TLDR for those who just want to know I’m safe: I am physically safe, I am likely to continue to be safe, but I’m back in a position where work on All These Roadworks erotica may be impacted. Please anticipate some delays.
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The shape of the situation:
As I have posted previously, Australia is experiencing unprecedented bushfires on a scale which is, frankly, apocalyptic. I am in Australia, and while I have not been in direct physical danger – and am still not in danger – I have been heavily impacted by the fires and their associated effects.
Read my previous posts about this here and here.
We’ve had a few good weeks of clean air and no immediate fears, which has been great, and has let me get through most of the January work for the site. (And when I talk about “we”, I mean myself and my primary partner, who is wonderful.)
However, the situation has changed again.
In the past I’ve talked about being on the Australian east coast. At this point I need to say more specifically that, right at this moment, I’m in the Australian Capital Territory.
For those who aren’t Australians, the ACT is a commonwealth territory located in south-western New South Wales, which contains basically two things: (1) a large swathe of heavily-forested and largely inaccessible national park, and (2) the nation’s capital, Canberra, a city of some 500,000 people that directly abuts bushland and farmland.
Over the last few days a substantial bushfire has developed in Namadgi National Park and the Orroral Valley, to the south-south-west of Canberra, currently burning an area of some 3,000 hectares. Strong winds are driving it north and east. The semi-rural township of Tharwa lies directly in its path, and beyond that it’s only a few kilometres down the road to the first urban suburbs of Canberra.
All of Canberra’s southern fringe is on standby for full evacuation. Firefighters from the ACT and NSW are cooperating with the Australian Defence Force to combat the fire, but the nightmarish combination of strong wind, high heat, dry atmosphere and a heavy fuel load mean that the fire is likely fundamentally uncontrollable.
Even under the most hopeful forecasts, the fire will continue to burn for many days, while the remainder of the local area remains at high risk of new fires starting. The fire is clearly visible throughout Canberra as a pulsing red glow on the southern hills, spewing a long plume of smoke that merges with the cloud layer. It’s honestly a bit like living on the fringes of Mordor. (The banner image from this post is of the Orroral Fire yesterday afternoon.)
Personally, I am currently located in Canberra’s north, and am not at immediate risk of danger or evacuation from this particular fire, which means I have some bonus capacity to absorb the stress and worry of friends who *are* under threat. We remain on alert against the possibility of new fires.
However, Canberra is once again choking in a thick miasma of smoke. The sky is yellow. Visibility is impacted. We don’t go outside without filter masks. We have used rubber seals to block breezeways through doors and windows. If it continues as it did last time, it is likely some public services such as postal deliveries will shut down.
My home office is unfortunately one of the rooms that we can neither smoke-proof nor heat-proof, which means that my capacity to spend time writing or doing administrative work for the site may be limited. We may be even further disrupted, if things worsen. Also, a lot of the time my head just isn’t in a sexy space right now.
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Impact on All These Roadworks:
There may be none. The fire may stay where it is, and the wind may change to carry the smoke away. That would be nice.
More realistically it may mean that my work output will decrease for a while. That means that some of the last remaining work for January may be delayed until February. As I’ve said before, if it means people don’t get their full membership benefits for the month, I’ll contact you and discuss solutions, including, if necessary, a refund.
My BDSMLR account is currently queued three weeks ahead with a combination of the stories you’ve seen already in Early Access plus re-posts of past stories, so it’s unlikely that that queue will run dry.
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What’s left to do for January?
Story collections are done for the month. There are two brand new collections and two substantial new editions with new content. That’s covered.
There are more than 20 stories in the January Early Access, so everyone has generically had their dose of content there.
I haven’t done the Arth-Keros update or the Reality Check yet. These *will* come, but they may need to come in early February, or as soon as the conditions allow me to write them.
I have the following story requests outstanding (still to write). If you’ve made a story request and haven’t received it AND don’t see it here, please get in touch with me. I’m not naming names – your requests are private – but here’s the topics in the pipeline.
Outstanding for January:
– Advice Column (Dr Degradation) – “How to get my boyfriend to rape me”
– Diana Tells The Truth, Part 5
Upcoming for February
– Diana Tells The Truth, Part 6
– Average Availability, Part 2
– Abby’s Identity, Part 6
– “mother/daughter incest story”
– Persephone Nine, Chapter 2
– new Jessa story
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What can you do to help?
If you want to help me personally, mostly I just need a bit of understanding if some of the January content rolls over to February.
But you can also buy e-books and memberships. Remember, the larger the total of a single purchase, the more of it goes to me rather than Paypal, so I love it when you buy multiple books at the same time! (But you’re most welcome to buy them one at a time if that’s the way you enjoy doing it.)
Sales for January have been very good already, so thank you all for your generosity and/or interest in buying erotica. It’s *still* not a full-time job, but it *has* filled the hole in my finances that would otherwise have existed due to the similar impact all this is having on my day job.
If you want to help the victims of bushfires, please consider donating to:
* Australian Red Cross – for bushfire victims and communities
* WIRES – for rescue and care of bushfire-affected animals
Please note the Australian Red Cross is a *different* organisation to the Red Cross in other countries. Please also ignore media about the Red Cross’s handling of donations – there’s a local political context here, and this isn’t a venue where I want to discuss that – and accept from me that they are the best of a number of large aid organisations directing their efforts to bushfire victims.
And more broadly, *please* support organisations, parties and politicians that believe in human-caused climate change and are willing to implement bold policies to address it. Scientists, firefighters and emergency services are united in their firm position that these fires are unprecedented, they are not part of our natural weather cycle, that they are the result of human-caused climate change, and that without direct action the situation will continue to worsen. We can’t survive much worse than this. Please, help.
I’ll try and update on the situation again when it gets much better, or much worse. If I manage to get an Early Access post up in the next week, or anything else, it doesn’t necessarily mean things are either better or worse.
Thank you all.
– All These Roadworks
29 January 2020