# Preface Date: 21 February 2026 The week was a bit scatter brained in what I wrote about. What I wrote about most was when I gathered quotes and notes about this essay called "Create Dangerously" by Edwidge Dandecat. We're talking a lot about WHY we write in my creative writing class. I'll see about publishing this piece, but I want to wait until closer to the end of the semester. Mostly because I want to make sure my citations are accurate and findable. # Part 1: Non-Fiction ### 1.1 College 2.0 (what I can share, anyway) The two things I've been having the most difficulty with has been Project Castro and my motivation letter. I've had the realization that I don't like talking about myself. And doing so in a formal manner is even worse. So I'm toiling over that potion as it simmers. I still feel pressure to get it done soon, however, as I'd like to get accepted into a German grad school sooner than later. accidental essay about "Create Dangerously" = 1,359 words. # Part 2: Fiction As far as fiction is concerned, I'm working on the skeleton of Project Castro. What needs to happen is I need to figure out what kinds of decisions need to be made by the player and how many choices they get in each conversation. That and background information on all of the characters is needed to know what they would say. I also added an "insane option" for everything. I'm working on that, but it should hopefully add some replayability to this visual novel. The deadline for Anxiety Potion is fast coming up. I've had a couple of writing sessions and this upcoming week is the time to put it all together and submit it. I'll keep the blog updated on what happens with that. ## 2.1 Short Story Titled: Anxiety Potion Word count: 874 Synopsis: A Berkeley witch falls for a singer in a band and sets out to make herself a potion to calm her nerves. Notes: I added some information that should add to the weight of this story. It's a short story, so I'm expanding on it as carefully as I can with the deadline looming. ## 2.2 Project Madison Flame Word count: Synopsis: Notes: Nothing this week. ## 2.3 Project Moonshadow Word count: Synopsis: Notes: Nothing this week. ## 2.4 Project Castro Word count: 414 Synopsis: Notes: Mostly background information. But needed background. ## 3. Substack **Please note:** I'm stacking my fiction and (eventually) non-fiction for Fridays in future. So you won't immediately see the content for Substack. It's queued up. ### 3.1 Flash Fiction Friday XXX "Prompt" Titled: Date: Word count: Synopsis: Notes: This is my submission for [**@flashfictionfridayofficial**](https://www.tumblr.com/flashfictionfridayofficial/). This is a weekly prompt that I try to participate in every week. Some weeks I can’t think of anything, other weeks I do. ## 4. Link Roundup Below is a complete list of this week's links. I realize that if I'm gonna be showing off, the least I can do is have all my links in one basket, rather than scatter them about. They aren't seeds. Plus it makes it easier when I do this on Sunday. Oops, looks like I don't have anything to share this week. Alas. ### 4.1 Substack ### 4.2 Tumblr ### 4.3 The Kitchen Sink # Conclusion The group that I generally write my flash fiction with took the week off to catch up on reading and reevaluate their rules. And someone came up with another prompt. I intended to write something, but there were several days this week that I found I needed a break. So I took it easy where I could. I'm still working, even when I need a break. It's because I need to stay busy somehow! I promise. I also tried to catch up on my studies with New Masters Academy. I'm still on week 3 (values) and it's been sitting there waiting on me for weeks. My brain is always on, never stopping. So I must continue with ***something***. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week! The below table is mostly for myself. But if you, like me, enjoy seeing numbers go up in any capacity, then this may be for you as well. It's meant to be an encouragement to keep on writing. I tally up all the different categories of writing that I contribute to. I keep track of them monthly. | Word Type | Monthly Totals | | --------------------- | -------------- | | Project Castro | 414 | | Project Moonshadow | | | Flash Fiction Fridays | | | Non-Fiction | 1,359 | | Short Story | 874 | | TTRPG | | | College 2.0 | 394 | | Grand Total | **3,041** |