Why I was gone and an apology.

First, let me just say that regardless of why I was gone it was inexcusable of me to not let you - my patrons - know.  I realize, that the majority of you have left and will be posting this explanation on Royalroad as well in the hopes that it reaches as many of my readers as possible.

The last...  Year?  Has been extremely trying for me, and I am extremely thankful for all of you who continued to support me even as I completely left you out to dry.

There is, I suppose, a lot of details that aren't really worth me talking about.  I think I was fairly upfront in letting people know that I have Major Depression and I went through a particularly rough episode for several months which culminated in me losing my home and living out of my car for a time.

As I was coming out of that depressive episode I ended up staying with my Grandparents for what was supposed to be a few days while I found an apartment, however I was shocked to find that my Grandparents health had deteriorated much further than I had thought it would.  My Grandparents are in their nineties and I have always been close to them, so I had known their, capacity for want of a better word, had been declining for a while.

However, perhaps due to the isolation during the Covid lockdown, that decline had sped up.  They were completely unable to maintain their house or even handle basic things like doing dishes or getting up from a chair without help.  Help that I then started to provide.

My family eventually got together and also realized just how far they had slipped and it was decided that I would stay with them to help them in their day to day lives.  I also realize, given my own mental health, that this sounds completely nuts but there are more than a few reasons for it, not the least of which is that my Grandfather's personality was... abrasive, at the best of times, and as he has gotten older he has become increasingly difficult to get along with.  Aside from my Grandmother, I am probably the only person in my family who can actually stand to be with my Grandfather for as long as he needs.

So even as I recovered from depression and being homeless, I suddenly had a lot more things that I had to do.  A lot of things that had fallen into disrepair that I had to fix or get someone to fix, and a lot of new plans and work that had fallen onto my shoulders.

I have, finally, gotten my head above water and plan to continue writing again.  I'll be checking through my messages, undoubtedly some of you want refunds - which you will get - and I will generally be active again.

Sorry for all the trouble,

Vlad