My friends are not just wonderfully kind and helping me manage a difficult birthday, but they have excellent taste 😍

I'm a firm believer we can all learn from one another, from watching each other go through the entire editing process. I'm also a firm believer in leading by example, so for my patrons, I am cracking open the books and revealing the grit of my self-editing process! www.patreon.com/posts/charli...

I'm trying to be more present on IG, but having to find people yet again is exhausting 🤣 If you're over there, this is me! Instagram.com/cknightwrites

Today, I cried bc a friend sent books for my bday, I only have one dog to feed now, and I kept forgetting what I was doing. I also cried laughing bc Hubs squirted ketchup precum on his plate and his only reaction was to yell, "Dont say it!" at me. I...think I'm managing okay all things considered.

🏴‍☠️ Today and tomorrow, you can still get the Talk Like a Queer Pirate book bundle! 🏴‍☠️ For $9, you get 9 pirate books in all their queer goodness. Go grab the booty! talklikeaqueerpirate.com

🏴‍☠️ Today and tomorrow, you can still get the Talk Like a Queer Pirate book bundle! 🏴‍☠️ For $9, you get 9 pirate books in all their queer goodness. Go grab the booty! talklikeaqueerpirate.com

It's bad enough that I still wake up and look for Monster and Bear...but today, Pebbles woke up and looked for them. She cried at their bed. She's lived with us since she was 6 months old, and she's always known that life to include her brothers. I hate that she's hurting, too.

actions that will contribute more to pushing against bluesky's censorship than a blackout: -submitting a feedback request -@ing moderation about it -commenting on mods posts about it -making and sharing memes (ex: "i consent!" sticker) -leaving an app store review -just generally posting about it

Even we didnt have 1000 other indicators of his autism, The Kid just gave Hubs a completely unprompted lecture about which of our household spoons are "good spoons" 🤣🤣

A friend sent me a surprise early birthday present—it's purple, bookish, and has a dragon, and I'm thrilled! It might be the emotions running high right now, but this definitely made me cry 😭

Mapping out our quickest route over the nearest border for no reason at all... Related and also for no reason, anyone in Mexico have an extra house they'd like to toss at a family who doesnt want to lose their child, their rights, or their lives??

Tonight's recovery/distraction kit. It's doing an awful lot of heavy lifting, not gonna lie.

Um! The Kid usually needs FIVE people to hold him down for blood draws. We've been "practicing" and working on thinking about all the good we get from them bc he's bigger than me already and hard to hold. Today? He sat there on his own, held my hand, got it done. Faced 2 huge phobias on his own!

Bear is gone. He had a peanut butter bacon chocolate milkshake and lots of snuggles. Just like Monster, he went to sleep in my arms, and now he's back with Monster. That helps. I'm keeping their favorite blankets together on their favorite bed to share. I'm not okay...but my boys are.

On top of taking Bear to the vet for the last time and taking The Kid for blood work (which is traumatic for him), I now also need to manage time for a blood transfusion today because of a chemo reaction. I feel like I'm being punished for existing, and I dont understand why.

It's Talk Like a Pirate Day, but why stop there... when you can talk like a QUEER pirate? Check out this sale of swashbuckling nautical (gay) yarns, some as cheap as FREE. talklikeaqueerpirate.com (ofc there's a bundle! 9 for $9) itch.io/b/3267/talk-... 🪐📚 🌈📚

Cancel your Hulu/Disney+ subscription for this instead. Save money...and me!

His last dinner is a deconstructed bacon cheeseburger, btw. And tomorrow morning, his last meal will be a chocolate bacon peanut butter milkshake. He certainly deserves it all.

We just paid for Bear's cremation services. He has one more dinner, one more walk, one more night with us. It's all feeling incredibly real now...

Spoiling Bear on his final days, Day 2: He ate roast chicken, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, and beets. Lots of gravy. He fell asleep on my chest watching the sunset, and now he's taking up most of the couch despite being 4lbs. Tomorrow is our last day with him. We are not ready...but he is.

I will be around a little to get some normalcy for my own sake, but I wont be as present this week while trying to stay above water. If you need me for a work-related question, please email me instead of using DMs. Thank you 💜

Every patron makes sure I can keep getting chemo! You gain writing skills and a community, I stay alive, we all win 💜 Patreon.com/cknightwrites

I'd be incredibly honored to learn that my book was requested in libraries. Even more than if they end up on bookstore shelves. Libraries are so, so special to me.

Spoiling Bear on his final days Day 1: He's eating scrambled eggs with cheese, tater tots, and bacon. He genuinely never gets table food, so he's having the time of his life.

I...think I had a little bit of an epiphany with The Kid and his ongoing medical stuff? We've been thinking autoimmune because of me and genetics...but he had an aunt with hEDS...and when I look at that list of symptoms with him... 🫤 So, if I can ask for some help:

Today, our account was overdrawn by vet bills. Thursday, I go for another round of chemo. Friday morning, we say goodbye to Bear. Friday afternoon, The Kid is getting bloodwork bc things are starting to look like he may have an autoimmune disease. This week...can blow me.

This might seem petty or childish but I somewhere to just cry that this birthday is going to SUCK 😭 I havent had a birthday without my boys since I was 20, and this year, I wont have either.

After talking to the vet and thinking a lot... We're going to say goodbye to Bear this week. All we can offer him are bandaids, and he's only going to get worse. He'll have a few more days to get spoiled, meds as high as they can go to be comfy, and then we'll let him reunite with Monster.

The Comma Academy on my Patreon is all about going back to the basics and building foundational knowledge to enhance our writing. This month's topic is something you're probably already using without realizing it...though maybe not using as best you could be. www.patreon.com/posts/comma-...

Things I requested when pushed by my in-laws to give a list for my birthday: video games and books. Sent a link to my wishlist! What I'm apparently getting: they're gonna fly my husband home for Thanksgiving. Just him. A 4 day vacation for him and a reunion for them. Okay, sure.

The most popular lines from Star-Crossed WIP so far, according to early readers. Lace is capable in a hundred different ways...but not so much behind the wheel.

I'm actually going to take off the weekend of my birthday. First days off all year!

For reasons unknown, no one in our house got any sleep last night? Hubs and I both woke up a million times, and The Kid woke up at like 230am and just gave up—he's been up since then. I would like to petition whatever cursed our home last night to kindly fuck off. We are tired. Thank you.

Pebbles says if you go write some words, you can have snuggles! She's aggressive about love and finishing your novel.

I dedicated Butt Pirates to...people like me. People who needed to get away to survive. Who truly understand the meaning of found family. The dedication is one of my favorite parts of my debut novel because it's what people like me deserve to hear.

Here's what I don't get: why did you choose to publicly cry over spilled Nazi? I keep seeing ppl say they have empathy, they can't help being sad. But why didn't you just be sad in private? You put your "empathy" on us, and now you don't like that we don't feel safe w/ you. You brought this on you.

I would like some chemo...you would like some writing support?? Everyone wins! patreon.com/cknightwrites

🍑🏴‍☠️ Convincing you to read TEMPEST TAKE ME HOME based on just the dedication 👀 Ebook and paperback copies are available. You can even get a signed copy and box of goodies! And over on Itch, you can pay what you'd like to download. Buttpirates.carrd.co

You have lost the plot if you think I'll let a cisgender person tell me to have empathy and that violence is never the answer. Honey, they're coming for my transgender child. Violence is the first line of defense at this point.

Fuck him, truly, but please have the good sense to censor anything graphic you share. A whole bunch of us in America have lived through 🔫 events at this point, and we don't need to be retraumatized bc you forgot about us. Thanks.

Not a single kind thought or prayer.

I would like some chemo...you would like some writing support?? Everyone wins! patreon.com/cknightwrites

Want a seafaring romantasy book with tons of spice, cozy vibes, and a queer af crew? Want that book signed and sent with stickers, a bookmark, exclusive character art, and a teeny tiny turtle?? I only have a few copies left, and Idk when I'll be able to get more, so this might be it for a while!

The Kid, trying to remember what BC means: It was 10,000 years...Before Crap. I laughed 'til I cried but couldn't really tell him that he's wrong 😂

Go. Birds.

I broke 10k in the newest draft of the Star-Crossed series, the first draft that really matters. I'm adding chapters and doing a veritable fuck-ton of worldbuilding, and I couldn't be happier about how it's going so far. I love this book, these characters, and the way they love each other.

I had a big goal of 250 Patrons by the end of this year...maybe you can help me reach it by my birthday at the end of this month?? The lowest tier is just $3/month and that makes a HUGE difference in my ability to get healthcare every month. And you get a lot too! Patreon.com/cknightwrites

My husband's 94yo Bubbe is in the hospital w/ stroke symptoms 2000 miles away from us, I may need to go to the ER if this migraine lasts any longer, the world is trash, and I miss my dog. So I'm taking a bath in a thunderstorm and pretending nothing else exists for a minute before the next crisis.

My phone decided to send me a collage of Monster's pictures this morning, so now on top of a 3-day migraine, I get to cry all fucking day. Thanks, phone.

🏴‍☠️ The novel fondly known as Butt Pirates: TEMPEST TAKE ME HOME is a cozy romantasy featuring a childhood-friends-to-lovers established romance, SPICY polyamory (here be fucking, y'all), and a treasure hunting adventure.