#these are going to go up for preorder in like october probably

[gavinom123]

almost forgot to post these here but !! my phone charms came in!! they're so tiny it is taking every fiber of my being not to pop them in my mouth and chew

[blueside-hobi]

I would have reacted that way too if my friend did that to me like I would feel like such an afterthought :( U better still go on your own and have fun don’t even think about them!!!! ❤️❤️

I would feel awful if I went on my own though because Yoongi is her bias and I would just be thinking about wanting her to be there. But it's probably a better idea than going with them because I'll just be a third wheel. I guess I have a couple weeks to figure out what I'm doing, assuming that either of us get presale.

[author-a-holmes]

Preface

This year was a year where I learnt a lot about myself. As many of you know, I released my debut novel, Changeling, in March. This was a literal dream come true for me, and I spent the majority of January, February and the first half of March editing the final files, and organizing the release.

All while trying to continue writing Darkling.

And then I burnt out. Hard. I wouldn't call it a mistake, I've learnt a lot about myself and the publishing process, and what my limits are, but it took me quite a bit longer than I'd have liked to recover from that burnout, and so my stats for this year, once I take a look at this, probably aren't going to be a steady as I'd like.

And what I mean by that is there were several periods where I tried to push forward, but had to let it go and continue just recuperating.

It's only been in the tail end of 2023 I've begun writing semi-regularly again, but I digress. Let's dig into some statistics for 2023...

Projects Worked On

Darkling 77,136 words (This year! Total manuscript is almost 100k right now) - Bonus Scene; 1,109

Flash Fiction Pieces 1,264 words over 4 pieces of flash fiction

Fanfiction 825 words over 2 pieces of fanfiction Fandoms: @night-market-if's The Night Market Interactive Fiction

Total Words Written in 2023: 82,415 Total Time Spent Writing in 2023: 71 hours 40 minutes

First Quarter - January-February-March

Words: 19,428 Time Writing: 19 hours 30 minutes Time Editing: 11 hours 20 minutes

This period I was hyper-focussed on getting ARC's of Changeling out to readers, finalising formatting, particularly for the Hardcover, reviewing proof copies, setting up all the various sales channels, and most of the time I logged in January was Editing Time as I needed to review the notes left my by Editor before release.

Once the editing was finalised, I tried catching up with Darkling in between everything else and this is where I really began struggling. I'd thrown myself into my self-edits in December of 2022, and in hindsight I really needed a break but, with a deadline approaching, I just couldn't take one.

Second Quarter - April-May-June

Words: 5,224 Time Writing: 2 hours 20 minutes

April and May I wrote absolutely nothing. Not a single word. And while I never announced it publically, June was supposed to be the original release date for Darkling.

Which meant I had to cancel my editor slot, and re-evaluate where I stood on what I could reasonably accomplish. This is really where I began to recognise how hard I'd pushed myself into a burnout.

After writing nothing for two months, June was where I tried to do a complete reset, and start from scratch building up my daily wordcount and, well. I just wasn't ready yet. I managed 2 days in June, on the 3rd and 4th, and then crashed back into writing nothing.

Third Quarter - July-August-September

Words: 1,346 Time Writing: 1 hour 20 minutes

After crashing in my reset attempt in June, I knew I had to just ride the burnout to it's end. Pushing was only going to make it last longer. I also knew I had a long-awaited holiday set in September. It was my first holiday in about 15 years, so I decided to not set any goals for this quarter. If the mood to write struck me, I'd go with it, but otherwise I was concentrating on reading, on preparing for my holiday, and on outlining other ideas, worldbuilding, and anything to do with my books that wasn't actually putting new words down on the page.

One of those things was figuring out a bonus scene to give away for Darkling Preorders, and I did try working on that a little in August. That's where most of my words for this quarter landed, but most of my time was spent outlining.

And the thing is, the holiday actually really helped. Where I went on holiday happened to be a very similar landscape/enviroment to one of the location in Darkling, and I found around the middle of the holiday I was handwriting in a notebook. I'd not done that in a long time.

Fourth Quarter - October-November-December

October Words: 2,439 Time Writing: 2 hours 45 minutes

November Words: 51,841 Time Writing: 43 hours 45 minutes

December Words: 2,273 Time Writing: 1hour 40 minutes

I came back from my holiday re-energised and knew I wanted to dive straight back into Darkling while still riding that high. I spent some time writing in October, before I hit a few snags and realised I needed to get a birds eye view on the plot.

So I stepped back from writing again to rehash my outline. I now have a timeline of events stuck to the large cupboard in my living room, but it set me up for success in November's Nanowrimo.

My original goal for Nano was 75k, which would have completed the Darkling Manuscript, but November Nano's are always hard, and I've only just pulled myself out of a 6-month burnout, so I had no intention of pushing myself too hard. I did win Nano, but with 51k and change.

Which left me just December to finish the final 20-25k. I'm always a little slower in December. A reaction to a fast Nanowrimo/November, combined with family and holiday seasonal stuff pulling at my time, so I didn't get as much done as I'd have liked, before Christmas prep took up all my free time. I did still managed a few thousand words though, so I was happy enough with that considering how the rest of 2023 had gone.

Goals for 2024

I try and keep my goals vague and loose, because I know I can't always commit to things, especially long term, but in general I'm just going to try and make self care a priority this year, while still making progress and moving forward with my writing.

Make my health a priority

Pace my writing and editing time to avoid burnout

Publish Darkling

Complete the Fey Touched manuscript

Send out my newsletter regularly

Books Read in 2023

I do consider the books I read part of my process. Something to refill the creative well, so here's a list of books I've read over the course of the year too...

Lux by Rae Else (My Review of 'Lux') .

Shut Up and Write The Book by Jenna Moreci (My Review of 'Shut Up & Write The Book') .

Fernweh Saga Book One (Interactive Fiction) (My Review of 'Fernweh Saga Book #1' on Steam) .

A Rival Most Vial by R.K. Ashwick (My Review of 'A Rival Most Vial') .

Changeling by Arista Holmes (Yes, I did reread my own book!) (Goodreads Reviews of Changeling; 4.58 Stars) .

The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff (Tradpub) .

The Night Market Book One by Zinnia Demitasse (Interactive Fiction) (My Review of 'The Night Market Book #1' on Steam) .

Wrath and Wraiths, Chronicles of the Dawnblade Book Four by Andrew Claydon (My Review of 'Wrath and Wraiths') .

The Signature Move by Cassandra Diviak (My Review of 'The Signature Move') .

City of Souls by Mel Harding-Shaw (Reread!) (My Review of City of Souls) .

Shards of Stasis by Mel Harding-Shaw .

Shrine of Stars by Mel Hardin-Shaw . And my current read it;

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (Tradpub)

[pizzazz-party]

About the Dragaux Pin

First off, I would like to thank everyone who ordered a pin this past week—we actually sold out of A grade shinies, if you can believe it! Thank you all so much for your faith and patience and the incredibly kind messages you left in the notes of your orders. I hope you all love your pins.

Okay, now onto business.

So, about the Dragaux pin—I’m still waiting for sample pictures from my manufacturer, to make sure the enamel colors will come out just right before production officially begins. It’s taking longer than I thought it would, so I’m hesitant to give out an official release date. But a standard shipment takes the manufacturer about three weeks to complete (plus shipping), and the backing cards (that I’m ordering from elsewhere) also take about a week or so to make (plus shipping). That last part’s kind of important; I haven’t released the design yet, but the backing card IS Dragaux’s upper body. And he can potentially look very silly/bad if his head and body are two wildly different skin tones.

Give or take a couple of weeks, it’s looking like the Dragaux preorders may go live next month in early October, and ship by around the end of that month. If something changes, I will post about it in the pin news tag.

Which brings me to my next point.

Once I did the math, I didn’t think anyone from the EU would still be interested in these pins. Don’t get me wrong! Plenty of people asked. But the shipping is a lot, the VAT is a lot, and the specifics tend to take people by surprise. But then EU people continued to ask about both pins anyway, even after I put those numbers out. So for all my international customers out there, who want to buy both Ring AND Dragaux pins, I’m willing to cut you a deal. If you don’t mind the wait (and you promise to check your email on time), I’m willing to hold onto your Ring pin until your Dragaux pin ships, so that you don’t end up having to pay a total of roughly eighty-odd something USD for two pins. But you have to request it yourself, either here in my DMs or through the site’s contact page. And past the Dragaux preorder period, I will not continue to keep any more Ring pins in reserve, no matter who asks.

———

That’s all for this Sunday. Until next time, everyone. (Which will probably only be in a few days, but I’ll collect a recap for next Sunday as well.)

———

Pin new and updates tag.

[fairytalearista]

Putting in job applications when I (a) really don't want to give my time to a random employer when I have 20+ books for people to buy and provide me income and (b) have, in my experience, never gotten a job unless I knew someone in the company, even when I was spam applying to every company that looked likely is an underratedly insurmountable task. My brain just equates applications as useless, and I might as well spend that time working on my next book. (I have four up for preorder right now, and I don't want to miss those deadlines!)

I don't drive, I live about 30 minutes away from any proper job, I'm some flavor of neurodivergent, and my priority is always going to be my author career, and employers just don't want to deal with me. The fact that I held McDonald's down for five years probably will make me look better now than the two nine-month stints I did the last time I was putting in applications, but ... still. I also don't want a full time job, and I just need to boost my income by about $500-$800 a month.

I also keep running into walls with looking into online jobs 'cause my wifi is not the best and my attention span is pitiful. Transcription looked promising, but entry level gets left with the scraps, and it's not worth the effort. I'm going to try to upgrade my wifi tomorrow and get rid of my landline (last time I tried to get rid of my landline, I was told that they don't do no-landlines for my location, but I've been told otherwise last week, I'll just have to get a better wifi package), so that might not be an issue. But, it's still time that I could spend writing.

But I'm also hitting a wall of executive disfunction where I'm so worried about finances (and I'm almost at the end of my savings and tax return, and while April was a good month for sales, that spike has not maintained as well as I'd hoped. Seriously, who doesn't want to read Jane Austen and Fairy Tales at the same time???), that I'm just watching playing resource management sims and idle games because at least there I get the positive feedback of making money. It's a vicious cycle that just makes me and my loved ones more upset with me.

*sigh* I really don't know what to do. My one side gig has just opened another opportunity for me that I have taken, but I'm not sure yet how much more it will provide (though it is going to be a lot more reliable than hoping people schedule parties for me to host).

Anyone want a book? I have 20+ of them, as I've mentioned, and one will be releasing at the end of this month. I don't know which one it will be yet, because I have two contenders and the other will release next month (and it's probably going to be the opposite of what I've currently told Amazon.) I won't get paid for any sale made this month until the end of October, but it will still be helpful for November, and my royalties to be paid this month and next month are ... not terrible? They're triple digits, at least.

I'm gonna wander off and go write more of my Emma / Rapunzel retelling. The Frank Churchill character just showed up and I'm rolling into the downhill of the story, which shall be glorious.

[bearpillowmonster]

I woke up and my dad was just getting back from getting his car inspected. I got breakfast and he stopped me after and talked to me for like 30 minutes, it started with money and I know my dad is a bit too obsessed with money, he feigns that he has so many bills to pay but they're not "bills" in the sense of utilities or necessary receipts, they're options, they're things he's bought over time.

He was asking me for money again. This is the third time in, what, a week? This time was because he preordered something 2 years ago and it just dropped without him knowing and blah blah blah. All good with that, average excuses. My dad has been waiting (not so patiently) for the money to come in from his stepdad's death, which I posted about and the funeral was 2 weeks ago so I get that it's been a little while but just hold out, don't start questioning the validity of your sister and everyone else because you don't have your money yet.

"How could you be so dead and stressed that you couldn't write a check? Or not even look online and see how much was in the 401k?"

That's horrible, that's selfish, He's said some things over the years about money that have just absolutely changed my opinion of his character and this is now one of them. Someone died and your thing is about the money to get from it? I don't care what financial position I'm in, I'm not going to look at that money and rely on it and plan to allocate it until after I get it.

My aunt went to the bahamas, which was planned, after the funeral, and really she deserves it, she plotted a lot and she's been looking like she's been worn thin. My dad is suspicious that she's using that money for that and I could see the caution coming with that but don't assume the worst, she's never done anything underhanded that I've known. Now he's about to call her out on it, mess up his relationship, probably what she thinks of him (if she doesn't already know this part of his personality) and maybe lock him out of the money somehow. He's even uprooting their past "She was weird too when our real dad died too."

If it's in a will, trust that it'll make its way over and trust me, I'm in the will too and I'm not throwing a fit and I've already been scammed by the other aunt, he's putting her on the spot too because he's not sure how any of this works because he's never been told (for this reason). I said about how this is the third time he's asked me for money, he still owed me from OCTOBER, I had to remind him, I didn't make a fuss, I don't see the need, I have my proof, I don't care when it happens, just don't expect me to forget because the next time you ask for something, that's the first thing I'll bring up. I hate watching someone's downfall and not being able to stop them from falling overboard even if they drag me with them because now I'm going to be just as outcast being associated with him. Sheesh. Never learned that throwing a fit doesn't solve everything, some things, but don't act entitled. If it was your work sending you your due then by all means but this is family.

[cocktailsfairytales]

✩🖤✩ PREORDER BLITZ ✩🖤✩

Her Master

A Swoon worthy Romantic Adventure

New York Rogues: Rossi Book 7

By Quinn Marlowe

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63896413/

Release Date: October 10

Hosted by DS Book Promotions

Amazon | Apple | Kobo | Nook – Preorder

https://books2read.com/u/mllgvB

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0BJ18KPXJ/

What to expect:

🖤Mafia romance

🖤Romantic suspense

🖤Mafia romance

🖤Age gap romance

🖤Forbidden romance

🖤Enemies to lovers

🖤Mafia war

DANTE

My kidnappers didn't expect me to fight for my life. They also didn't give me any other choice.

Frightened but free, the only person I could think to call was Dax Romano. And he came to save me, the way I hoped he would.

Should I have left him alone? Probably. But he's the man I can't stop thinking about. The man I've somehow fallen for.

And unfortunately for me, he's also the man whose powerful connections I simply can't ignore.

When everything goes to hell again and I can't find my own way out of yet another bad situation, he is, once more, the one who shows up to save me.

The question is, what does this Romano want? To use me as a bargaining chip with the other side?

Or to take me home and keep me for himself?

DAX

One minute I'm running for my life from an ambush, the next I'm saving Dante from herself and the people who would use her for their own gain.

If she knew what was best for her, she'd listen to me or her brothers and keep her head down while we put an end to this war once and for all.

Unfortunately for us, she's smart, resourceful, and stubborn. And she intends to do everything her own way.

Like stealing my heart when I least expected it.

And then getting herself kidnapped by the family who wants everyone she cares about dead.

I'm going to save her. I have to.

And if we live through the war we're facing, I'm going to take her home and make her mine for the rest of our lives.

Her Master is the final book in the Dante and Dax duo of the New York Rogues: Rossi series and features a steamy age gap, forbidden love, a possessive hero, mafia war, and epic romantic suspense.

Start the Series here:

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BXQHJBTP/

Join the Tour here:

https://forms.gle/d6UKq6kSCf3c7rQ96

#PreorderAlert #themaster #NewYorkRogues #romanticadventure #forbiddenrelationship #forbiddenromance #romancereaders #bookboyfriends #agegap #availablenow #bookish #romanticsuspense #mafiaromance

#quinnmarlowe #dsbookpromotions

@Quinn Marlowe @DS Book Promotions

[libertyreads]

October TBR--

That's right! October is the month we will be moving into our house. Hopefully. As long we close on Friday the 13th. Yeah, I KNOW. What a weird month October is going to be. Besides all of the packing (and moving and unpacking), I will attempt to read 5 books--7 if I can swing it but let's not go for too much all at once here. Weirdly, 3 of the 5 are rereads so I'm hoping that's just setting me up for success. The books:

The Damned by Renee Ahdieh--This will be a reread for me since the last book in the quartet comes out later this year. I haven't been loving this series but I think I'm invested enough to see where the story goes. This is book two so I don't think I can really dive into the synopsis too much. Book one takes places in 1800s New Orleans and we follow Celine who has just gotten off a boat from France as she somehow gets all tangled up with La Cour des Lions and all of their seedy doings while a murderer is on the loose. Vampires, New Orleans, 1800s. Book two basically takes off from where book one leaves us.

The Luminaries by Susan Dennard--This book is the reread I'm looking forward to the most. It is also perfect for Fall. I'm hoping for a great rainy day to just settle in and knock out as much of this one as possible. The seed for the story came from a choose your own adventure that the author ran on Twitter at one point in time. I had no clue about any of that while going into this one originally. Let me grab the two sentences off of GoodReads that made me preorder this one immediately: "Hemlock Falls isn't like other towns. You won't find it on a map, your phone won't work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you." Creepy forest, monsters, a town of monster hunters trying to keep it all secret, and dark family histories? Just shut up and let me read this book (again).

Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson--This is the reread that I'm the least excited about. This is the author's take at YA Sci-Fi. In book one, we follow a girl who wants to go to pilot school and follow in her father's footsteps, but the government doesn't want to let a coward's daughter in. In book two, the world gets expanded. In the two novellas that come between books two and three, we see what's happening back on the planet at the same time the things in book two happened. This is the third book. In my opinion, the weirdest book. I don't really like it. I can't remember what I rated it originally, but I'm positive if I read it for the first time now I would rate it lower. But I am also planning on finishing this series when the next book comes out so I'm going to reread the entire series first.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman--Finally a book that isn't going to be a reread for me. I'm not certain what I'm going to be walking into with this one. GoodReads has it marked as YA but also Middle Grade; Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal. It seems that we'll be following a boy who lives in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for this boy but the most dangerous thing for him exists in the land of the living where a man who has already killed his family lives. This is probably the book that exemplifies Halloween the most from my entire physical TBR. Let's do it.

The Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre (NetGalley)-- This will probably be my first read for the month just to make sure I can get it read before the book gets archived. Synopsis: A hen weekend on a private island with the bride-to-be, a pop diva and an estranged ex-bandmate, a tennis pro, a fashion guru, an embittered ex-sister-in-law, and a mouthy future-sister-in-law leads to chaos when one of them is kidnapped and threatened to be killed unless someone confesses her terrible secret to the others. Mysteries in October? Groundbreaking.

[thisselflovecamebacktome]

Update time:

As per usual I'll put the tldr before the cut and longer rant surrounding my feelings under.

I'm going to have very limited internet from October 13th to 27th, like to the point of probably only having internet for 2 of those days maximum (likely the 16th and 25th but we'll see). With that in mind, please feel free to continue to send messages but just note that I may not answer until the 27th.

There's a good chance that I am going to start blogging again around November 4th.

If I do come back, it won't be as actively as before (but more than now) and there's a good chance that I will veer towards being more of a multifandom blog than mostly a Taylor one.

Okay so longer thoughts around this all... So when I took my break, I wasn't sure how long I planned it to be or even if I could do it at all. Like I had been wanting to for so long that I expected to fall back into old habits within a week. So the fact that I have made it this far, and like with ease, has been incredible. But the truth is that this break had three major goals and I feel like only one of them has been even somewhat fulfilled.

Firstly, and the one that has been somewhat fulfilled, was proving to myself that I could use my time doing something else. And I say somewhat fulfilled because like realistically I'm still online more than I would've liked, just on like Duolingo or whatever relearning Japanese. And don't get me wrong, I still feel like that's better than being on social media for 15 hours a day and it has somewhat helped me manage my time better. Likewise, I do have a ton of offline activities coming up, but they're all temporary holidays. And it may sound weird to remedy that with coming back online but that leads into goal two.

The second goal was to feel more connected to people. Realistically, I still feel the same (very positively) about my offline friends and just feel more disconnected to the community I had here. And now that I think I can balance my time better with social media, I'm willing to try find a better balance for that.

And then there's the elephant in the room, which is tied with the third goal. The third goal was to get away from the noise because honestly? I've had very mixed, but more rapidly negative growing emotions about being in the Taylor Swift fandom since Midnights' release but especially this year, like more so than ever (which, those of you who have been around since 2015 know, is saying something). I had hoped that time away would somewhat subdue the negativity, especially because my expectations for Taylor have been far lower since 2019 than they were previously and I found my way back to her then. But honestly? It only reinforced it. I'm not saying that I hate Taylor or her fandom now. Like I will still go to eras in February and I love you guys, but I can't pretend like May didn't happen or that it didn't have real world/offline effects to people who I love including violence from others and self harm. And more so, I can't pretend like it doesn't make me resentful that despite god knows how many posts and tiktoks and whatever from Taylor Swift fans saying that they've also faced offline harm, people are still acting like this was just a chronically online issue that was 'overreacted' on. And like honestly? This year, and the acceptance that this stuff likely isn't going to change, was the straw that broke the camel's back with that stuff, not the whole issue.

Like my whole view of being a fan has changed; everything from engaging in her music purchasing her music (Speak Now TV was the first time I hadn't preordered it and only own it now because I was gifted it, the same will go for 1989 TV and tbh have barely listened to her music lately), to other media where I'm not as motivated or scared of FOMO as to feel the need to see everything straight away or get more eras tickets (I'm likely going to cancel the accommodation I had for the city I was going to get resale tickets for) and I no longer feel comfortable reblogging any photos that Taylor hasn't taken/approved herself. And that's led to a place where ultimately I feel like I am here more for the community than even being a fan if that makes sense. Like again, I love you all and I don't hate Taylor, it's just more than she's now at the level of just say The Weeknd for me where I appreciate the musicality more than stanning her as a person as opposed to it being both like before. And I've had a lot of fear around that, particularly earlier in the year because I may not be able to have the community without being as involved with the factor tying us all together, but I'm in a far better headspace now where I can trust that that won't be the case but also be fine if it is.

Anyway that was a rant and a half, but the point is that if and when I come back, which may or may not be sooner than I thought, I'll be looking at following more non-Taylor blogs. I still haven't made a choice on level of personal posts though, but I do think it's going to be more of a balance of positive moments in my life and leaving most of my negative ones for myself because while I'd like to think that I've been an honest influence by showing my struggles, a large part of my conflicting feelings about being online is just how identifiable I've been through posting those struggles, especially in a country where any onus of defamation is on the person making the statements. It's honestly a big reason why 99% of my biggest struggles from last year weren't posted, because unfortunately, with how uncommon some of my issues have been, posting them plus the selfies I have over the years (and tbh even without the selfies) has led to feeling like I have a target on my back and I just can't do that anymore. So yeah, this is another rant but while it's not set in stone, if I post anything about my life, it will be more manufactured and 'best of' rather than the whole picture... ironically given I feel like tumblr has often been my diary/venting space for the worst moments lmao.

But anyway, I've ranted enough and it's after midnight here now, so that's where things stand atm.

[joyffree]

🎼🔥COVER REVEAL🔥🎼

Killian & Matthias, an update within the With The Band series by Sundae Leighton is coming October 2nd! Today we have the HOT cover reveal for this MM Romance today!

Preorder and sign up for the influencer events today: https://geni.us/killianmatthiasevents

Blurb:

I broke my sobriety last night.

I thought for sure that Matthias was going to leave me. I seem to ruin everything just by existing. I need him like the air I breathe. Matthias calms my demons with a simple touch of his hand, and the soothing way he speaks to me and tells me he loves me. I couldn't imagine my life without him. I might be borderline obsessed with the man, but you would be too if you were in my shoes.

Yet, here he is; my Matthias. Holding me, saving me, and telling me he loves me like I didn't just ruin everything all over again. I need to make an honest man out of him once and for all. He puts up with so much of my nonsense. Without him I probably wouldn't be alive right now.

Say yes, babe. Marry me. Here, today, right now. I don't need a big fancy wedding with our friends or family. I only need YOU. The man who makes my life worth living. The boy with the hazel eyes that loved me from afar until that fateful night. I finally gave into my own urges and kissed you and it changed everything...

My ride or die. My forever love. Be my husband, make me the happiest man in the universe.

Trigger Warnings: This book contains dark themes that might be triggering. It contains self-harm, drug and alcohol abuse, mental health issues. Please read at your own risk. This is a love story first and always between two troubled boys who found one another when they needed it most.

Hosted by Chaotic Creatives

[halflingkima]

End of the Year Book Tag

Saw some creators doing this through October, and I suppose they’re correct – we are rounding the bend into the end of the year.

Below is a general check-in for my reading stats, followed by the tag questions. I wasn’t tagged by anyone, as it’s a video tag, so I’ll not tag anyone. But if the idea appeals, go ahead and do it urself! It’s a fun update.

General Check-In:

As of this moment, I have read 112 books, of my 100 book goal for the year (112%). I have read 31557 pages, of my 25000 page goal for the year (126%). I have read 15 of my “22 in 2022” and 8 of my “22 in 2022 (owned edition)” list – though I also dropped 2 books from the latter list, as I deduced from reviews (and tbh other reads this year) that I might hate them.

I have read 52 physical books, 30 audiobooks, and 30 ebooks. I have read 4 nonfiction books. I have read 5 2022 releases. I haven’t managed to rate/review all of my reads yet, but as of now, I have 30 five-stars, 25 four-stars, 26 three-stars, 21 two-stars, and 4 one-stars.

My top five books of the year so far (somewhat in order):

You Feel it Just Below the Ribs by Janina Matthewson and Jeffrey Cranor

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

The God of Lost Words by A.J. Hackwith

Our Bloody Pearl by D.N. Bryn

The Tag Questions:

1. Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

The Anatomy of Curiosity by Maggie Stiefvater, Brenna Yovanoff, and Tessa Gratton

I started this back in June, but it’s a bind-up of three discrete novellas – I read one in its entirety, and the amount of time that passes between reading the others is inconsequential. I want to finish this book in its entirety, but the first novella was a slog for me, so I’ve not been motivated to pick it back up. But I really want it off my reading list.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Sethe escaped slavery years ago, but is still haunted by her memories, as well as the ghost of her child who died nameless, the tombstone reading only ‘Beloved.’

I just picked this up this month, as it’s a sort of ghost story, but after making it through the first few sections, I can tell this isn’t going to be a quick read. I should be able to finish it this year, but I think I’ll have to space it out.

2. Do you have a book to transition into the end of the year?

Babel by R.F. Kuang

Orphan Robin Swift is brought to London and enrolls in the Royal Institute of Translation, Babel: a prestigious university that harnesses the magic of translation, empowering the British Empire and its expansion.

I had meant to read this sometime this month, after everyone (including the friend who loaned it to me) has been raving about it. It seemed like a super autumnal book to shift the seasons, and I’m hoping it still will be, but I’m not sure how quickly I’ll be getting to it. Work has been kicking my ass this month, and I’m not sure why.

3. Is there a new release you're still waiting for?

Paris Dalliencourt is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall

Second in the “Winner Bakes All” romcom series, the anxious Paris is cast in the Bake Expectations reality show, where he meets fellow contestant, the confident Tariq.

I preordered this aaages ago, immediately after reading the first (Amanda Palmer Takes the Cake), and I had expected it to arrive this month, but it appears publishing got pushed a month, and it should arrive in November. November is probably a better month for it anyway, given the cozy mood of the baking scenes in the series. I’m looking forward to it as a closer-to-Christmas read.

4. What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

A missing mother, a haunted house, a daughter – a twin – with strange compulsions... their stories woven together, a family tells a gothic modern fairy tale.

Another one I thought would be perfect for the spooky month and haven’t yet gotten to. I love Helen Oyeyemi as an author, and this is my most anticipated of her titles. But her books do require a lot of mental presence and work, and I’m very worried I won’t like it as much as I hope to, since it’s one of her older titles.

The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall

An homage to Sherlock Holmes with a fantasy twist, a pair of amateur sleuths investigate a blackmail case, that drags them into comically extravagant situations.

For some reason, I keep forgetting I own this. I think I bought it back in March for a sort of self-birthday present, and I’ve not yet read it. It’s supposed to be a sorta “everything but the kitchen sink” genre, which I love, and he’s currently my favorite author, so I don’t know what I’m waiting for! Maybe I’m just afraid to run out of books of his to read.

American Pop by Snowden Wright

Inspired by the real life Coca-Cola empire, this novel narrates the fictional family saga of the Forster family, following them and their empire through generations.

Another self-birthday present, this one I did begin to read a while ago, just to get a taste for the writing style. It’s quite dense, so I think it’ll take some effort to get through, but it’s also incredibly good. I’m obsessed with fictional-history type things (think like, The Princess Bride book, in which the author claims his father emigrated from the country Florin) so I’m sure I’ll love this, but I wanna give it the focus it deserves.

5. Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year?

So far, my favorite book of the year has been You Feel it Just Below the Ribs by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson. After the rest of my reading year, it’s difficult to see anything shoving it out of that first place.

That being said, I do really expect to love Babel. White is for Witching and American Pop may also stand a chance. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern also might make it into the running if I manage to get around to it this year. I do need to just start jumping into books I truly think I’ll love though, my reading has been feeling a little stale.

6. Have you already started making reading plans for 2023?

Absolutely not. With my reading this stale (and technically behind my goals in certain areas) I’m not even trying to plan for next month. If I pick it up, I pick it up! If I hate it, I put it down. I’ve read plenty this year already, and there’s a lotta other things I wanna do and consume and experience. I don’t wanna shoehorn myself into advanced reading plans and then feel bad for not fulfilling them.

[huntertrust]

Pikuniku online

#Pikuniku online full

#Pikuniku online free

I would never order from these thieves again, that's for sure. But he doesn't seems to care/ is on Holliday. They don't want to respect the terms, but the terms are sacred. Their answer was marvelous : They are unable to cancel the order, because the terms of the contract said so, and are sacred to them. Since DDP shipping is so important to me, I answered back that if they don't wanna respect the terms of our contract, we should just cancel it. They answered that it will happen again, since they don't intend to fulfill the order as it was agreed a year ago. Now, since I'm waiting for a second preorder, I asked SRG customer service to not let this situation happen again. But SRG wouldn't care, because they say that in America, any fees that the creditor is charged by PayPal to receive the refund are not the debtor's responsibility, and it was Paypal who gave me the difference, as a favor for someone who uses their service for over a decade. Which is false, as Paypal confirmed twice. I asked them why, and they accused Paypal to be responsible, because they took commissions on refunds.

#Pikuniku online full

But not only did I had to remind them they never sent me the refund, but when they finally did, it wasn't even a full refund, despite me sending them the invoice of the post office. SRG customer service was not helpful at all, so I had to work hard to convince the postal services to do their job and bring me the package to my doorstep so I can pay them the taxes, and ask SRG for a refund. An in my town, it's really hard to get a package unpaid to be delivered in my mailbox, or even in my own post office. The first on (Death's Door) came out delivery duty UNPAID. If you want to hear about my recent experience : Last year, I preordered two times with them, specified (and paying for of course) that I wanted to have them sent delivery duty prepaid.

#Pikuniku online free

In my experience, production hasn’t taken too long and the prices aren’t to bad (except the UK shipping for like a month, what’s with that?).īut, so many of their releases are going to retail and it’s frustrating, not because of the game now being less valuable (I don’t care to resell) but because the retail is usually cheaper, has free shipping and has better contents. Personally, I like the quality and their game line up. Also in less than four months shipping went down from 62$ to 17$ ?įourth order: Gato Roboto. I’m not sure SRG can confidently say they didn’t know it was going to get a retail release. Unfortunately, retail release announced two months after preorders opened. Third order: Trek to Yomi Waiting on this one (again perfectly reasonable). Second order: Death’s Door (preorder) + Pikuniku (in hand) This order shipped June (perfectly acceptable wait time since Death’s Door was in production) But… The shipping to the UK went up to 62$ ? And before I received it a cheaper (imo better) retail ultimate edition was announced. I am completely fine waiting for orders that are in production, but ApeOut should have shipped immediately. I literally have no idea why, I did email back and forth but I never got a straight answer. This was IN HAND so it should have been shipped immediately. I love the quality of their products but the lack of transparency in the past and their shipping methods has probably made Cult of the Lamb my last order.įirst order: Ape Out second chance sale October 2021.

[sounmashnews]

[ad_1] Obviously, September is among the largest months on the Apple calendar. At its September 7 “Far Out” event, Apple launched the iPhone 14 line, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra, and second-generation AirPods Pro. Plus, we obtained the discharge of iOS 16 and watchOS 9. You may anticipate that October would pale as compared, however Apple nonetheless has quite a bit occurring. There’s nonetheless one iPhone 14 to return, and probably a handful of iPads, Macs, and probably extra. We anticipate some actually essential working system updates as nicely–particularly because the iPad and Mac are somewhat behind the iPhone in getting their large yearly replace. New hardware Apple’s nonetheless obtained some hardware to launch this yr. There might be an occasion in October, or perhaps none at all, only a regular stream of press-releases and web site updates. Here’s what we predict shall be introduced and launched in October. iPhone 14 Plus: The one product we're positive is releasing in October is the iPhone 14 Plus, the 6.7-inch model of the usual (non-Pro) iPhone. Already out there for preorder, it hits cabinets and mailboxes on Friday, October 7. M2 Mac mini: The Mac mini hasn’t been up to date for the reason that M1 chip was launched in 2020, and for some motive Apple nonetheless sells the Intel model as nicely. It’s anticipated that new models are on the way with the M2 and M2 Pro, and probably a slight redesign. M2 MacE book Pros: The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are solely a yr previous, however these M1 Pro and M1 Max chips are anticipated to get the M2 remedy. Otherwise, the laptops must be related. M2 iPad Pros: The 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro nonetheless include the M1 processor. Now that the M2 has been out for months, it’s time they have been upgraded, which is predicted to occur quickly. Not a lot else in regards to the iPad Pro fashions is predicted to vary, although, apart from the attainable addition of wi-fi charging. Apps and software program updates Everyone’s iPhone obtained an enormous improve with iOS 16, which was accompanied by watchOS 9 and tvOS 16. But the iPadOS launch, which generally comes on the similar time, was skipped–iPadOS 16.1 would be the first launch for that hardware. It’s not unusual for macOS to be somewhat behind the cell units, and we anticipate macOS Ventura to land this month, too. The iPhone’s first large replace, iOS 16.1, could have numerous essential options when it comes this month, too. iOS 16.1: The first big iOS update after iOS 16 will add some important options, like Live Activities, enhancements to the battery share indicator, a “Clean Energy Charging” function, help for the Matter good dwelling commonplace (possibly), and extra. It’s in beta now, and can in all probability launch in October. ‌tvOS 16.1: There’s not a number of large new stuff in tvOS 16.1, apart from possibly help for the Matter good dwelling commonplace, however it is going to replace to maintain on tempo with iOS. iPadOS 16.1: This would be the first public launch within the iPadOS 16 cycle–Apple is skipping iPadOS 16.0. The largest function is the brand new Stage Manager feature, which Apple retains making main adjustments to within the hopes of getting it into fine condition for launch. macOS Ventura: Also often called macOS 13, “Ventura” brings a bunch of welcome features like utilizing your iPhone as a wi-fi webcam, Passkey, shared iCloud Photo Library, lifting topics from images like on iOS 16, a new Settings app (which needs work), and extra. We assume it is going to launch along with iPadOS 16.1. Services Apple TV+ Here are the reveals, sequence, and films we anticipate to launch on Apple TV+ in October. If you need to know what’s coming later, verify our full guide to upcoming Apple TV+ content. Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show: Season 2 of this live-action children present is again with Jack McBrayer. October 7

Shantaram: A fugitive pursuing redemption in Eighties Bombay will do no matter it takes to get it, even when it means letting his previous seep again into his current. October 14 Ghostwriter (season 3): When a ghost haunts a bookstore and releases fictional characters into the actual world, a bunch of buddies works to resolve a thriller surrounding the ghost’s unfinished enterprise. Season 3 options an all-new forged. October 21 Acapulco (season 2): Season two picks up proper on the heels of season one, telling the story of 20-something Máximo Gallardo, whose dream comes true when he scores the job of a lifetime as a cabana boy on the hottest resort in Acapulco, Las Colinas. October 21 Raymond & Ray: A movie about two half-brothers dwelling within the shadow of a horrible father. Starring Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke. October 21 Apple Arcade Apple releases new video games to Apple Arcade on Fridays, however not each Friday is marked by a brand new sport or important replace. Check our Apple Arcade FAQ for a full record of Apple Arcade video games and extra particulars on the service. Some video games are launched with no forewarning, however you’ll typically see a number of initiatives listed within the Coming Soon part. NBA 2K23 Arcade Edition: As it did final yr, developer 2K is bringing a cell model of its widespread basketball franchise to Apple Arcade. October 18 [ad_2] Source link

[hurdlehoops]

SPN did Market Research for Dean & Cas

Disclaimer: Yes this is a sock for safety reasons. Post is long, but please read it.

No shit there I was checking my email, as you do, and I saw I had a screener from one of the market research groups I’m signed up with.  On average, I do a market research thing every 3-4 months because I like non-reportable money. And giving my opinions. And talking to people behind 2 way mirrors without having to go to a police station.   

Market research itself was early December, 2016. First email contact with the screener was late October or early November. 

I see it’s an “offsite,” meaning a market research company is subcontracted by another company who wants to do the market research at their own facility, but doesn't want to find the participants on their own, so they use the Market research company (in this case Schlesinger and Associates) as an intermediary. I can’t remember if this screener identified itself as being for TV, not all do, some might identify only as entertainment, and some might be even more vague until you get into the screener. Regardless of the identification for the screener (TV or entertainment), I fill out almost every screener I receive unless it’s obvious, from the subject, they won’t want me (ie looking for certain types of professionals)- it didn’t matter, then, if the subject matter was something I particularly like, I would’ve filled it out anyway.  

After normal, but more detailed than usual demographics questions, the screener asked about TV habits. Eventually,  it said the word “fandom” and asked what TV fandoms I’d count myself in.  It was roughly a list of 20 shows and listed “fandom” (defined as I watch every episode and read additional materials about the show. Note this is not what fandom itself would consider fandom, but people most fandom dwellers would still count as GA).  Beyond fandom, one could indicate they: watch all episodes but don’t seek out more,  watch most episodes, have seen some episodes, watched a few, or haven’t watched.  (I just got a screener for soap operas and realized that part was the same and made note). Therefore, fandom, to corporate, are people who watch everything and maybe buy some swag for the show- magazines/shirts. Then, they asked about conventions I might have attended.  And then asked about my dream vacation, so I babbled a lot about my dream to go to SDCC (I hadn’t at this point). Supernatural was on the list of shows, so I made sure I answered the essay questions about it, because why not? It was my favorite of what was listed.  It was a long screener. I don’t remember the rest. Though sometimes I might remember a detail if a screener reminds me of it. Most fun screener I’ve filled out.

A few days/weeks later, I got a call for step 2- the phone screener for the people that sounded good when filling out the form. And where they try and make sure your answers match or fit that same person who answered them. I passed step 2, and was told there would be homework, and asked ifI’d have time for it, since I would only have so many days to watch the assigned material and write essays about them. 

Homework arrives: I have to watch and write essays on all the bonus features of Supernatural S10. There might’ve been something in there from another year, too. And all the bonus features from some season of  Big Bang Theory.  Essays for all of it, too.  And I mean essays, not short answers.  It was like the SATs, and I was analyzing blooper reels (among other things).  I still don’t get why they wanted essay questions on blooper reels, but I’ll always happily write one again cause that was the funniest essay to have to write! 

I had to both print and bring and email all my answers ahead of time.  I did not keep them.  I’m honestly curious what I might’ve written.  

So in December, I get to go to WB’s market research department. Fun fact: the entrance to that building faces what had recently been the Supernatural poster. I check in. At this point I think it’s a group. Because most market research is done in groups. Also they said I was there for the “DVD bonus features study” 

I wait in the lobby, but I’m surprised there seem to be very few others around. I don’t think I got there too early, but all the others were taken back before me. And they didn’t seem to be there for the same study.  Oh and I wore business casual clothes but had some show-based earrings for fun.  

Finally a nice lady brings me back to a room. She turns off the lights and gives me a fancy remote and has me play with a new system for watching bonus features. I had to start with BBT. Then we did something else. Then I was allowed to scroll through and I picked Supernatural, and answered all the things.  By this point I figured I would be released soonish   because I was supposed to be there only for an hour. And this was at least half an hour at the most. No clock, though and cell phone off.  Maybe this part went faster than I remember, but it was less interesting so it felt longer? Or less interesting compared to what came next. 

We switch gears. I’m no longer allowed to pick what we watch and talk about my thoughts on if SDCC panels belong in bonus features.  (Me: should have a preorder and you get to watch it when the season airs with DVD to arrive when season ends. Silly to watch it after the season when it’s mostly vague spoilers for the first episode or so). Obviously WB doesn’t listen to me about everything.

Oh! In the screener as part of normal demographics, I was asked about my sexuality. It isn’t completely rare (I can talk about another market research where you had to be queer to be part of it), but there were some short answers about representation or something similar. Something that is significant *now,* but at the time I didn’t notice as being too weird.  Since they probably had me listed to the people behind the mirror as X (if they even got my name) Y resident, bisexual, age.  I very specifically said stuff to her about representation cause I wasn’t gonna miss my shot.

Anyway so we switch from dvd extras and she queues up video from another file.

She puts a scene of Supernatural on and has me watch. Then repeats it. And asks questions about my opinions on what’s happening.  Then has me watch and only pay attention to Character D and tell her what I think his emotions are.  Then again but with Character C.  

Complete torture… lol… at this point I’m confused, but enjoying this torture.

So there I am watching the Crypt scene over and over and analyzing it.  And talking about their feelings.  

And then I stop her and say something to the effect of “look I’m bi. There’s not a lot of good representation on what being bi is like.  But from episode 1 I’ve known Dean is Bi.”    And I babbled about how important a macho badass but closeted character is for representation. And that I hoped they did more with that.  I included some anecdotes from other lgbtq friends and straight allies and how they all felt as I did- Dean is Bi, Cas is whatever he wants to identify as, and we felt we recognized our experiences on the screen and hoped for continued and louder representation. 

Bam. My interviewer was called out of the room by the people behind the mirror. Suddenly I’m getting a whole new set of questions

Like this is the most baffling and amazing thing that's happened to me in years. It imprinted in my mind, and I haven’t mentioned it to too many people, because of the NDA and being afraid to jinx things. But now I don’t feel like it matters to be as quiet. Obviously I don’t want WB to go after me but... market research isn’t unusual, just mostly used for spin-offs or new shows not for plot points of shows already happening. At least, that’s my understanding. 

The interviewer  comes back after a short discussion with whoever was behind the glass. Asks a few more questions

We’re now very much going into various things about what I’d just said. I took my shot. And apparently it paid off big time.  At some point she’s pulled out of the room again and given a paper with more questions. Some were about Dean’s bisexuality, or how I, and anecdotally my friends, saw him as bisexual.  Others were about the potential romance. None, that I remember, were about Castiel’s sexuality- I guess that was a given or not important. 

I don’t know if any of the writers were behind the glass from the beginning, but I felt like they stalled to get someone there, maybe.

The interviewer was baffled and made sure I knew nothing that was happening was normal.  They wanted to ask me more questions than they usually care to get out of their market research volunteers. 

So those are the most important parts. Basically almost everything I was asked after that was about character analysis and queerness and a whole bunch of other things that were related (I also mentioned needing more disability rep, too).  I was back there for at least 2 hours.

[rainbowsans]

Today kinda sucked, the doctor had no clue what was up with my wrist/arm but prescribed me with medication to help with the pain for a week to see if there will be any improvement; if none then I have to go back.

so I gotta take it easy for 10 days….this means I’ll probably not likely draw until then. I wanna make sure I not worsen my pain. I’ll update all my commissioners about this.

As for The Paps plush; I will be listing a preorder on October 26th: due to the fact that I will not be doing novermber commissions for my own sake so the plush is gonna be my main source of paying rent/ bulk plush shipping order etc… wether or not the manufacturers finish the sample by then or not I’ll have it listed either way since it’s the only thing that’s gonna help me make money for next month;;; I hope you all understand!

hopefully I do better so I can continue commissions for December and everything can be fine again.

stay determined

[yvesdot]

yves.’S 2021 YEAR IN REVIEW

(2018) (2019) (2020)

(view the image in highest quality here!)

A look at something I wrote every month in 2021. All of the above excerpts can be read in order at this link, and I've included a few notes below on the pieces and months in question. It feels as though I spent so much of my time writing for Patreon and editing Forest Castles and so on, but there was still a lot of fresh content every single month!

JANUARY - In Her Arms (unpublished)

COVID's been pretty bad, hasn't it? I think it's been pretty bad. Wrote this piece almost a year ago now to deal with it, and have workshopped it several times since. Eventually I'll get a version I'm happy with, and then you'll see it published!

FEBRUARY - KAY Valentine's Drabble 2 (read online)

I made sure to come up with something to post for Valentine's Day 2021-- a cute little moment between Kay/Atlas, and then Constantine/Julia. Still warms my heart to read over this... that transphobic dad of Kay's isn't always completely useless!

MARCH - mortālēs (unpublished)

I've had a lot of ideas for erotica this year (all excerpts here are SFW!) but haven't managed to post them yet-- I'd probably put them on a separate NSFW writing blog, as I've mentioned before. Well, here's one, inspired by my sudden apparent interest in historical m/f.

APRIL - Silvia (unpublished)

While in the car on the way to a more wintry setting, I listened through the entire Miike Snow self-titled album, and was struck by a sudden intrigue caused by this song. Here was something out of the box, intense, explosive in its unrequited emotion. I could see it all playing out in my head, so clearly I knew I was coming up with a 'true' narrative totally disconnected from the original... but, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't set it to paper. I'm going to let it percolate.

MAY - Forest Castles (first two chapters)

Again, I did edit FC year-round, so I only displayed it here in months where I honestly couldn't find any other new writing (probably hiding in the depths of my Drive.) This was a fun scene to write, though who knows if it'll survive later cuts.

JUNE - THE LOVER RISES FROM THE ABYSS・恋人が黄泉から生えてくる (read online)

I wrote this flash piece in either early June or late May, and then I was stuck revising it for quite a while. You can read about the process of that on Patreon! I worried over it until I felt it couldn't be worried over one second more... and then I edited it as I posted it on Tumblr ^__^

JULY - Something Weird I Heard About Rebecca (available in BLOOD&BREATH zine)

I wrote this so long ago! And, honestly, I expected to spend even longer editing and submitting it, but when the Blood & Breath submission form came around, I knew it was perfect. Preorder the LGBT vampire zine before January 5th to read the story in beautiful, physical form!

AUGUST - Forest Castles (first two chapters)

Day One Hundred And Seventeen Billion: Eliza Is Still Stuck In White Castle. To be fair, though, I remember when I thought I'd never reach White Castle! I hit quite a block around here, which I am still unsnarling, and I like that I've chosen to lean much harder into Eliza's princess nature.

SEPTEMBER - WTWBingo drabbles (read online)

Oh, God, what a timesuck! In addition to The Death of The Author (more shortly), in joining the WTWBingo event, I found myself tormented by hundreds of ideas for drabbles! Thanks so much to the WTW folks for inspiring me to write 10,000 words of these stories.

OCTOBER - The Death of the Author (read online)

I love Halloween. I love Halloween writing, and I love Halloween Episodes. More than all of that, though, I love murder mysteries, and so I am thrilled to present to you, with no further context whatsoever, The Death of the Author.

NOVEMBER - The Proposal (unpublished)

More erotica, with an eerie amount of people waiting on it. Very, very simple romcom MILF nonsense, which apparently is not only a thing I can write but something other people might want to read. I absolutely loved this piece, and it was responsible for my incredible 8K start on Day One of NaNo.

DECEMBER - Exhaustively (read online)

Exhaustively's had a big edit, and I'm now formatting it to release in limited edition paperbacks, in honor of beloved Archivist Max @goose-books! I highly recommend taking a look at it in this graphic (instead of just in the transcribed version) for full formatting joy. Also, I wrote 10,000 words in a day... but that didn't make it in here.

Man, was I prolific this year! I really enjoyed my writing, and I explored all sorts of artistic nooks and crannies (as Patrons especially will appreciate, what with all the experiments and behind-the-scenes things posted to Patreon this year. Fun Patreon surprise coming for free shortly...)

I also spent a lot of time on non-writing writing things, such Exhaustively's formatting, and, well, this Year in Review! I tried to show myself how much of my work wasn't just sitting and writing but reading and thinking and promoting and posting, and I think it worked... though I do miss just-plain-writing this week, as I wrap up all these New Yearly loose ends.

This upcoming year, I want to work more steadily on Forest Castles. It's hard to fit in with all my other priorities, especially when I don't have too much time to write a day. Do I need to set aside an amount of time daily to get it done, or is it better to dedicate full days? That's something I am still exploring.

Finally, this year I began using 4thewords, and I quite like it! Makes writing addictive and much more naturally fun. If you'd like to join up, feel free to DM me any questions, and my referral code is LOMDY47116.

And please, if you feel inspired by this post, make your own! That links to my template, which shouldn't be too painful to use. Just hop in there and change my name to yours, and tag me when you're done so that I can see it!

As always, you can read all of my posted writing here, and if you’d like to support me, I have both a ko-fi for one-time donations and a Patreon for exclusive monthly content. Thanks for being here this year! It's been a big one for so many reasons, and I'm so grateful to have had you along. Have a wonderful 2022, and I'll see you then.