Another fun cat story has purred its way into my heart. This time it takes place in the Thule world. The men are set up for a Viking board game, but Magnihild’s cat is playing his own game in “The Ginger Gambit.” Now just eight stories left before the end of the challenge.

C.L. Polk (who wrote the amazing Witchmark) told me her twist writing methodology is to “know what you want the truth to be in the end, and then figure out how you can misdirect or misconstrue that so you can lead the reader down the garden path in the first half.” She outlines backwards and writes forwards.

I tried her method because I want to get better at twists. I ended up with a nice twist at the end, but then one of the characters looked at my twist, said ‘Hold my mead’ and gave me an even twistier twist. So a combination of planning and writing into the dark worked here. I have other recommendations to try with twists that I plan to try going forward.

I do not plan to write about the pandemic here. There are many excellent places you can get your news. But I will pass on this tip. This is likely a black swan event that will result in changes to all of our lives going forward, not just because of the virus but because of all the follow on effects on the economy.

I am a patron of Kristine Kathryn Rusch who just wrote two amazing posts on the topic of how to deal with black swan events as a business person, how to think about them, how to react to them, and how to plan for them. I can’t recommend these posts highly enough. Typically patrons get early access to her blog posts, so chances are she’ll post these in the next two weeks. But they are worth your attention now. Take a look and consider becoming a patron.

One thing that becomes clear reading her analysis is that we should all make a serious assessment of our lives, finances, and how we will go forward in a changed world. In business talk, what are our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. What’s the worst that could happen? What’s the best? How will we cope in a variety of expected outcomes? Where does our heart lie? Finally, how do we proceed from a place of kindness and compassion? Who do we want to be when we come through the other side?

All I have are questions, but I think they are the right questions. I’ll be asking them of me and my husband. I hope you are also planning in the face of this great disruption. And I hope you will come out the other side with greater prosperity and joy.

Be well, friends. And stay well.