75K Words in 2020s

I finished my VR challenge ride last night. It was a 24-mile ride through southern New York. It was very lush and green for the most part. I’ll be back in Lithuania tonight, continuing my way down to Greece.

I’ve got over 75K words done on my story! It’s something I’m doing just for fun. I don’t see myself sharing it. If I do share anything, it will be complete stories. I’ve always hated it when people only share a few chapters here and there, and I assume they would find that annoying if I did that as well. I’ve had people give me links to their “novels,” only to find out there was no novel, just a chapter, and no more ever got added. I don’t finish everything I start, but I won’t share it unless I do.

It seems that romance writers are the only ones who are never questioned, but whenever you write suspense, mystery, or horror, people want to know why. My preferred genre is mystery/suspense—no blood, gore, or anything smutty. I used to write some explicit scenes, but this way, I can appeal to a wider audience if I decide to share anything by keeping it G-rated.

To answer the question of why—well, there have been so many real-life nightmares that I couldn’t wake up from, and I couldn’t control or change the events either. In stories, I’m in control, and I know that I can stop it anytime I want. I’m currently writing a story about a violent, delusional woman who is widely hated and usually incarcerated or on the run from the police. Besides the fact that I like suspense in general, I love knowing that “Janelle” is not me. I control her every word and move, too.

Although I would be a day person every day if it were up to me, I do like the different routines I have when I’m on nights versus days, which kind of mixes things up a little. I do similar things on both nights and days, but then again, I don’t. I tend to do more story writing on nights when he’s in bed, and it’s quiet with fewer distractions.

I didn’t take clonazepam the night before last, but I took it last night and had another epically long sleep of over nine hours. I got a sleep score of 90 too! I dreamed I was younger, thinner, and didn’t know Tom, but still had my sleep disorder. Cursed with living with just my mother, who didn’t get it (she never would have if she were alive either), I tried to hold down a waitressing job but couldn’t. So, I came up with the bright idea to join a local brothel, which was a large room with dozens of large beds laid out in rows. I hated the idea of having to have sex with random people but figured I could work whenever I was awake, LOL. Plus, the money was great. They gave me hundreds just for going to talk to them.