Vaxxed and cranky

I got my Covid vaxx #5 this afternoon and am already feeling the side-effects. Slightly. Stiff neck. Hint of a headache. No chills yet but I'll be ready for them. My dermatologist's NP also burned off a wart...at least, that's what she said it was. Didn't seem like one to me...and it's still sore. Never had that issue, before. Irritating.

I'm going to get through a final check of APoS-Derry this week then set it aside and start working on Houston. As mentioned before, it's close to ready. Just needs some smoothing and consistency before doing a proofing and then sending it out to be dug through with extreme care. I'm hoping after the embarrassment of Derry I'll do better with Houston.

The structure is set. The characters are wound fairly tight. I'm playing a bit with Brendan's identity. He's brought to America under another name because the British have identified him as a person of interest in a bombing. But he can't be found because it looks like he just snuck off. But people begin to think he wound up in a grave due to injuries he suffered because he's never heard from.

So he comes to Houston under a false passport and name, as a distant relative needing care for his heart after a serious accident. All neatly handled by the powers that be in PIRA. and when he finally understands, he sees it as his deliverance from hell. His uncle still wants him to keep a low-profile, but he starts to rebuild his life, there.

Except he slowly finds that the hates and prejudices in Houston are no that different from those in Derry and drifts into drugs and becoming anti-social. His uncle manages to control him using threats to his younger brother, Rhuari, so it's like he's a prisoner to other people...again.

I didn't really intend for the story to go that direction, but Brendan is leading it, and where he wants it to go, I follow. I learned better.