stares up at me, wtf food dispenser? why did you give me this? But...it's cute. Play with it! He side eyed me into non existence. I even say on the recording, I'm having more fun with this than you. He does the line of nip off the fish's flank and leaves me there with my stuffed fish.

What does this have to do with writing? I've been thinking about pets in literature. I'm reading one right now Sugar and Vice with a dog (that maybe too many chapters are about). I'll be honest I don't usually give my characters pets. I tend to forget about them. In fact, I think Angel Dust and Fat Nuggets (his pet hell pig) is the most I've ever written a character with a pet and half the time I still forget about Nuggsy.

How do you feel about pets in literature? Of course it's popular. But how do you handle the pet in question in a way that whatever it is compliments the story instead of distracting from it or leave us wondering where it went? I'm not including police dogs/search and rescue in this because they are easy to make integral to the story. Ditto stories where the animals are telling it? Do you write them? Are you like me and sort of dodging it? Curious minds want to know.

Open Calls

Pathways to Imagination: Whispers Made Flesh Stories where the unseen insists on becoming known

Sley House Press February 2026 Window Romance/Genre Blend. Send us your horror, sci-fi, or fantasy with strong romance elements.


Book of Madness Cosmic Horror based upon the cthulhu mythos (though doesn’t need to include characters or deities from the mythos)

Shared World A fantasy-horror, sword-and-sorcery world called Shared World. Think Conan meets Cthulhu! It can use their pre-existing ideas, or new ones

Agita Magazine

Root Smoke: Now Seeking Submissions


From Around the Web

How to Find the Right Literary Agent for Your Book

Making Quiet but Effective Moves: An Introverted Author’s Guide to Successful Marketing

Book Marketing on Amazon: How to Get Your Book Seen, Clicked, and Bought

The Pros and Cons of Launching a Book Without a Publicist

The Hidden Constraints in Your Writing

Harlequin France ‘trials AI translation’ and they fired their human translators

Notes from the Editor’s Desk: January 2026
From Betty

Want to Write Throuple Romance? Warrior Princess Assassin Shows How It’s Done ooo i need time to digest this one

How to Improve Your Attempts to Write Fiction for Change.

Writing Goals: Going from "Aaagh!" to "A-ha!"

The Hidden Constraints in Your Writing

How to Use Character Tropes Without Writing Cliches

Tagline, You’re It! Summing Up Your Story In Two Sentences.

Betrayal And Plot Twist: 5 Ways to Hide Your Villain

The Real Story: Character Journey as Structure

Coping Mechanism Thesaurus Entry: Managing Time

Alia Hanna Habib Offers a Guide to Finding an Agent

How to Write Righteous Anger in Fiction (Without Turning Your Hero Into a Villain)

The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Writers, Part 3: Using Beta Readers in the Self-Editing Process

The Timing of Your Publishing Dream: How to Keep Writing Through Setbacks and Detours

Be Wanted in the Inbox: What Outlaws Can Teach Authors About Email List Health


Who Are You? A Writer’s Take

Listen Like a Writer: What Taylor Swift Can Teach Us About Story

The Sum of Our Longings