But as I was saying, the cellmate can make or unmake the mood of the cell.
Avara was an unmaker, greedy and selfish, and unafraid to lie about the rules of the games she played.
In war, my troops would come under withering fire from a nearby end table; with ten units of infantry on each side, I hadn't even bothered to ask whether selling my troop's daggers would be enough to buy two units of archers. Archers, I might add, with pinpoint accuracy when aiming at my leaders and sergeants.
In spinning wheel, I was undone because I hadn't thought to meld spinning wheel and loom into a singular device. Even when I asked, she was unable to draw the combination, only to insist that it allowed her to produce nine times the cloth that mine was … and that since I couldn't visualize it, I was unable to build one. <1>
I won't lie; I took most of this month off. I knew I should be writing, or working on the outline, and I did none of that. In fact, I hardly touched my computer or phone at all.
It wasn't glorious, and life still happened. My desires continued to eclipse my available budget. Life happened, storms came and passed, and I realized that while writing is a part of my life, it doesn't have to be.
Don't worry; it's coming back. I'm determined, more than ever, to finish what I've begun. It's just that I've swung to the other end of the spectrum. I could stop if I wanted to. Everyone who knows someone with a bad habit knows how that ends.
Thank you, so very much, for hanging with me while I figured that out. New month, new chapters. Because knowing you, the readers, enjoy my work means more to me than my own enjoyment creating it.