Getting There Slowly
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: making slow and steady progress; next week’s prognosis; this week on TikTok; and the progress report with an update on my week-on-week sales and writing progress.
Slow and steady movement
It has been a WEEK, as I suggested last time. I managed to wrangle my schedule into a shape that kind of works, and stuck to it. My essay drafts went in on time, so now I’m focusing on trying to get through as much of the work I’m behind on as possible before the next wave of deadlines hits.
It’s funny how sometimes you see something that hits you at exactly the right time. I’ve had a stop-start relationship with watching The 100, a show I absolutely love by the way, and would have watched all through in one go if I could have. But I started it in 2021, watched the first two seasons, then lost access to Prime (I tended to do one month of the free trial a year, then turn it back off…!). Then we went for getting Prime permanently last year as we’d run out of things that were new to watch on Disney+, and it made sense to switch. Finally!! I don’t think it was the first thing we started watching again, but when I realised we could, I was right in there. Unfortunately, four years is a long time, so we had to rewatch seasons 1 and 2 again, then season 3… and right about then, Heated Rivalry dropped on NowTV and I was so desperate to watch it, I went for a NowTV month.
Or so I thought.
After a month of frantically watching HR and then as many episodes of Fear the Walking Dead as we could fit in, I realised I’d accidentally subscribed for a year, sooooo… now we were watching Fear the Walking Dead and also stumbling sideways into watching SNL thanks to the HR boys, and my beloved 100 were getting neglected again. Finally, my husband agreed that I could watch The 100 whenever I had TV time for myself, instead of waiting to watch it together! I’m getting through an average of an episode a day. And wouldn’t you know it - right as I’m in the exact place where I need to hear it, in season 4, Bellamy Blake says, “We save who we can save today.”
Well, I’m not trying to save anyone’s life in a post-apocalyptic scenario, but I AM trying to tackle a workload that threatens to drown me constantly. This latest burnout with my new medical issues is hitting me harder than ever, so I’m relying on a new motto: We do what we can get done today. No getting upset when I can’t finish what I planned for the day. No beating myself up if I fall behind. (Or at least, an attempt not to). I just do what I can do today. That’s all I can ask of myself, and all anyone else can reasonably ask of me, too. I just do that and move on to the next day to do it again.
If this keeps working, I might need to get a new tattoo!
Upcoming topics for this newsletter include current thoughts on Best Picture watches from yesteryear (again); something about Love, Simon’s structure; trees in Wuthering Heights, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and Jane Eyre (20% done); and a conspiracy theory fiction piece from another contest.
Next week’s predictions
Next week, I have not one but three diagnostic appointments booked in a row, one day after another. I’m also going back into therapy (first appointment is tomorrow) so if I gel with this therapist, I’m expecting to fit in another appointment next week as well. Unfortunately, these days do fall over my usual posting day. I’ll hope to get something written up anyway - maybe even if it’s late - but if I don’t, you’ll know why.
I’m somewhat tempted to take this excuse not to post on purpose, because I have a stupidly long unbroken streak of weekly posts that Substack keeps reminding me of. If I break it, some pressure to keep posting goes away. On the other hand, I do enjoy meaningless achievements, so let’s see.
Each week, I share the one TikTok video that performed best out of the last seven days.
All of these videos are available on TikTok for free, but if you’re a) not a TikTok user or b) just want the best highlights, this is a convenient place to see it.
This week’s best is below, and it’s this stupid intro video. I hate algorithms sometimes:
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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 - 1,285, paperback/hardback - 60, KU pages read - 877,787, 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 - 37,281
Serial Investigations full series (Pre-Substack releases: books 1-12, 2 bonus novellas, 2 boxsets): ebook - 600, paperback/hardback - 119, KU pages read - 513,526, free downloads - 4,825 - Exactly 600 ebook sales makes my maths brain happy~~
WRITING:
Project Darling: cover design bought, research underway, idea generated…
Project Survivor: First submission rejected, chapter 6 started
Project Emergency Crime: Idea solidified, characters created
Hydropower: Hiatus, new plot done in detail
Dark romance project: cover design bought, initial ideas started
Serial Investigations: Hiatus, books 13-20 loosely planned
Crowhill Club: all covers, themes, and titles done, characters created and romances/interpersonal relationships between books set up
Client status: Free!
SUBSTACK:
Subscribers: free - 102, paid - 1
Followers: 647
CONSUMING:
Read: Powerless by Elsie Silver (PR book), H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald (uni book), The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives by Elizabeth Arnott (PR book)
Reading: These Days by Lucy Caldwell, Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit (uni book), Reckless by Elsie Silver (PR book)
Watched and watching: Fear the Walking Dead s4, SNL s51, The 100 S4, Survivor Australia S7/5, The Masked Singer UK
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
I think we started watching The 100 a while ago and for some reason didn't get into it, but as we *also* are running out of things to watch, might have to give it another go based entirely on your mention of it... 😂