Fiction

A 2022 plan in the making… #mondayblogs #backlist #kailarks #rungirlrun

January 4, 2022 by Kai

So I did my retrospective. And I don’t do resolutions, mostly because if I did, I’d get into even more trouble than I’m in already. But, I do sorta, do plans for the year ahead.
I’ve split them into personal and professional, then split appropriately from there. That said, I’ll forget something, I always do. And it’s not exhaustive. There’s stuff I cannot post yet, like the planned visits to production and filming, if we do it this year. But here’s what’s on my current lists.

Professional

My professional splits down into three areas. Business and service which covers all of my formatting, hosting, coding and other stuff.
Passive income and professional writing, which is where I blog for my own blogs, or other companies and make money from it
and
Books.

Business and services

This one is a bit complex, cause anything I commit to has to also go through my business partner, but she and I are planning:

Hosting for writers and PhoneixFormatting online and running a booking calendar. HFW runs hosting and code design, wordpress management and more, while PF is where we format pretty books. 😉 Like, really pretty, you could fall in love with them, books. Which is great, cause that’s what every author wants.
AOK and IT up and running. These are keyworded projects, because we’re still sorting them out. They should feature lots of indie stuff.
Stuff for writers and my marketing/tutorials site back online and feeding to various places, in both my professional commitments and my own sites.
Having a solid plan for everything we’re doing going forward that’s reasonable and meetable. Both of us have health challenges, so it’s one of those…. “gotta do it, but HOW” conversations.
Teach at least six classes and have two masterclasses running happily by year end

Passive income/pro writing

Again, this is a bit of a hard one. I’m managing editor on one site, so I’m responsible for rounding up the writers. 😉

All commitments to story prompts and other stuff met and optimised. No deadlines missed. Currently that’s just Ladies Of Horror, but I want to add more to my list
Set up and run Indie Author Group (I’m managing editor there, so it’s really set up new guidelines, write up content and import what isn’t exclusive) and start my new column for Horror Tree. I’d really like to have 100 exclusively written articles not on my own sites by the end of the year, which is basically one every three and a half days or so, or two a week. I can do that.
Set up a few blogs for help with specific topics and long tail the crap out of it all.
12 submissions a month from Duotrope. Poetry, prose and articles beyond what I’m committed to.
Substack and Medium up and running and perfect.
classes – taught for a cost.

Books Totally not complex this one, but always seems to be the biggest set of problems. From people messing with my account to delays of my own making I guess this one is the one that worries me, professionally at least, the most. But is also the most important to me. I love being an author.

My WHOLE backlist reissued. My current count seems to be 31, with about another 12 books cancelled from last year, and probably another few that I could set up from books I’ve scrapped and need reworked. I’m calling it 30, cause some are giveaways too. So, 30 backlist. There’s also a set of … 15 I think short stories that I was doing over Nanowrimo that are ready to go, I just need to format them.
12 short stories OR novellas issued. There’s a group for this project, or should be.
3 series continued, one of which has to be Darkness and Elliot.
6 n/f books written and published or close to published by year’s end, OR with a contract.
Signed with my agent.

Phew.

Personal goals

My personal goals are a lot more ephemeral and don’t really break down into anything approaching organised.

More Ludosport – I don’t know how long a form takes to graduate from, but I’d like to be all the way to finishing form 1, and getting into Form 2. I want to be less afraid there too.
Body FX training too strengthen my core and have a bit of fun doing it
Enjoy more movies and games, and complete a few of them.
Read (or listen to, cause we use Audible too, but I only count it if I actually listen to the book and am awake for it as it also runs at night so we’ve got some form of white noise going on) 150 books (Goodreads challenge)
Not break my streak on 4thewords
20th year Nanowrimo, both Camp Nanowrimos and 2 million words total in writing (that is sorta a professional goal too).
Declutter and organise the house better
Set up the office the way I want it to be set up
Say yes to good things more often rather than think ‘I can’t’ because I’m exhausted, so rest up and get ready for some fun!

Again there are others. We’d like to travel again, but only if it’s safe. I’d love to do Steelcon again, and I’d love to go to a Games Day too. I’d also love to have a baby with my beloved but they’re pretty much aspirational and up in the air based on how the world continues to behave over the coming year. Covid and it’s vaccines aside, I do have to wonder if the radical changes people don’t like are as bad as they believe. I’m struggling with some of them, sure, but if it’s to keep others safe, cool. And that’s my final one. Keep myself, my communities, my family and friends and others safe, keep paying it forward, and keep swimming and lifting others where I can. And continue working on my therapy, as it’s gotten me a long way last year and I’m sure that’ll continue. Next post, in a few days, will be about the actual places I’m working/writing and announcing everything. Calendars need set up and discussions with my amazing business partner, Brianna Hawthorne, need to take place before then, but we’ve got a lot planned. We just need to work out what we’re doing and how, and finish planning.

The blog of D Kai Wilson - The blog of D Kai Wilson - text by Kai

A 2021 retrospective…a bit late ;) #mondayblogs #yearinreview #lifetheuniverseandakitchensink

January 3, 2022 by Kai

Hi there guys. Normally, doing these, I do really try to get them up either as we’re travelling home on the21st December, but as everyone saw, I posted something else instead. So, I’ll do the retrospective today, and tomorrow we’ll do the ‘coming in 2022’.

I got nothing done…

I think the first thing to acknowledge is that personal goals wise, I’m not further visibly forward, but I did a lot of…I guess it’s ‘behind the scenes’ work. I did have a quieter, calmer year in some ways. Supporting the kids, supporting my partner, and trying to plan for what comes next. I think that though I did very little, overtly, there were a tonne of really great conversations that eventually led myself and my business partner to something we’re working on now, which we’ve tagged ‘AOK’.
Goals wise, too, I didn’t published a dammed thing last year, and only really rebooted this blog about three months ago. I’m still working through how best to handle all of that, if I’m honest, but what I do know is that I’m a lot happier now with most of the things I write, when I write them.
I did start a Substack.
But, because I got ‘nothing’ done, I spent a lot of time with my family. I have regulated my sleep schedule a lot better, though I do sometimes need to switch to LA time to do some stuff, it’s not frequently expected of me. I’m sure next year may change that, but it’s ok. Mostly I’m just grateful for the space to think and spend time with my partner, son and daughter. We bought a Cricut so my daughter and I are still into doing crafty things, we all go out to get photos of stuff, we got to do the UK Games Expo this year…it’s all been really good and really comforting in many ways. None of us have gotten really sick, nor have we caught CV19, but we’re all fully boosted now, and flu shots to boot. We’ve been very lucky.

I did lots for clients….

So, I’ve said ‘I got nothing done’ but equally, it’s been an ok year for getting work done for clients. From tomorrow, I’m developing something that cuts back on the clutter for one client so it ‘just works’ and building sites for two others. It’s all looking really solid. I learned Divi a lot more, I’ve been upskilling both for my business and for my uni stuff and I’ve had a lot of fun along the way. I love coding, but I love solving puzzles more.

I (started to) heal a bit…

I think it’s fair to say this year I got on with the rather hard work of starting to heal. I’ve not had an exactly bad life, but I’ve been through a fair few really bad scrapes and my mental and physical health are kinda dented for it. I do totally think I’m dealing with some form of adrenal issue right now, though I’m also quite worried I’m anaemic again, but most of what I did was read, learn, sleep, and just accept that I can’t do everything, or work on starting to accept that. I laid foundations though for this year too – knowing what to do and when to do it hasn’t been the easiest thing for me, but I’m working in advance with a lot of my stuff now and though I sometimes bounce off deadlines, I’ve met quite a few too.
in July, I was discharged from therapy. I’ve done everything I could with them, my therapist was moving on, and instead of getting used to another stranger, given the current pandemic based restrictions, we decided that it was best just to close my file and move on. I can go back if I need to.

And I took up more exercise

Last year, I was just starting Mount Fuji. I completed that and went on to do Giza, Petra, Everest and started The Great Wall of China. In total, I walked about 540km, based on my Fitbit tracking.
I started walking outside by myself too. Didn’t last long, but will be coming back. In November, I went for a Ludosport Discovery session, fell in love with the sport and have now completed enough form 1 training that I can duel, and did for our closing session of the year, winning my team three points. I was rather shocked I managed it. I think everyone else was too, as I often refuse to duel, or withdraw when afraid. I am dealing with a lot more panic attacks though, but we know why and we’re working on that too.

I read… A LOT

Because I didn’t get to do very much in the way of travelling, I’ve mostly adventured through my books. Which, if I’m honest, has mostly involved serial killers, thrillers and murder mysteries. My Goodreads year in review isn’t everything I read (cause I’ve got books I read through Netgalley that haven’t or won’t log yet) but it’s close. If you want to see my year, it’s here, but seriously, a lot of it is basically true crime. 😉 Some of it was also audiobooks, which I count.
I think the two books that stayed with me this year though were The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig and we’re currently finishing off Leviathan Falls, which is the final book of the Expanse. And finishing the show too.

Wrote too…

I completed both Camp Nanowrimos and Nanowrimo proper this year, and in the end, it turned out that though it felt like I was pulling teeth, I wrote close to half a million in 4thewords, and another 750k in my various files. Not bad going but next year is going to be a bigger challenge. I didn’t publish anything that wasn’t someone else’s to take from me and put out there though.

And yeah, then there was the ‘also watched’

We watched so many good things this year but I watched less in some ways than my family. And more in others. I had more true rime on in the background during the day, but I’ve watched far fewer programs, and have promised I’ll watch a few of the pertinent ones when we’re back at our usual spaces next week.
Outstanding for me though had to be Loki, Scrubs (which we binged to the last season then pretended that one didn’t exist), Elementary, which we’re catching up on, The Expanse…you get the picture. We’ve started watching Titans season 3, The Witcher Season 2, and The Expanse season 6, and we’re looking forward to The book of Boba Fett, Obi Wan and more.

Gaming

Gaming this year has mostly been about my Switch and our PS5. We’re both having a blast, no pun intended, playing through Fallout 76, though each of us can’t play with each other as it’s not cross-platform. Been playing games on the Switch too, but there’s nothing of note that I’ve played, really. I enjoy Surviving Mars, but a lot of what I do is just play through stuff for a little bit, get listless, put it down. So a lot of my time has just been spent mindlessly shooting things, which I’m kinda good at.

Meditating, self care, religion, oh my

I always leave this bit to last, so if people want to skip, they can.
I meditated almost as much as I walked this year. I’ve found Headspace to be an excellent way of dealing with my sleep issues and the sleepscapes and I have become best buddies during the Pandemic. But we already knew that from listening to the stories Calm put out last year. I decided to stick with Headspace, not Calm in the end, simply because I got on better with Headspace. I’ve been home to my temple twice this year (which means I’ve been home to family twice this year) and moved my ‘I have to go do something, let’s go to my quiet spot) to a place nearer our current home. It’s not perfect, but it meets most of the needs of what my rules are. I’ve also enacted some pretty radical self-care, but that, and some other stuff will be in the books, in the new Year. I’m sure I’ve missed tonnes, but I’ll be honest, I’m still not sure this year was actually a full year if that makes sense. Time isn’t right still, not since the interminable but necessary lockdowns, and we’ve been working through as much of being present and grateful as we can, but I’ll also be real about this, a bit of me is still sobbing away in the corner that something so horrible is ongoing.
I may write on that later, but I’m healthy, I’m here, I’ve picked up some new skills and hobbies and though I lost my gran, as a family, we’ve been far more blessed than we could have expected, so really, I can’t complain. How was your New Year?

The blog of D Kai Wilson - The blog of D Kai Wilson - text by Kai

When she sing, she sings “Come home” #mondayblogs #rungirlrun

December 21, 2021 by Kai

(Don’t Google that, if you plan to watch Loki, the TV series, as the titular character sings it). I’ve been equal parts restless, equal parts full of wanting to get on with changing things, but not having the energy to do any of it. So, as is my usual tactic, I’m actually travelling today. I’m going home.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll be heading to my temple, called Goddess Falls. It’s known as another name in Edinburgh, but I’ll be taking my lightsaber with me in the morning.

Travelling, thinking, going home

We’re hoping that we get to go (so, either this’ll be going out as I’m on the road – in fact, I should be just getting to our end destination), and my tradition is to think and write and make notes, and hope that nothing goes wrong while I’m out of touch. Maybe do a bit of crochet, which I’m teaching myself. Mostly though, today is a holiday. So Joyous Yule, may the wheel bless you as it turns, if you celebrate. And Merry Christmas/Happy holidays too!

And books?

Every week, I talk about putting out books, about editing, but I’ve been slow. Really slow, so I’ll keep trying but honestly? Pressure has never been my friend, but I’ve got to start moving on with my books. So, I’ll be thinking about that too while travelling. We’ve got little TV trays for our knees, so I’ll be travelling with one of them, my diaries, and my surface. Just in case. Going home though… it is in my bones. I’m a Gaelic gal to the core, to the point that I feel home in my very soul. I bring a little bit of it back every year for my shrine.
Today also marks the 25th year of being a standing High Priestess. Solitary, but still… it means this year I think I’ll be talking about my beliefs, my dreams, and what I’m doing it with my books to honour that stuff.
But…regardless. I hope your Christmas period is good. I hope you see those you love. I hope you get to spend time with your family. I’ll be taking time out with mine.

The blog of D Kai Wilson - The blog of D Kai Wilson - text by Kai

The last week of * (42) – what is success anyway? #Mondayblogs

November 8, 2021 by Kai

This is 43? Quite honestly, I’m not entirely certain how I feel right now. There are so many different things that I’ve been thinking about. How we measure success. What we consider ‘worthy’ work, when we think about our lives, and how we decide to measure what we’re doing. Like water over rocks, we often smooth away the knowledge we don’t like and find a way to let it settle. And time, like water down a hill, never stops.

Judgement – my own worst enemy

Self-judgement that is. And I think that’s true of all of us. We’re ALL our own worst enemies when it comes to deciding if we’re ‘doing what we’re made to do’. Which in itself is a loaded sentence. I really hate the whole “we’re human beings, not human doings” concept. It distils and negates a lot of the struggle we all have with the needs and responsibilities, the wants and the necessities we all carry and balance. I’m a human being. I am.
What I am right now?
A little bit stressed, a lot melancholy. Because I’m judging myself against a list of things that I just can’t expect to meet.
What I can say though is that I’ve achieved a lot that isn’t ‘obvious’. I was discharged from therapy, and told I’d successfully completed the work they wanted me to which is…awesome. I went into recovery care with the local unit over seven years ago. I moved two years ago, this week, to the unit the county over. I’ve put a commendation about Dr C. and my nurse, M, with my MP, I feel that strongly about their care. The whole NHS should be praised, for the last few years, of course, but the team that cared for me over the last few years especially, since just after my 40th birthday, are people that went above and beyond and made a real change to my life.

The grain silo, Being Human and more…

I’ve talked about these essays but never finished them. Some are actually in ‘And Miles to go before I sleep…’ and expanded upon. So, along with the retrospective coming for the rest of this week, and looking forward over the weekend (the blog is going to be busy), but I’ll be releasing the essays ‘The Grain silo’ and ‘Being Human’, along with the pre-order link for ‘And Miles to go before I sleep…’ over this week. I’ll maybe even get to talk about the major business project we’re launching. On Saturday or Sunday, I’ll release our sort of calendar, and aspirations we have. And they are aspirations. Not deadlines. Not must do’s. The pre-orders are fixed, but.. other than that, we’ll adapt. And the we in this case is my beloved, my family, my friends and I. Being Human isn’t to be alone. And I’m not.

The blog of D Kai Wilson - The blog of D Kai Wilson - text by Kai

Maximum Effort – Geek Chic – the November issue

November 1, 2021 by Kai

Welcome to the first in a series of newsletters I’m sending out again.
I know the sign says bi-weekly. I kinda got off track a bit. BUUUUT….we’re baaaaaack….

This. Is. NANO!

Yeah, it’s Nanowrimo. My 19th year.
After everything collapsed (in August/September), I got kinda…a lot discouraged. I took a step back and while I was a step back or so, I just… paused.
There’s a lot to be said about standing your ground, instead of just giving in entirely. Resting, instead of retreating. Or a strategic retreat. But, the one thing I didn’t want to do was give in entirely. I’ll be honest though, I’m kinda suprised at how long it took for me to get there. But i’m here.
I’m doing a vision board. It’s a huge Whiteboard in my office, so I’ve got plenty of scope.
And I even know what’s happening for Nanowrimo. Elliot is back, and wants his ‘Hate Crime’ Trilogy. Which is cool. I’m sure other projects will be added as we go, but I’ll talk more about them as he tells me.
Yup. I’m winging it. Utterly.

Next up!

We’ve got several books coming from KushkaPress. This site and KushkaPress however are in redesign, so there are no specific book announcements.

Ludosport…. for the win

So, one of the things I’ve promised myself is to plan better, to use my office space more and to actually take time out to exercise. OK. That’s three, I know. For the exercising properly, my partner told me a while back about Ludosport. I do have my own lightsabre, and I am really quite happy messing around with it, but we went for tryouts, and quite honestly, I’m hooked. I LOVED IT! My knees knew about it for the next few days too, but I’m sure I’ll get over that with work.

This is my lightsaber. This is the way! Seriously though, if you’ve got a chance to try it, do. Local to me, we have a wonderful group in Bristol, running taster sessions. I had a blast, but yeah, it’s quite the workout. And I’m going back. Plus, we’ve got a fairer way to solve arguments now. (no, really)

A Nanowrimo Love Story

Later tonight, I’ll be writing up my Nanowrimo ‘love story’. It’s both how I met Tempus, my life parner, my soulmate, my everything. But it’s all about Nanowrimo. My first book. Well, not my first book, but the first book that really took me and led me to lots of things.
You can read

Over to you guys

This month, I’ve only got one book to share (as this is an all ages newsletter). My friend Valerie released something really HOT though late last month, if you check her website and mythological RH is right up your street, she’s got a great book over there (along with others in most genres!) I’ve also got this one for you!

Blade of the Faithful by RG Long

Disgraced or deserved, a journey begins.

Beaten and left for dead, Kyne is a quiet but skilled warrior. Lost on an island beset with pirate attacks and a mysterious sickness, there’s little hope for his future. Though his wounds may heal, his fate is unsure. Eileen is a wild but confident healer. Ostracized for her deadly skill as a potion maker, the very bravest seek her out for her restorative balms. After saving Kyne from bloodthirsty pirates, she becomes entangled in a journey of fate. Together, they set out to recover the one thing that may rid the land of plague. But they aren’t the only ones who covet the precious cure. The pirates who seek to plunder and pillage have nefarious plans of their own. Will Kyne seek out his own good and leave the island behind, or will he aid those in desperate need? Grab your copy today!

Finally, some recommendations

I’ve got some tool recommendations, and reviews I’ll be offering in the future. Some are free, some are affiliate linked (marked with *). If they’re marked with *, I’ll earn something or get points or similar from them. If I can, I donate to charity, or give away what I earn, but if I can’t, I offset it instead.
Enjoy! K-Lytics - while many of my readers are, well, readers, some of you are authors, and I’ve found some really neat information in their reports. The latest one is sci-fi and fantasy, and it’s absolutely amazing. Their research and analysis is really interesting, and there are always nuggets in there that are really crucial to a great head start with planning books, either written to market or improving your writing. Evernote – Evernote is proving to be critical to my work, for more reason than one. It used to have a referral plan, it’s currently suspended, so I’m just recommending it

I use this for organising study and storage. Scrivener – Might have an affiliate scheme, can’t find it, highly recommended regardless. I’ll always complain I can’t use it on Dex (Android, specifically my Samsung tablet) but it’s a minor annoyance for what I do. Remember, Nanowrimo participants get vouchers for participating sometimes, so if you’re looking to take part and do those projects, there’s always that option.

Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - text by Kai

Love, Muse #poetry #Nanowrimo #andmilestogobeforeIsleep

October 31, 2021 by Kai

The night before #nanowrimo21 and I’m sharing ‘Love, Muse’.
Sit down.
The dishes can wait.
No, the baby isn’t stirring.
That’s it.
Let me tell you a story.
It won’t take long
Sit down.
That wasn’t the door.
You don’t need more coffee
That’s it.
Fingers on the key.
We’re off.
Love,
Muse
by D Kai Wilson-Viola

The blog of D Kai Wilson - The blog of D Kai Wilson - text by Kai

Trying, failing, trying again

July 5, 2021 by Kai

After my last post, Is it Though?, I’ve been trying to… plot and plan and think through what to do next.
I did mention that I punctuate the phrase ‘if at first you don’t succeed. Try. Try again’, and I got feedback from people asking what I meant by that. So. I thought I’d explain that.
And maybe show off some new stuff at the end of the post

If at first you don’t succeed. Try. Try again

One of the things that my wonderful psych team (Dr C and MW, my psych nurse) who I was discharged from at the end of last month, worked on with me, was my mindset. And this really does say everything about my mindset, in more ways than one.
It acknowledges, in part, that I’ll fall and get back up, over and over.
It acknowledges I don’t get it right first time.
But… unlike one of the comments (which turned into some serious nastiness, so was deleted) I had, it does not imply I’m setting myself up for failure. It does NOT imply that I expect to fail over and over. In fact, I’m often pleasantly surprised when I get it right faster than I expect, and I enjoy that.

It’s all about perspective

One of the essays in one of the new books announced this week, (Miles to go Before I Sleep, November 12th 2021) is called ‘it’s all about perspective.’ MtgbIs will be discussed in great depth later in the year, I guess, as an ongoing thing, but the perspective essay has a critical point in it.
“It’s really easy to say ‘I feel positive’ and be lying in some ways. Mental health isn’t binary. You can say ‘I feel positive’ and it really mean ‘but I’m still ready for it to go wrong’. It’s not a betrayal of positivity. It’s practicality. It’s just remembering that on that see saw, you’re supposed to be closer to ‘positive’ than ‘ready to deal with’.” And I think that’s what I try to explain to others. I am upbeat, positive and often, just chugging away. But I am also often prepped for things to need adaptation. I expect to fail, and have to keep trying.

And keep trying…

How about some good news now? I’ve got three books up on announcement for release right now. I’ve told my street team, and shared on my own personal profile, and we’re just getting my publisher blog sorted out, but… And miles to go, Before I sleep Kill Kit Killers – Book 1 And A House at War – Book 1, House Arrath and With Benefits You can read more about them on KushkaPress

The blog of D Kai Wilson - The blog of D Kai Wilson - text by Kai

Maximum Effort – Geek Chic – the May Newsletter

May 25, 2021 by Kai

Lifting, lifting…

In the UK, lockdown is mostly lifted – non-essential shops have opened, and we’re a year on from our first lockdown plus a few weeks. The weather is nicer, and while I can’t say ‘all’s well in the world’, things are feeling a lot more bearable, knowing that I can go back to the library, that we could do what we did yesterday and grab essentials and continue organising. Books too are starting to come together, and though I still really miss my gran, life has to go on. So, we’re going home and spending a bit of time with family, then I’ll be doing a lot of working on stuff.

The ‘little thoughts’ blog…

WHile I was away, I realised that one of the things I used to do quite a bit, just for an internal group of us, was to share my ‘little thoughts’ for the day. They usually weren’t actually that little but gave people a jumping off point to … reason through some of the stuff they’ve been feeling. A few of those little thoughts grew up into big books. And I’ll be focussing on bringing the little thoughts and the books to the fore in the coming weeks.

How I’m doing that…

Gotta be honest, there’s no one way I’m doing it. I sat down while at my MIL’s (she’s got a very peaceful house, and a very boisterous puppy which is the best combination to

Planning books, making goals and more. I’ve tried out several planners, and am trying this one. I’m not sure I’ll like it, but it’s looking ok so far. I’m not entirely certain of how I’ll use it, but balancing publishing, work, Uni, promo and family needs a legendary system. This might be it, and it was on offer, so win-win.
(You can get it on Amazon*).

Over to you guys

I do really want to start featuring reads – of my blog and my newsletter – so it’s over to you. My next newsletter is 1st June and you can apply by getting in touch on my form, and I do mini ones on Twitter between Friday and Sunday, so, if you’d like to talk to me about exchanging project mentions, please get in touch! I have a few rules about it, which is why my exchange page explains a few things. If those rules aren’t to your liking, we just don’t exchange. I can’t bend these rules – having done so in the past, I’ve found that people take it too far. And while I don’t like to think some of it is deliberate, sometimes it totally is, so thank the people that didn’t follow through last time if you’re not able to swap with me because there’s a boundary you don’t meet. The option is always there though, and I always make room to pay forward.

Finally, some recommendations

Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - text by Kai

Maximum Effort – Geek Chic – the April Newsletter

April 21, 2021 by Kai

(please note, this is one of those one day evolving documents, because it’s going to cross link with my newsletter, a new toy I’m playing with on Twitter, and here. if the links don’t quite work yet, I apologise – the important thing is the book links DO, even if the rest isn’t all linked up at the start. :)) So. It’s April. Already. I’ve still got a wierd relationship with time, I guess, after the year most of us may kinda wish never was, and felt like decades. But, as it was the last year with some of my family, and we’ve survived and some good came of it (which feels really wierd to say, but it’s true – my daughter came home from boarding school permanently, graduated college. My son came through his kidney woes not only just fine, but ‘textbook’ for the operation. We lost people too soon too, and continue to do so.

Lifting, lifting…

In the UK, lockdown is mostly lifted – non-essential shops have opened, and we’re a year on from our first lockdown plus a few weeks. The weather is nicer, and while I can’t say ‘all’s well in the world’, things are feeling a lot more bearable, knowing that I can go back to the library, that we could do what we did yesterday and grab essentials and continue organising. Books too, are starting to come together, and though I still really miss my gran, life has to go on.

Enjoy some books!

Before I get to my books and some release updates, I’m going to tell you guys about some really neat giveaways. All are through StoryOrigin (review coming, as they’ve come out of Beta, and if you upgrade before the 25th April (if you’re an author), there’s discounts in the offing. But for now, I thought I’d share these group projects and invite you to enjoy.

Then, there’s my books

So, the original plan for this month was to set up and release a set of books for giveaway, and then to talk about the books coming next. So I’ll refer you back to the post talking about my books

I’m running behind, but I’m still moving forward, which is important. A lot of it is actually to do with redesigning my whole workflow, since I inherited, of all things, a case for my Galaxy Tab, and suddenly, I can actually choose to feel like I can’t make it downstairs to work, so, I can write here. In theory, it should be ….

In practice? Scrivener is where I write on every other device, so I’m having to alter my workflow to let me work on my Samsung (Android), and, all that really means is that I find an editor that plays nice with everything, doesn’t annoy Scrivener on both my Mac and PC, and lets me write. And there’s also the fact that I’ve got all of my books in two dropboxes, and I need to make sure there’s nothing that’s lost in the merge, which, over 500 Scrivener files is a headache. It’s all – really – procrastination, but important too. I will write up exactly how I sort it all out because I think it’s important – and hey, being a bit of a platform hopping techie, if I can help others like me, then that’s great. For now though, I feel as harried as that gif looks.

Over to you guys

I do really want to start featuring reads – of my blog and my newsletter – so it’s over to you. My next newsletter is 1st May and you can apply by getting in touch on my form, and I do mini ones on Twitter between Friday and Sunday, so, if you’d like to talk to me about exchanging project mentions, please get in touch! I have a few rules about it, which is why my exchange page explains a few things. If those rules aren’t to your liking, we just don’t exchange. I can’t bend these rules – having done so in the past, I’ve found that people take it too far. And while I don’t like to think some of it is deliberate, sometimes it totally is, so thank the people that didn’t follow through last time if you’re not able to swap with me because there’s a boundary you don’t meet. The option is always there though, and I always make room to pay forward.

Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - text by Kai

M is for ‘mistake?’

April 13, 2021 by Kai

Yeah, I know, we’re not on M yet (I don’t think).
There’s a lot I could say right now, but, I’m just going to be honest and say a few things that my new friends coming in from AtoZ might get, and those of you that are my fearless readers probably know about me already.

Mental health is my limiter

I wish I could say positive things all the time about my books and stuff, but the reality of my world is I like to present this whirlwind, usually of joy and all sunshine and rainbows. The truth is though, like most people online, I curate my experiences – and in my case, a little more than I should.
I talk about mental health in certain terms, but today, I’m going to talk about it in a different way.
And I guess that’s ok, because there are books coming about it, so I had to do it sooner or later.
But I find the words faltering between my fingers and the keyboard. They’re jamming in my chest in a way – thick in my throat.
And it’s all because I’ve lived with, by level at least, severe mental health issues all of my life. I’m ‘functional’. I look ‘normal’. But as you can see from those quotes, they’re bitter descriptors. Normal and functional are mechanical descriptors I’ve always said ‘normal is the setting on a washing machine’. And it’s because we use words like normal, nominal, functional, functioning, intergrated … as if we all match up against one level, one actual checklist. We don’t. Humans are as varied as snowflakes.
The thing with me is I’m actually a bundle of contradictions. I deal with a set of cognitive dissonances daily because I’m creative and I’m techie, so when I describe this stuff now, it’s always as if I’m describing a computer of sorts. But I’m not. It just puts a bit of distance between myself and the things I’m talking about.
The dissonance though…it comes from, I guess, the normalisation and on the flip side, the stigmatisation of mental health. And of course, I talk about not accepting stigma, that I’m accepting. But it doesn’t change that there’s some internalised stuff that we were raised with. And it becomes a bit of a mess there, which I guess I’ll talk about more, but for now, all I want to do is acknowledge that I’m not acting at my best right now. And while I’m ashamed and feel bad pointing at the fact that I am effectively, severely disabled, there’s…a bit of me that doesn’t like to say that. As if it belittles those living with things I can’t even begin to understand. But it’s true. I have what is considered to be a severe set of mental illnesses. I’m not able to function at my best all the time. I really need to stop being stubborn and trying to pretend I do. It’s not as if people will be mean about it (actually, I also know that not to be true, but the nastiness that comes from talking about this stuff is, by and large, the way I weed people I don’t want in my community out. Not to create an echo chamber, but who in the hell attacks someone for having mental health issues anyway?)

It’s not been an easy year

I know many people can say that. But my year started (well, 15 months really), last January with a septic son (three kidneys, that is an adventure I’ll discuss on my personal blog when I get over all of the fear and lay a few issues I’m still having to work though), then February and his major kidney surgery. We got him through that, and the afternoon his stent came out, we started the first lockdown in the UK. That was, 13 months ago.
The last 13 months has seen me lose friends and family to Covid. And my gran, who was one of the sick and vulnerable due to chonic illness. That was in February, and I’ve soldiered on, because she’d want me to, but I manage a few weeks then break down in a wreck of crying and misery. It’s just not fair to inflict it on people and while I had high hopes for the AtoZ, I did kinda go overboard.

Mistake? Or future posts?

I’m being hard on myself calling this a mistake, but for me it is the end of the line. But, the posts I had planned, because I did, on all the blogs I was doing it on, will still appear at some point. Deirdre, at These Our Fandoms and I have discussed it and between feeling bulldozed by vaccines and life (as both of us have had a rough few years), we’ve decided it was too much to do on such short notice, so planning will probably get us through next year.
The rest of this year though? I’ll get the posts up. I’ll be writing up similar posts on the other blogs (even, ironically, my mental health blog) and I think I’ll just spend the rest of the year making new friends and visiting with others, if that’s ok with you?

And the books…?

I can’t lie and say I wouldn’t love it if you followed me on my “books” journey. I am writing and reissuing a tonne of them, but if you wish to follow, there’s a lot of places you can – with different levels of engagement for everyone’s comfort. My street team gets my ARCs, everyone gets giveaways, I answer sometimes on social media. You can follow the blog, or Authorinterrupted, when it’s back, you can join me on Twitter, on Facebook, or my street team, or you can subscribe to my newsletter. I’m even on Instagram, though that really is more about what’s behind the books, and my personal life. No matter what, I cherish each and every person that follows me. As to what I write?
Everything. Literally, I’ve got a book for every genre, just about now. My next project, the one I’m going to put the energy I’ll get back, the spoons I’ll retrieve, I guess, from the AtoZ, is a romantic comedy. But I write and love sci-fi, fantasy and all sorts, as the first few blogs showed. Thanks for reading, sorry if I’ve disappointed you by stopping. And good luck if you keep going, I’ll read what I can!

Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - Books by D Kai Wilson-Viola - text by Kai