Posts

Homegoing

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  Hello, dear Reader, August is coming to an end and so is my rotation. Here at the Mediterranean it is humid AF and hot, and your boy is sweating like a cold bottle of coke on a summer day every time he steps outside and is blasted in the face with a wall of heat. If all goes well, by the time you read this, I’ll be on my way, or already at home. One more rotation for this year and then we’re very nearly at 2027! Also, next week’s post will be the anniversary of this blog. When I started this I was on my final year of courses at maritime school, and the idea of consistently posting for one year seemed like a far-off, nebulous idea. But more on that next week. For now, I want you all to know that 5-6 is progressing slowly and has slowed down further due to the inexorably creeping exhaustion that I’ve been prolonging for a couple weeks. Working every day for six weeks will do that. Here is a sneak peek though: But fret not, the murderer shall be revealed, and even Bee’s fate...

Foreshadowing

Hello, dear Reader, I cannot begin to describe to you how fast time flies by. Feels like yesterday was Saturday, and boom, here it is again. Sorry for griping about the inexorable and speeding march of time, but it really is a bummer. Only a short update today. I’ve been chipping away at 5-6, and am about four to five pages in. It’s grueling work trying to smash through a block, but I’m slowly getting into the rhythm again. Resistance can kiss my ass. We’re on our way to the Mediterranean and should be there around the 25 th . Then I should be changing on the 28 th if everything goes well. So the next time you hear from me I’ll either be in a hotel or at home. If things don’t go well, well, I’ll still be aboard but getting ready to leave. Nothing special to add for today. Well, other than September’s first post will be this blog’s ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY POST!!!! I can hardly wait! I’ll endeavor to get 5-6 out before the Anniversary. Thank you for being here, I’ll see...

Distractions

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  Hello, dear Reader, Today marks the first day of the fifth week on board. Time has SHOT by so fast that I’ve whiplash. Seriously, I’ve got a crink in my neck. I thought 8-12 would’ve been better for me than 4-8, but for some reason the time between watches feels like I sneeze, cough or fart and boom, back to work. Then, after my evening watch, to bed, and the cycle repeats. I had high hopes for this rotation considering other things, (thesis etc.), but I feel like I’ve only been able to scratch the surface. I feel now, more than ever, as though time is not only slipping through my fingers, but also untouchable. As though I can’t even grab a hold of it. Maybe that’s a sign of aging. I’m only 27, but it still feels like every consecutive week speeds by faster and faster. I finished with my fifth draft, and promised you guys that I’d continue TLC, but I’ve been hit with a horrendous writers block, and I’ve only managed to rewrite the first sentence of 5-6 for the whole week....

Return

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Hello, dear Reader, CHAPTER 5 is here! Titled: Spasms . ( Trigger Warning: the chapter contains a vivid description of a seizure). I’m not as happy with the chapter as with the previous four or the ones that follow, and before I finish and add book 5 to part 1, I’ll probably reorientate things around a bit, shifting scenes from here to there. But that’s a worry for a far-off time. For now, go enjoy the new chapter! I’ll keep this post short. But before I go, THANK YOU so much for your patience. I was able to finish with the fifth draft project earlier than expected, after I ramped up the amount of chapters a day to three. Now I’m in a weird spot. That being, I have nothing to add to it… It’s done, for all intents and purposes. Yes, there were still scant typos and phrases I needed to iron out, even some paragraphs that I rewrote and gloss that I cut, but nothing monumental. It’s done. I gave birth to my baby and helped it grow and molded it into the best it could be, and ...

August Update

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  Hello, dear Reader, To start off, no new chapter today. Most of my off-duty time aboard I’ve spent working on the fifth draft of my novel. So I hope chapters 5-1 to 5-4 have kept you entertained. And I’m sorry I’ve left you on a cliffhanger. By my estimation, I give it ten to twelve days until the fifth draft is done. How that short of a time? You ask. Well. The novel is separated into three parts, sandwiched between a prologue or prelude, and an epilogue. Part one and three have eight chapters in total, while part two has ten. I’ve finished part 1, after meticulously going through each chapter, a chapter a day. But now I’m looking to crank it up to two chapters a day, because from part 2 onwards things begin ramping up and I need a wider bird’s eye if you catch what I mean. I was honestly expecting myself to cringe at my own writing, having had the thing tucked away for a year, but DAMN! Reading it after twelve months of hibernation, (though I’ve ironed out many flaws and ...