Hey Roguelings...

I've had a...day. It started off really really heavy and then turned brain numbing dealing with California tax law and banking and blah blah blah in preparation for some business switches I'm making - all to make my life easier, hopefully, and none of it will affect you. 

This morning, though, was sad, unexpected, and surreal. I'm still in shock about it, I think. I'm processing "out loud" here, so I apologize if this is heavy for you too - but it feels important to share for some reason.

My sister called me crying, and told me a man my mother was engaged to for a number of years (before and during my elementary school years) had passed away.

We had good memories with him - he was like a stepfather to us - but still, I was surprised she was so emotional. Sad, yes - of course. But to the extent she was broken up didn't seem like my sister. We haven't spoken to or seen him in at least thirty years. I figured he'd long moved on from us, maybe even started a new family of his own. I don't even know where he lives.

Then she told me the story...

Apparently, he found out he was terminally ill on his birthday, June 1, 2025 and was admitted to the hospital. He had been searching for us to reconnect for a while. To what extent, I don't know.

My sister was contacted by a friend, of a friend, of a friend, asking her to reach out to a women neither of us have ever met or heard of, and when they finally connected, the woman (his wife) told her than he'd passed away on September 1. She told my sister that he never stopped loving us, that he talked about us all the time, wondered what we were doing, and that, when he couldn't find us to put us in his will, he set something aside for us. 

It hurts my heart to think he cared so much for us and was never able to reconnect. And that if we had known, we would have loved to see him and talked with him one last time.

I'm not sure why I'm sharing this with you, other than to be real and vulnerable. To process that it feels like a dream and a story that isn't my life - like something I would write about, not live.

And to mourn and recognize a man who I have happy memories with - going on road trips, being in the redwoods, teaching me how to play backgammon at 7 years old - I'm still really good!

He had an infectious laugh, reminded me of Hulk Hogan, and now he's gone. I am sad I couldn't say goodbye to someone who had so much love in his heart for me and my sister.

It's another reminder that time is precious. Memories mean something. And we all leave our mark on people in one way or another. This is a reminder for myself as much as for you, I guess. 

I hope you find something to be grateful for this week and celebrate the good memories. It's easy to forget them, which is sad in and of itself.

I'm going to work on Darkborn tomorrow, so that will make me feel a little brighter. :)

Thank you for reading this and supporting me. You're are some of my favorite memories. 

🩵 Linds

Okay, so I am way late to the party. I never watched this when it was on back in the day. I think it ran for 8 seasons or something, and a handful of these actors got pretty famous from it. Anyway, I'm on Season Two and while I can say it's silly, at least the special effects are getting better. But that's not the point of this musing. 

I really just want to say that every time I watch a "wolf" scene (aka they put on ears and run on all fours) all I can think about is how awkward it is to film this. All of the actors hissing and growling and running on all fours - acting like wolves when really the "action" and "sounds" are dubbed in later. It entertains me to think about the awkwardness of it, as much as it makes me uncomfortable. Ha!

Have any of you seen this?

Is it weird that I'm 41 and this is my current my-brain-hurts-time-to-vegge show? I wonder if I'll make it through all the seasons. We shall see!

P.S. Stiles is my favorite, but then, I think a lot of people would say that. And Jackson is SO angry, all the time. It's kind of exhausting. But he does an amazing job (the actor, I mean).

Okay, byyyyeeeee

-L

Hey, hey Roguelings! I know I'm a day late, but I just returned from Tahoe and it was a much-needed mini-vacation. We try to go once a year, and we're lucky that it's only about 4 hours away. Things have been heavy around the Pogue house, and the world is heavy on top of it, so the mountains and natural beauty was just what the doctor ordered. I hope you are all finding some solace in this crazy world. 

This year, it wasn't only the two of us. Dennis's sister (and her husband) and his brother came with us, and we got into far too much trouble.

And OMG, how are the holidays already upon us!? Time is FLYING. 

I've been writing A LOT, which feels really REALLY good. I've got book one in my pen name's Viking Vampire saga written (Bloodborn) and I'm currently writing Soulbound, book two. I'm also preparing a Kickstarter for February - YIKES! 

Let me know how you're doing and if you've been getting into any trouble lately. :) 

If you want to follow Scarlet's shenanigans (my alter ego), you can sign up for her Substack or Follow her Scarlet After Dark community for fun goodies. I'll put the links below. If you are a paid member here, you already have access to the Darkborn early chapters. I'll post reminder links with updated chapters soon. I've got some gorgeous covers to show you too. 

Scarlet's After Dark Community (you can create a free account): https://scarletstjames.com/pages/after-dark-lounge

Scarlet's Substack: https://scarletstjames.substack.com/

The Kickstarter (Follow for launch updates): https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lindseypogue/bloodborn

The holidays are coming - and send me pics if you do it pweeeeese. :)

In case you need a little smile today...

🤣 He was the worst.