Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

Slowly getting back on track.

I have been derailed not once but twice since the beginning of December with flu.

For those who may not know, there is a nasty variant of flu going around the UK. Most people have had it. A lot of people have had to take time off work and it is one of those illnesses where it isn’t just the initial heavy cold and cough which is debilitating but the weeks following which are dogged by fatigue (not particularly great when already suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome).

My first run-in with the flu was in December, and unfortunately, I woke on New Year’s day with another round of it.

It completely derailed all my writing plans for the end of 2024. I barely had energy to do my contracted work never mind any activities outside of work and given the holiday season there was a lot. I had to accept that what I had planned for my writing wasn’t going to happen. Before my second flu episode, I did take the time to replan and consider what I want to focus on this year and this is helping me get back on track.

The first thing on my mind writing-wise is Another Dimension which I have to delay and delay and delay. I’m beginning to feel like some well-known authors who are renowned for missed publication dates and unkept promises. I had started rewriting and had hoped to complete in time to give everyone an early Christmas present. Unfortunately, I had to down tools completely with the flu and as is often the case, trying to pick up the threads to complete it is more difficult after the unwelcome interruption. As a result, I delayed the planned publication into the early part of this year. At the moment, I am planning to publish the second chapter as part of Evil Author Day, with the full fic following in late March.

The second item on my list is the original novel. I just couldn’t gather the energy to make any real progress between illness and work which was very busy (business case was approved, roadmap was approved, training delivered and completed for my own business with the coaching part initiated, and recruitment of a new team member which sucked time like a black hole). I plan to progress a final edit in January, get the book cover sorted in February (because this really is a pain – if anyone has any recommendations of reasonably priced good cover artists I’d love to get them), and publish in early June. I have plotted the second novel in the series, and I am hopeful that if I can get it to an editable draft in the next three months, I potentially could have it ready to be published alongside the first book. It would mean that if people enjoyed the first, the second is ready waiting for them to purchase.

At least there is a plan.

The third disappointment for me last year was the Big Moxie challenges for Q3 and Q4. I just ran out of time for these. The Q3 one I did manage to get published after the fact but not in the challenge deadline, and similarly I am certain I can finish the Q4 soon. I had anticipated finishing it for New Year’s Eve but I was over visiting my Dad in Mauritius and ended up being a bit more exhausted from the travel than I had anticipated. Still it only needs 2000 more words to be done so hopefully I’ll get that finished this week.

The fourth item is my Aftershocks series. I really, really want to complete the season 8 stories this year. Maybe the fact that there is a new Stargate series in the works will help inspire me this year to get that done.

Fifthly, on the poetry front, the three poems I submitted were not successful so I am planning on posting those over the next few weeks. I may try another submission but there is no new submission date deadline yet and as always with poetry (or any kind of writing) I need inspiration to hit.

And finally, I was so exhausted last month that the Writer’s Logs I was diligently doing every fortnight also ended up not being progressed and indeed, this first log of 2026 was meant to be written and up a week ago. I am recommitting to doing a log once a fortnight going forward in 2026.

I would like to do a proper reflection on 2025, but this is on my ‘nice to have’ list alongside a full review of the writing site and its stats (I know just from keeping up with the numbers that I have not published as much as I wanted nor kept the traffic numbers to the level I wanted in 2025 so definitely improvements need to be made, although 2025 did see continuing paid subscriptions and a few donations which are very appreciated as they help to fund the website or go towards my book cover fund).

There is a lot in my writing plan for 2026. I do think it is doable so long as I remain healthy. If I keep getting derailed by flu…not so much.

Right now, I am focused on finishing Another Dimension, the original novel final edit, and prepping for Evil Author’s Day/International Fandom day on 15^th February. Fingers crossed that the new year gets better health-wise and my recovery remains on the rails.

End Note: Please like, comment or share if you enjoyed this writer’s log! If you would like to buy me a coffee in support of my original writing, check out my Ko-fi or my subscription/donation page.