Tag Archives: updates

Happy Holidays, Friends!

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Just sending out a quick little post to say Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy Kwanza! I’m afraid I missed my chance to say Happy Hanukkah as that ended over a week ago (apologies!) but the sentiment remains!

My family and I are not particularly religious these days, but we still go all out for Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday – I just love the colors and the lights and the decorations and the music and the food and the whole atmosphere! My mother and I, in particular, are a bit obsessed, actually…. we have FIVE Christmas trees! Each has a different theme or color scheme! We only put up three of them this year, though. My mother also has a collection of Santas and Nutcrackers that we display every year! Anyway, here’s a few photos of our decorations, in case a few colorful festive photos might make anyone smile.

Yes, that last one is me…. *shrug*
Anyway! Merry Christmas and all that! And Happy New Year!

Quick Personal Update

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Hello all! Today, I have more of a general life update kind of post. Just to share a few things while I start working on a couple new book reviews.

First of all: I wanted to share my overall progress for NaNoWriMo 2020! I didn’t make it to the 50k words as I’d hoped, but I did still have a very productive month, and I made good progress on my new project. I ended up with about 27k words, which is still WAY more than I have managed in a single month in AGES (though I came fairly close to that back during Camp Nano in April, with about 23k words). Just as important, I am getting better at building up a daily (or almost-daily) habit, which makes me happy. Even if I don’t write a LOT per day, just being more intentional and consistent about my writing is a huge step in the right direction. Here’s a couple snapshots of my Nano progress over the month:

In OTHER news, I finished two books in ONE DAY this week, completing the audiobook of The Name of the Wind while I was working, and finishing reading the ARC of Hall of Smoke that night while sitting in bed. They were both EXCELLENT. And I had been working through Name of the Wind off and on (while reading other things as well) for TWO MONTHS, so I’m glad I finally finished it. I will have book reviews up for both of those, hopefully fairly soon. *crosses fingers* (I then immediately started RE-READING House in the Cerulean Sea, which I have concluded is DEFINITELY going to be my fave book of the year now.)

And in finally happy news (for me anyway), with a pay raise I got in September and a bit of assistance from my friend/employer (we’re too small a business to buy into group insurance rates, but she does what she can) I have finally managed to get health insurance for the first time in THREE YEARS. I am very excited about this! I haven’t been to a doctor for a single thing in THREE YEARS (and I haven’t been to a dentist in…. uh…. a really REALLY long time). So yay!

Ok, that’s all from me for now! I’ll be back with book reviews soon, I hope!

NaNoWriMo Update

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Well, folks, we’re two weeks into NaNoWriMo now. We have officially hit the halfway point. Which means I SHOULD be at approximately 25k words in my novel by now. Alas, that is not the case. I am currently at approximately 17k words right now, which means I am around 8k words behind. The last week especially has been very slow going. I’ve only been managing around 400-700 words per night lately. Partly because I am EXHAUSTED from work, but mostly because I am very stuck. As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m totally pantsing it this year. Usually I am a big planner, with lots of outlines and character profiles and chapter breakdowns, etc. I have none of that this year, and its really getting difficult now. I have no clue where I’m going. I’ve been forcing myself to write SOMETHING, ANYTHING, the last few nights, but it has resulted in mostly talking around in circles and not advancing the plot in any useful way.

I’m hoping I can work out at least a few rough sketchy outline-y bits and pieces this week. Even if it just gets me a few steps ahead of where I’m at, that would be a huge help. Because I am very very lost right now.

I have settled a few sort of general VIBES I’m going for in this story though. I’m definitely leaning into the shonen anime feel of it. But I’m also REALLY digging into a “found family” sort of thing, and probably a little queer romance subplots as well. I think.

In the meantime, if you’re curious, I put together a story mood board for The Onyx Seal on Pinterest, which can be found here: https://pin.it/1rcu9TT (The assortment of images there probably doesn’t make any kind of thematic sense to anyone but me, but I’m ok with that.)

In other news: I’ve also been reading a fair bit, and hope to have a couple book reviews up shortly. Hopefully within the next few days *fingers crossed* provided that I can a) find some energy after work, and b) fit regular blog writing into the Nano-packed schedule.

That’s all for now! If any of you are doing Nano and want to share your projects, please feel free! I’d love to hear what you’re working on!

Rereading books and making zines: a quick Update, Aug 2020

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Hello folks! I apologize for the long pauses between posts lately. I’ve been working a lot of hours and that trend is likely to continue through November at least. I am trying to get better at staying on top of things and using what free time I have productively, but alas, I’ve been so exhausted the last couple weeks that I usually get home from work, make (or order) dinner, take care of the dogs, and then crawl into bed to stare at the ceiling for a few hours.

Anyway! I confess I haven’t done much reading as of late, and what reading I have done has been mostly re-reading, rather than reading anything new. As I mentioned before, I am working my way through Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series, again. I recently finished the second book, Lirael, and have now started the third book, Abhorsen.

I am, however, also reading the first of the Chrestomanci books by Diana Wynne Jones, which is called Charmed Life. I have been meaning to read these books for AGES and just never seemed to get around to it. And I needed something a little lighter/funnier to listen to while I work, so I borrowed the first audiobook from the library. I’m about ⅔ of the way through it now and I really like it!

I am technically also reading Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente. I am reading that one in print, but I haven’t actually picked it up in almost two weeks so… Not much progress is being made on that front currently.

What little free (and conscious/lucid) time I have had lately has been devoted to a new project.

I am considering making a zine.

Well, I say “considering” – I am, in fact, already tinkering with/formatting one in a free publishing app. What I’m considering is whether or not I will actually try to print and sell it.

I love zines. Good ol’ fashion handmade DIY zines. Newer, more modern, glossy printed zines. Political zines. Personal/poetry zines. Fan zines. Art zines. ALL THE ZINES!

If you aren’t familiar with the zine as a genre, here’s a couple links to some useful explanations:

Wikipedia article

“What is a zine?”

“A brief history of zines”

(sidenote, there is some crossover and bleedthrough between zines and chapbooks…)

Zines are such a great way to make something with your own two hands (or computer), as an outlet for political ideas, fandom, emotions, creativity, whatever! And I have always wanted to try my hand at one. Or several. Eventually, I think I’d like to try making/collaborating on a fanzine or two, with other writers and artists and such, but for now I’m trying a personal zine on my own. I have compiled a collection of poetry and a few short creative nonfiction/memoir-ish essay-thingies that I’ve written over the years and didn’t know what to do with, in combination with a couple photos and a few doodles, and I am tinkering with putting them together into something semi-passable.

I’m still on the fence about whether or not I will try to print and sell it. If you look on Etsy there are tons of great, fun zines for sale! Some are totally handmade DIY old-school, and some are more glossy and professionally designed and printed, perfect bound instead of just stapled, and so forth. And they can range in price anywhere from like $5 to something like $15 depending on the quality and on the person selling them. If I did sell mine, it would probably only be for like $5-6 since it would be entirely handmade and all. But, we’ll see… *shrug*

Anyway, how are you all doing? Is the situation of the world-at-large freaking you all out yet? Here in Houston we are currently flipping out over the fact that there are currently not one, but TWO separate hurricanes forming in the Gulf! For the first time in recorded history! How fun! Only in 2020, folks… *cries*

After A Long Absence

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Hello all. Long time no see. It’s been nearly two months since I posted anything here, for which I apologize. There were a few reasons for this, some obvious, some not so much.

The last couple months have been difficult on a global scale, for pretty much everyone. On top of the continued stress and anxiety and weirdness of the COVID-19 situation and quarantine, those of us in the U.S. (and to a smaller degree, in other countries) have been dealing with the powerful resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, in response to continued and escalating police violence against the black community. This has obviously been a particularly difficult time for the black community, but it has also been difficult for those of us who consider ourselves allies. (I have been very vocal and active on this matter in other places – Facebook, Twitter, petitions, donation campaigns, etc. but I’m not planning on getting into here for the very simple reason that pretty much no one reads this blog anyway.)

On top of all of that, I have also been dealing with my own particular issues: financial instability, severe depression, and a family death.

I have been considering simply discontinuing this blog. Despite starting it in January, and posting very consistently in February, March, and April , it has seen almost no growth in views or reader interaction. And that’s fine. I knew when I started this that the big “moment” for blogs had mostly died down, and that I didn’t have any particular hook or unique angle to pull in a readership. It was an experiment, to see if I could get back into it the way I did with my old blog from 2011-2014 (Ironically, on my old blog which has not been updated since 2014, I still get an average of 100 views per day! Here, not so much). And I find it is an experiment that has mostly failed. No one seems particularly interested in what I have to say, and while I am content to mainly write for myself, there are other things I could/should be devoting my time to if I’m just going to end up talking to myself on here.

But that is a decision I am still on the fence about. And in the meantime, I have a few more book reviews and such that I am working on that I might as well share here, just in case a small handful of people are actually interested. To that end, some time over the next week or so you should expect to see:

1) not a review, exactly, but more of a rant about how much I love Artemis Fowl – possibly with my opinions on the movie which was released on Disney+ today (I’m still trying to decide if I’m masochistic enough to watch it)

2) A book review of Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott, an ARC I have from work, due for release in July

3) A book review of Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt

After that, we’ll see how I feel…

General Updates

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Hello all! I am personally on Day #25 of social distancing/mostly-quarantining. In the last 25 days, I have gone into work once because it simply needed to be done (and in between have been a little work from home), gone to the grocery store twice, and three times left the house just long enough to pick up a food order from my favorite local/family-owned restaurant. And that’s pretty much it. I will have to go into work for a least a couple days around April 20th, but other than that I suspect I will continue on as I have been for the last almost-month.

For the most part, I continue to do ok with the isolation (my brother, no so much). However, last week proved less-than-stellar and particularly non-productive. I spent most of April 1-4th feeling pathetic and self-pitying and I got almost no work done, barely any reading, etc. But the thing is, it had very little (perhaps nothing) to do with the current pandemic situation. It was more just my usual personal brand of brain chemistry bullshit rearing its ugly head at a most inopportune time.

I’m hoping (fingers crossed) that this week will be a bit better. At the very least I have more fun books waiting for me. And on that note, I wanted to share my recent acquisitions:

Docile by K.M. Sparza

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

The Empress of Salt and Sorrow by Nghi Vo

Sword in the Stars by Cori McCarthy and Amy Rose Capetta

When Gods Die and Why Mermaids Sing by C.S. Harris

I am looking forward to reading all of these! But I’m currently kind of stuck because I’m still reading both Artemis Fowl Book #6 AND The Queens of Animation, and I really shouldn’t be starting yet another book until I finish at least ONE of those. And I don’t even know which of my new ones I want to read first – I mean, I want to read them ALL first. So… (shrug)

In other news, I have managed to stay on schedule with Camp Nano so far. I gave myself a goal of 20,000 words (the official Nano goal is usually 50,000), which means aiming to write approximately 666 words per day. So far I have managed an average of about 700 words per day, so at least that’s going well for the moment. I am not looking for miraculous levels of writing, but I am hoping I can develop more of a consistent habit again.

As we all continue with this quarantine situation, one of the small things that makes me a little sad is birthdays. I mean, I realize that in the grand scheme of things this is a very minor issue, and its definitely up there in terms of “first world problems” but it still makes me a little sad for all of us who have birthdays during this situation. A couple friends of mine had birthdays in mid-to-late March, my brother’s fiance’s birthday is tomorrow, I have another friend whose birthday is in late April, and my birthday is exactly a month away. None of us have been, or will be, able to celebrate. I haven’t even been able to buy my brother’s fiance a gift: even ordering on Amazon doesn’t really work right now since they have mostly suspended non-essential shipping.

Admittedly, I haven’t done anything much for my birthday in YEARS. Since I started college, it has always landed right in the middle of Spring Semester finals – first as a student, and then as a professor. Besides which, I don’t really have any local friends I’ve been able to celebrate WITH in over fifteen years. Usually, the most I can hope for is a nice dinner with my mother and my brother – barely on my actual birthday but usually a few days or a week later, after finals are over and I can breathe again. This year, I won’t even get that much. None of us will.

Again, I know this is a very silly minor problem in the face of pandemic and death and people losing their jobs and economic collapse, but I’m still allowed to be a little bummed about it, right?

Anyway, how are you all doing? Everyone keeping it together ok? Anyone found themselves learning some random new hobby or doing anything particularly strange in the face of their isolation and boredom? I’m curious to hear!

A Quick Note on Reading Progress

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This will be a short post for now, because I’ve been sick all week. I came home from work on last Thursday evening feeling pretty crappy and by Friday morning I was completely miserable and bedridden. I didn’t start feeling even semi-ok until this Wednesday afternoon. So I’m a bit behind on things, including drafting the next couple blog posts.

Still I thought I would drop a quick note, at least, to share a few reading updates.

For my 2020 “Storm the Castle” Reading Challenge, I have completed four books (Solaris, Lawrence in Arabia, Monster of Elendhaven, and Binti: Home). I am close to finishing two more books (Middlegame and Disney’s Land), which will put me close to ⅓ of the way through my 21 book challenge.

In addition, I have made some small progress on the 2020 “Finishing the Series” Challenge by completing books 1-4 of the Artemis Fowl series. Still, I have not made as much progress as I would have hoped in the first two months of the year (partly because I was sick, and partly because a couple of the books I chose – Lawrence in Arabia and Middlegame – are VERY long).

Next on my reading radar I have a few books lined up. First is The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt, which, like Disney’s Land, is a history/biography of those involved in the development of Disney, this time the women who worked in animation with little recognition. Second, is The Body in the Garden, an ARC I received from work (being released in April), which is a mystery set in 1815 and featuring a woman who takes it upon herself to investigate a murder (in other words this book was pretty much made for me). I also have an ARC for The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water (being released in June), that I’m going to try to get to. I may also jump into the next Artemis Fowl book – they are short enough and fun enough to get through while also working on longer books, and I’d like to say I finished at least ONE of the many series’ I hoped to for that reading challenge.

So that’s it from me for now! How are your reading goals coming along for the year? What books are on your radar for March?