At least I'm consistent
News from Crowhill Cove
A summary for you on what to expect in this edition in case you want to scroll down to the interesting bits: uni stuff; medical stuff; and the progress report with an update on my week-on-week sales and writing progress.
Consistently inconsistent
I got another couple of grades back this week, and it’s been a rollercoaster ride. I got my joint highest mark in one and my joint lowest mark in another. In fact, it exactly mirrors last module’s scores. The grade weighting hasn’t been listed correctly but I somewhat suspect I once again managed to get a higher score in the less important essay, but there we are. At least that’s three more posts sorted out for here in the coming months.
I think it might now have reached a mathematical point where a first is not going to happen, although I need that weighting to be 100% sure. But a 2:1 is still within grasp. I just need to make sure I do really well on the dissertation. So, like, no pressure. Do a Masters degree, they said! You’ll be much better equipped to deal with it as an adult, they said!
Mind you, they didn’t mention the book on full request from a major publisher I’d be working on at the same time as my dissertation proposal, or the parenting that has intensified around my son’s imminent school start, or the health problems, or the other major life stuff, or the 300 client consultations going on to try and fix the fact that I don’t currently have client work on, or or or…
Upcoming topics for this newsletter include current thoughts on Best Picture watches from yesteryear (several posts underway); something about Love, Simon’s structure; trees in Wuthering Heights, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and Jane Eyre (25% done); a series of essays about The 100, continuing the show’s exploration of ecocriticism (queued); an essay about walking; a critical essay about my essay about walking (lol); and an essay about gender in walking (I’ve been studying a module about walking) (all three of which 80% done).
Just in time for disabled pride month…
This week, I partook in the age-old disabled person’s tradition of being ignored by a medical practitioner! Yay!
When I tell you this woman made up her mind about me from the moment I walked into the room. She knew nothing of my history and had not read my medical file, and the first words out of her mouth were, “This is usually related to stress or weight gain”. Now, we’re talking about a problem that has come and gone for 10, or probably if we’re honest closer to 20, years. Including when I was at my skinniest, during a period of time when I didn’t have enough money to buy food and was literally gradually starving. This didn’t bother my specialist. She didn’t need to read my medical record or even listen to the symptoms I described. I know this because she wrote down my symptoms incorrectly in the discharge letter she sent to my GP! Fun!!
Her advice at the end of all this was to spend in the region of £60 - £150 a month on private weight loss drugs, for at least a year, and then see if the symptoms went away. She gleefully told me at this time I would then be able to come off the contraceptive pill with no problems. Mind you, this was not an appointment about me wanting to come off the contraceptive pill. I made no mention of wanting to come off it. That was her own little gleeful addition.
So, there you have it. All I need to do is increase my stress levels by spending money I don’t have on weight loss that will be temporary since one of my symptoms is in fact weight gain, and then I, too, will be freed from the yoke of a medication I literally don’t even mind taking. So, all my problems are now solved, I guess.
I’m going back to the GP for another referral.
Books
Okay, you've read the Substack posts (and maybe you're a little bit confused if that's where you started). Wondering who all of these characters are? Thinking you need a refresher on past books?
Each week, I share the latest update from Operation Published! If you’re looking for the best bits from the week, please do follow me on TikTok instead.
All of these videos are available on TikTok for free, but if you’re a) not a TikTok user or b) just want the highlights, this is a convenient place to see it.
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Note: Changes are in bold, comments in italics.
TOTAL SALES:
Crowhill Cove series (Don’t Move Out, Don’t Go Outside, Don’t Fly Home, Don’t Leave Town, Don’t Check Out, the 1-5 boxset, and Don’t Move Your Desk): ebook - 1,288, paperback/hardback - 60, KU pages read - 886,001, free downloads - 6,304
Crowhill Kitchen series (Kiss The Cook, Cook Up A Storm, Too Many Cooks, What’s Cooking, Good Looking, Cooking on Gas): ebook - 73, paperback - 10, KU pages read - 40,068
Serial Investigations full series (Pre-Substack releases: books 1-12, 2 bonus novellas, 2 boxsets): ebook - 693, paperback/hardback - 120, KU pages read - 537,342, free downloads - 4,825
WRITING:
Project Darling: cover design bought, research underway, idea ready
Project Survivor: First submission rejected, chapter 11 done
Project Emergency Crime: 38k words done
Project Library: Plot outline done, playlist made, Scrivener project ready
Project Hydropower: Hiatus, new plot done in detail
Project Dark Romance: cover design bought, initial ideas started
Serial Investigations: Hiatus, books 13-20 loosely planned
Crowhill Club: Hiatus, all covers and titles done, characters created and romances/interpersonal relationships between books set up
Client status: Free!
SUBSTACK:
Subscribers: free - 104, paid - 1
Followers: 670
CONSUMING:
Read: Contraposto by Dave Eggers (PR book)
Reading: These Days by Lucy Caldwell, A Little Life by Hanya Yanigihara
Watched and watching: Fear the Walking Dead s5, Survivor Australia S7/5, Monthly Magazine House, Flushed Away, The Best Days of Our Lives
By the way, please like this post if you enjoyed it and would like to see more! This helps me decide what to do for future content.
XO Rhiannon
That "doctor" makes me mad! 🤬