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Dogs can’t live forever. Not even as long as a people can. And believe me, she believed with all her might that she was a people. She ate enough people food, mostly stolen, that she convinced herself she was turning into a human girl. But one people year is seven years of dog-year aging. And she was 98 by that measure. And she had doggy breast cancer, complete with a big nasty tumor.

Yesterday, in the veterinarian’s office, she laid down and went to sleep, leaving me and my daughter and my two sons and my wife behind. My fur baby passed away as I stroked her precious head for the last time ever.

She will be writing no more blog posts for me when I am not feeling well. She will no longer be thinking about running over neighborhood cats as she is driving the car. The local rats will fear her no more. And I will never be able to prove to anyone now that she was a talking dog.

We picked her up off the street as a lost puppy fourteen years ago. She apparently escaped from the local pet store and was written off on an insurance claim before the vet could even suggest that that is where she came from. A free Cardigan corgi puppy. She was a priceless part of our lives. She loved us as only a dog can, with ferocity, throwing tantrums and tearing up the trash can when we left her alone in the house.

I shall miss her until the day I die. Sleep well, Jade. You have earned your rest.

I can’t say too much today. My dog passed away. I am sad.

Billy Martin, Norwall Pirate

A Nebulon boy inside a space whale cruiser.

Ricky Porter-Baily, Norwall Pirate

Instagram posts.

Derfentwinkle’s batwing cloak in action.

The Flowergirl in Pen and Ink

Created with two vintage Barbie dolls, Picsart AI Photo Editor, and AI Mirror.I

I have been stalling in midflight. It is almost impossible to stay in the air. Writing has become something I can only concentrate on for a few minutes a day. There are good stories in my head, but they are not being transferred into writing. I have multiple drawings, characters, plots, and themes scattered around me like puzzle pieces I can’t seem to fit together into a whole.

Some members of my doll collection, especially vintage dolls which are hard to find clothes for, end up being nudists and enjoying being naked.

I have to make posts short because my fingers hurt from typing and my missteps and corrections process becomes more frustrating than I can handle.

Here’s a background I loved from the TAP Color App that I didn’t find any use for.

But now I have my complaints in and time used up. So, that’s that.

Yes, I believe that’s a crust from a slice of lemon meringue pie. Cindy was supposed to hold the entire slice until I drew it, but somehow most of it disappeared while I was working on the big brown eyes.

These are illustrations that fit the story. The story itself only exists in my head so far. I am getting organized to write it down. I hope to have the first Canto on paper by next Tuesday. By that I mean a digital copy, of course.

Nebulons are fictional aliens that I invented. They are childlike even in adulthood. Their skin is blue. They have two red radiation-dampening organs on their cheeks and are uniquely immune to exotic radiations in space.

The Nebulon Pod Prince is the villain of the story. He’s a leader of Clan Vorranac and has evil designs on higher levels of power and authority.

The cover portrait is Cissy. But this may also be a human character in the story.

Dajon is technically a Nebulon. But as he is the grandchild of former slaves to the Imperium, he is the victim of recessive genes and slaver ancestors.

Tayjon is Dajon’s brother, and this is what Dajon feels he should look like.

I usually don’t create a cover until I have several chapters done. And this writing project has nothing at all written down for it. So, I guess I better get started. I will introduce the writing project in the novel-writing post tomorrow on Tuesday. It is about time I get started on novel writing again.

It is not like the story doesn’t already exist in my head. The greater story arc existed in my head even before I finished the first Cissy Moonskipper novella.