1001 Reasons Not To Clean - #81 through #85

Welcome to 1001 Reasons Not to Clean!The main goal of this series is to see if I can actually reach 1001 reasons, 5 reasons at a time (the final post, if I get there, will be 6 reasons). I'm sure I can. It's not just my crazy brain being unrealistic, right? Links to previous posts are below. And feel free to share your excuses, and they might get added to my list (with credit, of course)!

#1 through #5 ~ #6 through #10 ~ #11 through #15 ~ #16 through #20 ~ #21 through #25 ~ #26 through #30 ~ #31 through #35 ~ #36 through #40 ~ #41 through #45 ~ #46 through #50 ~ #51 through #55 ~ #56 through #60 ~ #61 through #65 ~ #66 through #70 ~ #71 through #75 ~ #76 through #80

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81. You don't want to clean. Hubbie doesn't want to clean (sometimes you think he might actually clean more than you do). Why fight it? Binge all 10 seasons of The Blacklist together instead!

82. There's this double time challenge you've decided to test yourself with. Writing goals? Yeah, try to double them! This means more writing time. But something's got to fall off the list to make room. Cleaning - see ya never!

83. Your middle schooler insists on regaling you with every moment of her day. Yes, all those unimportant details. When she's finally done, an hour has passed, and you neither have the time nor the energy to do anything other than nap.

84. The middle schooler might chat your ear off, but the teenager prefers hiding in her room. Every time you look in there, the mess has multiplied. It oozes across the table you told her not to pile stuff on, and spills onto the floor so you can barely walk. No matter how often you tell her to pick up, she belligerently agrees, then never does it. And seriously, do you have the energy to force her to clean (or gods forbid, clean it yourself), when you avoid your own chores? Nope.

85. Oh, it's been far too long since I've chosen a game as a reason... Must plant flowers in Pikmin Bloom! Hey, at least this one gets you moving. True, vigorous cleaning can also be exercise, but you'd rather collect all the cute decor Pikmin. Mini dopamine hit, for the win!

Writing Update - June 2025

Holy shit, what an awesomely productive writing year so far! I have to scream it to the four quarters as loud as possible, as it's an insane rarity for me.

*shouts as loud as I can about how much writing I've gotten done*

OK, now that I've gotten that out of my system, let's get down to business. First order, my word counters to the left. Right now it's just my For Funsies tracker, and this is because I totally haven't been updating the current project one while plowing through shorter titles. Too much of a pain in the patoot. I'll bring it back when I start drafting another novel, which will be later this year. *knocks on wood*

For a refresher on what my goals for the year were, visit 2025 - Double Time?... or don't. You can read on without any context. Fine by me. XD

2025 Publications

❦ Leave No Dragon Stone Unturned (Magic Morsel, 1) - April 16, 2025

Yes, it was published on time (actually slightly early, as my original target was late May). Right now you can find the ebook and paperback on Amazon, and it's also available via Kindle Unlimited. Barnes & Noble also has a paperback version. The ebook will be available at all other major online retailers in October (and at that time it'll no longer be in Kindle Unlimited).

❦ Intricate Agony (Fortunes of Fate, 8) - July 30, 2025

Wait, wasn't I going to publish this one in fall? Yup. I'm currently revising this story (which clocked in close to 12k for the initial draft), and it should be ready to move to the editing stage in a couple weeks. Plus my newsletter subscribers are getting a sneak peek of the cover today!

❦ Hell's Bells (Devil Made Me, 3) - Late Fall/Early Winter

Not only am I publishing titles early, I'm also adding a third to the publication list this year! The first draft has been written, and wow, Moira is as snarky as ever. A little bit of Christmas in Hell, too.

2025 Writing Progress

*takes a deep breath* This is going to be a fun list!

❦ Revised 35,023 words of Leave No Dragon Stone Unturned, and edited all 79,516 words. Published, as stated above.

❦ Drafted 11,509 words of Intricate Agony (and I'm currently 5,866 words into the revision).

❦ Drafted 14,184 words of Hell's Bells.

❦ Drafted 15,942 words of Hell Of An Unlife (Devil Made Me, 4) - What the hell (excuse my silly pun)? This wasn't on my original list of goals! Well, I wrote it anyway, and I'm still way ahead of schedule. This is the last title in the series, and I'm aiming to publish it in Spring 2026.

❦ Excluding editing, I've written and revised a total of 82,524 words so far this year. Over halfway through my For Funsies tracker. O.o

❦ I'll be sending my 5th newsletter out today, and I've actually written a blog post every month.

❦ Had fun at Capricon with my writer friends. Fiddling around with Amazon Ads for Leave No Dragon Stone Unturned and the Trinity Torn series (the latter is no longer wide, but in Kindle Unlimited now for a while). Facebook ads were pissing me off again.

2025 Writing Goal Changes

Aside from what was mentioned above in the other sections, I've also decided to veer off into another direction than what I originally had planned. Following the path that leads to the greatest dopamine hit!

❦ Downward Spiral (Urban Unicorn, 1) is back on the postponed list. I had so much fun with Lila and the wacko characters in Leave No Dragon Stone Unturned, so I intend to dive into the next Magic Morsel novel instead! Title still to be determined. I'll likely draft it first and then settle on another twisted idiom.

❦ Not only do I have revisions and edits to do for Hell's Bells now, but I'd like to clean up Hell Hath No Fury and Hell On Wheels a bit. Not heavy revisions - likely an edit to line up better with my current voice/style.

❦ Shhh, don't tell anyone, but I'm starting to get the itch to return to the Trinity Torn series. No way am I starting the draft of the third novel this year, but I may try to read through the previous titles and note down all the threads that need tying up. I'm really hoping I can end the series in the next book (making it a trilogy)!

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What a long post! That's good, though. It means I've been keeping busy. And Double Time has been working splendidly. Oh, yeah, I'm still on the Yes Writing, Screw Cleaning bandwagon, too. Woe is my poor house. Maybe it'll get more attention next year. Or never...