Amanda Flieder
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Welcome to the Blog for Amanda Flieder
​Updates on Fridays

Thoughts, Words and Random Ideas...

Stories! Yay!

2/16/2023

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    Hello! I hope your week has been going well as we wrap it up into the weekend. I've been slowly adding chapters my trilogy, The Centurion's Woman, right into Wattpad as I have time. It's going up as a free read, and I'm making sure to flag the chapters that aren't safe for work. (It's not too steamy at all, but might cause a few raised eyebrows if some paragraphs get read over your shoulder lol.)
    Tonight I added a new Short Story to my site! You can check out A Portal Problem Episode 4: A Sword, by clicking here. I'd like to tell you that Low Prince Aston's luck is improving, but...
    Anyhoo, I'm off to throw the kids into bed and hope they stay there. Happy reading!

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PHEW! Been Busy...

1/11/2023

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    Well hello! I can't believe it's been over a year since I last posted in here. I can say, however, it's been a fairly crazy-busy year. Mostly in good ways so I'm not going to complain :)
​    If you're interested, I posted up my novella, An'ji, as a free read on Wattpad. Click on over and check it out if a "coming of age" fantasy is something you'd like to read.
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    On a personal note, our wee freeze-dried foods side hustle has turned into a 40-hour week for me. Can't lie, it's fairly amazing to work at home, and the new friends at markets make for a pretty darn good work environment. It's been a really, really big change for getting used to! Who knew that work could be non-toxic?!
    On the writing side of things... I don't have nearly as much time as I'd like. It's the sordid refrain of every writer, I think, to want more time to write and to instead find one hundred and one things to procrastinate with for any spare time we have lol. I'm happy to say that this year I'm planning to carve writing time into my schedule. I have managed to continue chipping away at stories and manuscripts over the past fourteen months, so at least I've still got a few things on the go to keep me sane and entertained. And OMG isn't reading just the best thing ever?! For the second half of 2022 I shoved hours into my weeks to actually read and I really have to recommend it. It's awesome.
    I hope your 2023 is starting off with good luck and good tidings! Thanks for stopping by to check out the blog :)
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A Fairy: Free Downloads

11/29/2021

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The Portal Problem, Episode 3: A Fairy - by Amanda Flieder
    Hi! The free downloads for The Portal Problem, Episode 3: A Fairy are now available over on the story's page  :)
    Please join me in noting the irony that, with no longer doing regular writing and blog updates, last week I had three days with hours I could spend at my keyboard. I did some drafting and some editing. (Not even all in the same stories!)
    Now join me in being happy that one of our little businesses is taking off a wee bit faster than expected. Not sure how many updates I'll manage in the coming months, but things are
– for the first time in a long time – legitimately looking up. The trick will be to keep things in that direction. I guess we'll find out if life will allow. Hope you get to have a good week!
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A Fairy: Part 3

11/21/2021

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    Another late update, and kind of a sad one (but only a little). Reality has been throwing a lot at me lately with everything happening in the world on top of everything we're doing at home – much like it's been throwing a lot at so many people. Looking at what directions I'd like to pursue and where I'm hoping they can lead has been a big preoccupation for me these past weeks. We've somehow created a few awesome opportunities in our little piece of the world, and I don't have enough hands to grab all of them.
    Which leads to prioritizing, especially with a body like mine that doesn't work very well. (Well, a body that often doesn't work as well as I need it to, and usually with pain involved.) Priorities at the moment are raising the kids, keeping a roof over our heads and food on the table, and finding joy in doing all of it because my husband and I have both worked soul-crushing jobs and really don't want to anymore. (Insert here: can't do it anymore, healthy mental health is needed for the top two priorities to be maintained.)
    Looking at the opportunities we have right now, it's become clear I need to let go of regular writing. It's bringing a lot of joy to me, but also a lot of stress and lost time for other things like movie nights with the kids and keeping up with opportunities that pay bills. So, as of today, writing will sideline and regular blog posts will be stopping for the foreseeable future. 
The Portal Problem Episode 3: A Fairy - by Amanda Flieder
Click the image above to read from the beginning. This is the final part of the story, free downloads will be available soon! :)
    Right now, at 41 years old, I think I've finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up: Entrepreneur. Not something I planned on before now, that's for sure. My parents ran from-home businesses when I was a kid and I already knew the amount of work involved. It's a big part of why I like working for other people so much lol. I'm falling in love with having a freeze-drying business, though; despite the labor involved I really, really want to dedicate the time and effort needed to help our little food business find success. Plus, our other little business of shirts and stickers has grown up a bit more and it's time to give that some honest attention.
    Letting go of regular writing feels like a good decision right now. I'll still be posting up short stories on my Wattpad and in my Short Stories as I finish them, but not on a regular schedule. I like this new direction life is taking. It's terrifying and exciting so it must be a big enough change to be worth it. I hope life treats you well, and that you get to have an excellent week. Happy reading!

3. A Lizard

        Aston ducked behind a rocky outcropping and caught his breath to listen for any pursuit. The poachers sounded like they were remaining in place to search the small clearing where they’d lost the fairy. They were still yelling at the one Aston had struck with the branch, mostly that trees didn’t attack people. He huffed a quiet chuckle and then looked around for any of the familiar landmarks he’d noted while running toward the fight, spotting a certain knotted and twisted tree not too far off.
        He set his hand on the ground for the fairy to be able to step off easily. “I suppose you’d prefer to be on your way?” he asked.

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A Fairy: Part 2

11/12/2021

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    Happy Friday! Things have been so busy this week I barely know if I'm even doing anything useful anymore... I suppose I have to assume that 'useful' is relative, and getting the things done is the important part. I'm pretty sure we have our freeze dried stock quantities for small markets figured out (mostly), and people keep finding our shirt and sticker website (which is awesome), so it's just the tasks of keeping up with demands.
    It's a cool problem to have lol.
The Portal Problem, Episode 3: A Fairy - by Amanda Flieder
Click the image to read from the beginning :)
    Aside from being a cool problem, it's also a time-eating monster of multiple daily tasks and I've had zero writing time this week. Free time typically only happened around bedtime so most of it went into watching some Netflix and – yesterday, a really bad anxiety day for almost no reason – a surprise hour without Must Do Right Now activities got relegated to playing a Roblox obby with the kids.
    I'm still happily confused about playing Roblox being an anxiety coping strategy for me. I haven't truly enjoyed video games since I was about eleven years old and my grandmother let me play Doctor Mario on her Nintendo. (To be fair, simple games like that as phone apps are still my go-to for brain distractions. Bubble Witch 2 has been my favorite recent app for years lol.)
    I find the apps distract my brain without helping, though. All the anxiety is still there when I turn off the app. The nice part about Roblox is that I can play even for only an hour and it calms down my anxiety. No idea why it works for me, but I'm not going to start questioning it. Simple obbys make my brain happy, and focused happiness causes a confuddled retreat of my anxiety monster back into the corner. Wonderfully nifty little reset for me whenever I can carve out time for it, so I try to carve out the time on days when I need it. Easier said than done, I know, but healthy coping strategies do work well when used. Who knew?
    I guess now it's time to post this up, log off, and get started on today's to-do list. First on my list: breakfast and coffee. Lol. I hope you get to have a great weekend!

2. Mercenary Morals

        Draessellor tasted and sniffed the air more than usual as they were eating. Aston knew the behaviour meant there was another person around, but ‘around’ could mean anywhere from nearby to three days away depending on that person’s hygiene and if they were upwind. That estimate narrowed quickly to nearby when someone cried out in surprise within a distance Aston could hear. Metal clanged and there were more shouts.
        Aston stood and turned, easily finding the direction the sounds of a scuffle were coming from. Draessellor stayed seated, tearing off and methodically chewing another bite of venison.
        The noise of the fighting changed from scuffling to definite attackers and a single voice of being attacked. “Don’t you think we should...?” Aston left the question hanging and gestured toward the noises.

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A Fairy: Part 1

11/5/2021

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    So, earlier this Fall we decided to start doing local markets with our freeze dried foods business. Covid restrictions have been good for small markets so far, as in the people working them and attending all understand and typically comply happily (or without loud complaints). Plus, working markets seemed a great opportunity to grow our business without over-committing ourselves due to being able to set our own schedule. We did a couple of markets, then the Delta Variant rolled into the province on high speed and two markets we were booked for were postponed.
    They're now happening this month. As are the two markets we'd planned on having tables at. November no longer has weekends lol. Wish us luck!
    As for a writing update, I got a new office chair
– it's so comfy! I had no idea my old chair had died to that extent – and I've unfortunately gotten very few hours to sit in it. Story ideas are stuck in my head at the moment; they have to wait. Editing is my go-to when I get writing time. It's funny to me how I can fall in love with every story over and over each time I come back for a revision pass after letting the manuscripts sit. That makes editing, a task many writers seem to not like, so enjoyable to me.
    Anyhoo, off and running again.
(The market for this weekend starts tonight!) The story starting today is a continuation of a short story series I started a couple of years ago, The Portal Problem. It's a very interesting fantasy world to me, so welcome back. I hope you get to have a great weekend :)

1. Traveling Woes

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        “We could at least have gotten a horse for me,” Aston muttered, looking back at the small valley they’d gone the long way around.
        The roads in and out of the valley were wide and well maintained, horses and wagons plentiful from the glimpses he could catch, and the amount of smoke boasted evidence of a large settlement. Midday bells rang out cheerfully and Aston slouched longingly; bells meant the town down there was there big enough for bells.
        “We could’ve gone for a meal with actual spices in it!” Aston called, turning to see his Reptillian protector and travelling companion wasn’t waiting for him at all. Again.

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Hide and Seek: Part 2

10/31/2021

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    A special Sunday update so my Halloween story for this year is finished in time for some creepy evening reading. Plus, the free downloads are available! :)
    We carved up pumpkins this morning, ones we grew in our own garden this summer. The kids chose happy faces and these have to be the most joy filled jack o' lanterns I've ever seen. We'll only have them out for a few hours tonight, then into the fridge with them because - oh my goodness! - garden pumpkins taste absolutely amazing compared to the store-bought flavor I'm used to. I can't wait to make muffins and then try baking a pumpkin pie for the first time! 
Hide and Seek by Amanda Flieder
Click the image to read the complete story :) FREE downloads available!
    This weekend's pain management has just been rest. I'm completely over-using my body right now and things are not holding up well. Our shirts and stickers business has been busy, as well as our freeze dried foods business (we'll be doing a bunch of small markets throughout November and that's really exciting), and general at-home-mom-job things all combined in the past couple of weeks to simply be too much. Thankfully I could spend half of yesterday in bed. And the past two nights I was able to overcome the anxiety monsters before 1am so got adequate sleep for the first times in... let's not count that, okay?
    Moral of the story: be nice to your body because chronic pain issues can really hurt a lot more when combined with strains, possible stress fractures, and pinched nerves.
    Tonight, though, with a bit of pain meds and some willful ignoring of pain signals, I'll be able to go out with the kids for a couple hours of covid-safe Trick or Treating. I'm really hoping the neighbor who had a candy bucket duct taped to the top of the remote control car is again delivering candy to the end of the driveway in the same creative way. My kids absolutely loved the "RC Delivery" last year.
    I hope you're having a great weekend!
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        Dinnah’s my best friend in the whole world, baby Stacy. When she was my size, we’d sit in the closet when she was sad and I’d sing to her until she was happy again. Shh-shh-shh, don’t cry. She’ll be here in just a moment and she can warm you right up. See? She’s got a puffy, warm coat on and a little holder inside just for you. See? Here she is. I told you she’d be here and keep you warm.
        Dinnah? I know I said I wanted to play on the swings, but I can see your breath and I saw baby Stacy’s, too, when we first came out before you zipped her into your coat so I think it’s too cold for you and baby Stacy to play outside. And it’s very dark and very late for a baby to play out here…

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Hide and seek: Part 1

10/29/2021

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    Hello! This is a weird little story, which makes it perfect for Halloween weekend. I'll post up Part 2 on Sunday as this isn't the story that I want to start on November 5.
    Happy Halloween!
Silver moon on a dark night above a field light painted to show yellowed grasses
Photo by Luca, www.unsplash.com

Part 1

        ​Hi, Dinnah. It’s very late to play, isn’t it? You’re crying. Did you have a bad dream? Here, tuck into my blanket. I’ll always share my blanket any time with you.
        In the closet it is safe and all the toys each have a place.
        It’s like a little rhyme, you know? I still like rhyming. Do you still like rhyming? Do you remember this one from when we first met: I am Alice and I like to play, so we’ll be friends all night and day?

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Posting Break

10/24/2021

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    No updates this weekend, no story parts to post, and so I totally forgot to make a note in here on Friday that... this week there aren't any updates lol. A new story will be starting on November 5, and I'll have a Halloween update on October 29. See you then!
Check out my Short Stories! Come and read for free :)
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Daion Echoes through Transglass: Ebooks!

10/15/2021

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Daion Echoes through Transglass by Amanda Flieder
Now that this novella is completely blogged, the FREE ebooks are available! Click the image above to grab your download :)
    There's been a lot of irony in my house this week as I tell my kids – daily – to go to bed on time to make sure they're getting enough sleep... and then I stay up way too late every night lol. The work/life balance is made of a lot of blurred lines when the work is home-based. And I like doing it, so it doesn't really feel like working. At least, not until I'm exhausted and ready for the weekend but it's only Wednesday... 
    Maybe if I put even more alarms in my phone as reminders of things like "hey, time for supper" and "don't stay up until 2am"? More reminders will help, right? Right?!
    Completely unrelated* to the above paragraphs, the kids have Monday and Tuesday next week off school due to school board Professional Development days, and I'm so, so happy for another long weekend.

* Yeah, no, totally related lol.
    As for writing, I got a couple hours in on editing, a new story idea ambushed my brain, and I think I know which short story to start in November. I've narrowed it down to a choice between a couple of my stories, at least. (*Whispers*: that's a lie. I'm lying. I have, like, five stories that are close to ready and I can get editing passes done on to start at the beginning of November. Each of them is the one I want to start posting whenever I'm editing it. This decision is becoming harder than it really needs to be.)
    Those municipal elections I was ranting about a couple of weeks ago? They're officially scheduled for this coming Monday. Most people I know already voted at the advanced polls, so we're all just waiting for word of how things are going to be. I really hope a couple of my chosen candidates get elected. Due to the outcome of the federal election we just had, I don't have high expectations that what I'm hoping for will happen, but unsinkable optimism for the win because I'm still hopeful.
    Otherwise in life, we'll be working at an outdoor vendor market tomorrow (October 16) at the Lessard Community Hall in Edmonton. We'll be hocking our freeze-dried candies, treats, fruits and veggies to the masses. I'm looking forward to it. In my very limited experience, selling candy at a farmers-market style event is the very best form of retail work. I hope you get to have a great weekend!
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    AManda FLIEDER

    A weekly blog updating on Fridays with quick personal blurbs about me, as in what's going on during my life as an Author and mom, and that doles out my short stories and novellas in bite-sized parts for everyone to read for free!

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