I’ve been having some nasty, building symptoms of a brand new retread of an old health issue. Managed to add those up and recognize it last weekend, and got to the doctor for it yesterday. Treatment has commenced.

(Ulcers. Ulcers suck. Doc thinks it might be NSAIDs tipping the scales on stress, so we’re starting with just PPI and H2 acid blockers.)

So, I’m not eating well, because eating makes my stomach hurt, and not eating makes my stomach hurt, so I’m eating a little, but not what I should be. Which makes me tired and shaky. Not eating well also means I’m more prone to my blood sodium taking a nose-dive, which makes me feel worse,* but I’m working that angle, too.

I am very, very glad I went ahead and got the new task chair** for my desk. It’s easier to get my mind in work mode at my desk than it is in my recliner. Or my bed.

Even with that, I’m working. Because my characters won’t STFU and let me suffer in peace.

Right now, it’s the Greek and Norse pantheons being noisy assholes.

So, last week, I had a logjam of chapters. Three. Different POV characters for all of them. I figured, fine–I’ve got other things I can work on, I’ll just pull up another project and keep going. I mean, Chop Shop is one of…three? I think three projects I’ve got going.

I forgot what assholes the pantheons could be. I couldn’t get any traction in anything, and I still had that logjam of story/chapters that I couldn’t clear. I’d try to write on one, and the others would get louder so that I couldn’t. So I’d switch to one of the louder ones, and…yeah.

Yesterday or the day before, Hera stepped up on something so she could be tall enough to get everybody’s attention, and yelled at them all to sit down, shut up, and take turns, and by the way, she was going first.

That means I’m writing Hera’s story first. Because she’s got the talking stick, and isn’t afraid to beat on the others…or the author. And even though she’s confused and kind of babbling and not making sense? She still has the stick.

Once I’m done with Chop Shop, I’ll be bouncing between working on another short story collection (I think sci-fi themed), and Second Life Chevy. It may be a while, though.

*Did you know that low blood sodium will kill you faster than high blood pressure? You’ve got a little electric sparker in your heart to cause the muscle fibers to contract. It needs sodium to function. If your blood sodium drops too low…you end up disoriented, nauseated, and feel like there’s something going very wrong. You can start to gray out at that point. Little bit lower, and you start having chest pain, palpitations, and major confusion. Much lower than that, you can just…slip into unconsciousness. Too low, and your heart will just stop because the electrical sparker stops working.

But high blood pressure will kill you, too–just slower. Be mindful.

**My new task chair has a foot rest and reclines. Which means I can keep working at my desk when I start feeling awful.