Zachary Reeves-Blurton
@zrblurts.bsky.social
Cat dad and writer. Prone to random musings and procrastinatory rambling as I chip away at my first novel.
Oh. Oops…guess I haven’t been here in a bit. Anyway, we’re up to 343 pages now. Slowly revising, wrapping loose threads, and winding down….in the midst of a billion summer projects.
July 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Oh. Oops…guess I haven’t been here in a bit. Anyway, we’re up to 343 pages now. Slowly revising, wrapping loose threads, and winding down….in the midst of a billion summer projects.
March update: Seasonal Patterns is up to 234 pages. Less writing, more editing and a couple weeks off to visit family and work on a few other projects means I'm a little behind where I'd like to be, but so it goes.
Pictured: one of those aforementioned little projects.
Pictured: one of those aforementioned little projects.
April 3, 2025 at 12:27 PM
March update: Seasonal Patterns is up to 234 pages. Less writing, more editing and a couple weeks off to visit family and work on a few other projects means I'm a little behind where I'd like to be, but so it goes.
Pictured: one of those aforementioned little projects.
Pictured: one of those aforementioned little projects.
She’s been hard at work keeping me company in the office this week, so I can’t begrudge sweet Miko a lazy Friday lying in a sunbeam.
March 14, 2025 at 5:47 PM
She’s been hard at work keeping me company in the office this week, so I can’t begrudge sweet Miko a lazy Friday lying in a sunbeam.
February wrap-up:
Part three is called 'Breakup.' I just crossed the 200 page (58,000 words) threshold drafting the final two chapters, Goodbye and Seasonal Patterns.
Next: pulling together 'Snowmelt,' the middle third of the book.
But before that: off to the gym to lift heavy stuff.
Part three is called 'Breakup.' I just crossed the 200 page (58,000 words) threshold drafting the final two chapters, Goodbye and Seasonal Patterns.
Next: pulling together 'Snowmelt,' the middle third of the book.
But before that: off to the gym to lift heavy stuff.
February 28, 2025 at 2:34 PM
February wrap-up:
Part three is called 'Breakup.' I just crossed the 200 page (58,000 words) threshold drafting the final two chapters, Goodbye and Seasonal Patterns.
Next: pulling together 'Snowmelt,' the middle third of the book.
But before that: off to the gym to lift heavy stuff.
Part three is called 'Breakup.' I just crossed the 200 page (58,000 words) threshold drafting the final two chapters, Goodbye and Seasonal Patterns.
Next: pulling together 'Snowmelt,' the middle third of the book.
But before that: off to the gym to lift heavy stuff.
Not to toot my own horn too much, but this is three days in a row I've stuck to the recommended serving portion of those Triscuits I keep in the office for stress-eating.
February 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Not to toot my own horn too much, but this is three days in a row I've stuck to the recommended serving portion of those Triscuits I keep in the office for stress-eating.
I’ve recently discovered dictating notes into my phone is a great way to draft out storyline. I’ve also learned this falls apart when I’m doing cardio in the basement.
February 26, 2025 at 11:22 PM
I’ve recently discovered dictating notes into my phone is a great way to draft out storyline. I’ve also learned this falls apart when I’m doing cardio in the basement.
My husband thinks I might have ADHD. Just because I went downstairs for a drink, stopped to water a plant and ended up at Home Depot for fertilizer in my fuzzy house slippers doesn't mean --
Okay, he might have a valid point but listen: respect my writing process.
Okay, he might have a valid point but listen: respect my writing process.
February 25, 2025 at 6:45 PM
My husband thinks I might have ADHD. Just because I went downstairs for a drink, stopped to water a plant and ended up at Home Depot for fertilizer in my fuzzy house slippers doesn't mean --
Okay, he might have a valid point but listen: respect my writing process.
Okay, he might have a valid point but listen: respect my writing process.
Been in a bulking phase at the gym this month. Which is great because in addition to whispering its familiar refrain that I’m too fat, now my body dysmorphia can simultaneously scream at me that I’m too skinny. Cool.
Anyway…should probably eat some chicken and channel the angst into my writing.
Anyway…should probably eat some chicken and channel the angst into my writing.
February 25, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Been in a bulking phase at the gym this month. Which is great because in addition to whispering its familiar refrain that I’m too fat, now my body dysmorphia can simultaneously scream at me that I’m too skinny. Cool.
Anyway…should probably eat some chicken and channel the angst into my writing.
Anyway…should probably eat some chicken and channel the angst into my writing.
"Ugh. You're a piece of shit. I can't look at you right now," I huffed and stalked from the room yesterday.
"You're beautiful and I love you," I murmured today, patting the keyboard.
Just realized my relationship with this book might be every bit as dysfunctional as the relationships it's about.
"You're beautiful and I love you," I murmured today, patting the keyboard.
Just realized my relationship with this book might be every bit as dysfunctional as the relationships it's about.
February 12, 2025 at 8:02 PM
"Ugh. You're a piece of shit. I can't look at you right now," I huffed and stalked from the room yesterday.
"You're beautiful and I love you," I murmured today, patting the keyboard.
Just realized my relationship with this book might be every bit as dysfunctional as the relationships it's about.
"You're beautiful and I love you," I murmured today, patting the keyboard.
Just realized my relationship with this book might be every bit as dysfunctional as the relationships it's about.
A snapshot of my writing process:
This morning: ahhhh.....time to sit down with some Enya and a nice cup of coffee and finally polish off chapter five.
Two seconds later: a wild idea for chapter thirty-seven comes crashing in, accompanied by cymbals and a kick-drum.
This morning: ahhhh.....time to sit down with some Enya and a nice cup of coffee and finally polish off chapter five.
Two seconds later: a wild idea for chapter thirty-seven comes crashing in, accompanied by cymbals and a kick-drum.
February 7, 2025 at 11:34 AM
A snapshot of my writing process:
This morning: ahhhh.....time to sit down with some Enya and a nice cup of coffee and finally polish off chapter five.
Two seconds later: a wild idea for chapter thirty-seven comes crashing in, accompanied by cymbals and a kick-drum.
This morning: ahhhh.....time to sit down with some Enya and a nice cup of coffee and finally polish off chapter five.
Two seconds later: a wild idea for chapter thirty-seven comes crashing in, accompanied by cymbals and a kick-drum.
“Goddamn, you’re a sack of shit and I hate you. I can’t wait to finish this book so everyone else can hate you, too.”
Me, to a character in the novel I’m working on a few minutes ago.
Also: probably good that I choose to create characters, not kids.
Me, to a character in the novel I’m working on a few minutes ago.
Also: probably good that I choose to create characters, not kids.
February 6, 2025 at 8:34 PM
“Goddamn, you’re a sack of shit and I hate you. I can’t wait to finish this book so everyone else can hate you, too.”
Me, to a character in the novel I’m working on a few minutes ago.
Also: probably good that I choose to create characters, not kids.
Me, to a character in the novel I’m working on a few minutes ago.
Also: probably good that I choose to create characters, not kids.
Accountability update, January edition:
Cat videos watched: 50,000 (down 25,000)
Pages written of current project: 157 (up 54)
Best book read: @danielkraus.com’s Whalefall
Cookies stress-eaten: 98 (just kidding here…no stress involved
Cat videos watched: 50,000 (down 25,000)
Pages written of current project: 157 (up 54)
Best book read: @danielkraus.com’s Whalefall
Cookies stress-eaten: 98 (just kidding here…no stress involved
February 1, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Accountability update, January edition:
Cat videos watched: 50,000 (down 25,000)
Pages written of current project: 157 (up 54)
Best book read: @danielkraus.com’s Whalefall
Cookies stress-eaten: 98 (just kidding here…no stress involved
Cat videos watched: 50,000 (down 25,000)
Pages written of current project: 157 (up 54)
Best book read: @danielkraus.com’s Whalefall
Cookies stress-eaten: 98 (just kidding here…no stress involved
I don’t usually write on weekends, but a peaceful, snowy morning is just too inspiring not to tap out a few pages.
February 1, 2025 at 4:17 PM
I don’t usually write on weekends, but a peaceful, snowy morning is just too inspiring not to tap out a few pages.
The snow that fell overnight is thick, wet and fluffy: perfect for snowball ambushes. Perhaps sensing this danger, my husband shook his head ‘naw, I’m good’ when asked if he wanted to help me shovel the driveway. Spoilsport.
February 1, 2025 at 2:12 PM
The snow that fell overnight is thick, wet and fluffy: perfect for snowball ambushes. Perhaps sensing this danger, my husband shook his head ‘naw, I’m good’ when asked if he wanted to help me shovel the driveway. Spoilsport.
I say this as a person whose liquor cabinet is typically decorative, but if you made it through the last eleven days of dry January without at least one little cocktail, oh my god what kind of subhuman monster are you even?
January 31, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I say this as a person whose liquor cabinet is typically decorative, but if you made it through the last eleven days of dry January without at least one little cocktail, oh my god what kind of subhuman monster are you even?
Random pre-coffee thoughts: the bathroom cleaning sponge that didn’t first have the life wrung out of it in the kitchen is an underrated adulting milepost, I feel.
January 31, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Random pre-coffee thoughts: the bathroom cleaning sponge that didn’t first have the life wrung out of it in the kitchen is an underrated adulting milepost, I feel.
Mad props to the radon-mitigation guy who just willingly followed me into the basement despite my answering the door giving creepy deranged shut-in vibes -- confused and wondering what day, time, year and planet this was -- having freshly emerged from a writing binge.
January 30, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Mad props to the radon-mitigation guy who just willingly followed me into the basement despite my answering the door giving creepy deranged shut-in vibes -- confused and wondering what day, time, year and planet this was -- having freshly emerged from a writing binge.
This morning I caught myself wondering if my cat's butthole is supposed to be that big and now I'm thinking I should probably take a break from the computer and get out of the house for a bit.
January 30, 2025 at 1:03 PM
This morning I caught myself wondering if my cat's butthole is supposed to be that big and now I'm thinking I should probably take a break from the computer and get out of the house for a bit.
Really leaning hard into the ‘distracted writer’ vibe this AM. Locked myself out of the house while taking out the trash and arguing with a character.
January 28, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Really leaning hard into the ‘distracted writer’ vibe this AM. Locked myself out of the house while taking out the trash and arguing with a character.
When I started writing back in college, my protagonists were the cocky, edgy, cool-ass guys I liked to imagine I was. These days, they're the neurotic, insecurity-riddled, socially awkward guy I am. You know, I'm not sure I like the so-called wisdom and clarity that come with age.
January 27, 2025 at 8:24 PM
When I started writing back in college, my protagonists were the cocky, edgy, cool-ass guys I liked to imagine I was. These days, they're the neurotic, insecurity-riddled, socially awkward guy I am. You know, I'm not sure I like the so-called wisdom and clarity that come with age.
You know, this whole 'reclusive writer in the woods' gig isn't half bad. When my husband's at work, I still have the cats and houseplants to talk to. My car says they don't count as human interaction, but what does that motormouth know? I mean, has he even *seen* what people are like these days?
January 23, 2025 at 7:56 PM
You know, this whole 'reclusive writer in the woods' gig isn't half bad. When my husband's at work, I still have the cats and houseplants to talk to. My car says they don't count as human interaction, but what does that motormouth know? I mean, has he even *seen* what people are like these days?
Being a writer gives me much greater empathy for my long-suffering parents on those childhood road trips when, five miles past a rest stop, I'd suddenly insist we needed to pull over *rightnow*.
“I didn’t need to go then.”
“I didn’t need to go then.”
January 23, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Being a writer gives me much greater empathy for my long-suffering parents on those childhood road trips when, five miles past a rest stop, I'd suddenly insist we needed to pull over *rightnow*.
“I didn’t need to go then.”
“I didn’t need to go then.”
There's a scene in a classic Star Trek: TNG episode when stuff's about to go catastrophically sh*tways and an old admiral drolly notes 'the fight does not go well, Enterprise.'
Anyway, I bring this up because I may have muttered this to myself a few times while working on a chapter today.
Anyway, I bring this up because I may have muttered this to myself a few times while working on a chapter today.
January 22, 2025 at 8:13 PM
There's a scene in a classic Star Trek: TNG episode when stuff's about to go catastrophically sh*tways and an old admiral drolly notes 'the fight does not go well, Enterprise.'
Anyway, I bring this up because I may have muttered this to myself a few times while working on a chapter today.
Anyway, I bring this up because I may have muttered this to myself a few times while working on a chapter today.
Who says working from home is easy? This morning I told my boss I was late because traffic was terrible. And by 'traffic was terrible', I mean I got stuck on the couch playing Gran Turismo 7 for three hours.
January 21, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Who says working from home is easy? This morning I told my boss I was late because traffic was terrible. And by 'traffic was terrible', I mean I got stuck on the couch playing Gran Turismo 7 for three hours.
It's wild how joining a social network is like going to a new school. So many questions and anxieties: are the kids nicer here? do I know anyone? who am I gonna sit with? who's gonna steal my lunch? how's my fit? is this place better than the burning sh*tball I came from? Burning questions, all.
January 21, 2025 at 3:18 PM
It's wild how joining a social network is like going to a new school. So many questions and anxieties: are the kids nicer here? do I know anyone? who am I gonna sit with? who's gonna steal my lunch? how's my fit? is this place better than the burning sh*tball I came from? Burning questions, all.