October first (birthday month!), and a dawn to match. A lot ahead of us. Sales much needed now, and subscribers and shares, too.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

October first, and dawn didn't disappoint: It's the first really spectacular sunrise of the season. Autumn is my favorite time of year, and this is my favorite month (although November and December aren't far behind on that scale). Yes, yes, it's my birthday month, but more to the point, it's when the temperature is most comfortable and the world is most beautiful. This month, the light here will be pure magic.

Wings always says I should celebrate my birthday for the whole month. After the year I've had (and especially this summer), I'm going to make an effort to do exactly that. That means that, no matter how overloaded I am (and I'm overloaded beyond description right now), I'm going to take a little time out for myself each day for something I love, even if it's nothing more than sitting with my coffee watching the sun rise or staring out at the turning leaves. I can't afford to buy myself things, but I can set aside time to sit and breathe.

And heaven knows I need it. As I said, this past week has been a massive drain, physically, mentally, financially. There's a lot more to come; I'm mired in paperwork right now (and yes, still the migraine to match). I have a hugely busy week ahead of me, and I may not be around much. The crew won't be here, either; we can't afford them while we've got all this other stuff looming, not least of which is the medical bills. The truck is still backfiring because it apparently also needs a new exhaust system (not surprising, given that it's probably the one thing on it, save the body, that hasn't been replaced at least once). I've got to find ways of bringing in more scratch, and I have no idea how, but it has to happen. I spend my days chasing sales and trying to figure out other ways to raise revenue, and it's wearing badly on my health at this point (as if that weren't already precarious enough). Among other things, today's the first day to get in on subscribing to my Patreon for the month of October (if you subscribe today, you'll get access to the coming month's content at the relevant level, but you won't be billed until November 1st). I have a ton of pieces in the works, and no time lately to work on any of them, unfortunately, because every spare minute is spent chasing money. There'll be plenty more of the last today, along with everything else, and I need to get to it, so the rest is cut-and-paste.

There are a lot of ways to help out. First, obviously, is sales; purchases of Wings's work (and/or work by the other artists whose art we carry) is always the first option, and it was the baseline for the construction in the first place. [And next week will be their last, most likely, because he don't have the cash to pay them beyond that for the labor — and right now, it's virtually all labor.] Second is subscribing to my Patreon page, which gets updated regularly with really cool imagery and a good amount of really good writing; if you now for September, you won't be billed until October 1st. Below there's also a link for "coffee," which allows folks to make small donations, and a couple of wishlists for keeping the animals in kibble and filling out needs around the house. In the middle is the link to Wings's PayPal account, and no, I won't turn away any donations, because we have to get this done and I have to have some peace of mind over it because I have none over my own survival these days). The only fundraising we'll be doing is right here; nowhere else. So here are all the links; please share them around, and if you are able to purchase, subscribe, donate, whatever, we'd be profoundly grateful:

• My new Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds);
• Wings's site, for sales, with new items posted;
• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount);
• Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of animal and household stuff;
• Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. There are new kitchen-y things on it now, stuff that I didn't realize we'd need to replace (either because the RV ruined it or because we gave it away when we had to downsize).

That all I've got. I'm going to be back under the gun for the next several weeks. Thanks to everyone in advance. Yes, little Bent-Beak is still rocking away, acting like her old self, save for the missing tail. The pups, along with Raven, are now racing up the stairs every morning to get me up something after 5 AM each day, so apparently this is my permanent get-up time now.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.