Good morning, Readers!

Yesterday was a day in which I worked, but did not achieve all that much.  I mean, I got my highlight reel for my last Far Cry Primal stream and uploaded it.  I shattered the moon that stream, though I'm not sure why.  It seems a foolish thing to do, really.  But that was the mission.

Last night's stream was great fun.  Thanks everyone who came to hang out with me while I played.  I'm really enjoying this game.  It's making the prehistoric anthropologist in me happy, and the murderer in me thrilled.

Ahem.

I do have a rather disturbing propensity to cackle like a madwoman when I execute a successful kill on someone in a game.  While this might not be a great thing in civilised life, when the world ends, I'm going to be the psychopath that makes it.

All joking aside, the game is great fun and the people who hang out in chat are also great fun.

Today is a return to writing, I hope.  I've not been reaching the heights of the last time I was writing, but I was going at a very healthy thousand words a session this week.  I'm not mad at it.

First, though, I'm going to spend some time daydreaming about some things.  #Cryptic

Right, I'm of to dream.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Guess who woke up twenty minutes late and still made it to work on time?  This girl.  I'm proud of myself.  You have no idea of the hustle I pulled to get to the bus stop, arriving just as the bus pulled up.  But that's not the point of today's post.

I'm happily watching the leaves turn.  There are already a number of trees that I noticed on my bus ride in that were turning.  A few were already red all over.  Autumn truly is the best of the seasons.  I'm not big into pumpkin spice stuff (though I'm not looking down on it, either), though I am a huge fan of mulled apple cider.  I adore scarves and mittens, and long coats, cuddling cats and watching fog, hot drinks and cool days.  I am my happiest during the autumn.  We're so lucky we have this season.

One day, I'll be able to actually enjoy it properly, in my dream home on a forested property with no neighbours for miles and miles.  Maybe there'll be a private lake.  I'll have a few horses, a couple of dogs and cats.  Maybe even a milch cow, because apparently I'm living in the iron age now.

I'm dreaming so hard of this place.  They say if you cast it into the universe, it will manifest.  So, universe, this is precisely what I want: my own homestead, on an expansive forested property, in which I only need to head into town for essentials, conventions, teaching martial arts, and the occasional lunch with friends.  M'kay?

Hopes so hard it breaks the computer screen

Anyway, things are going pretty well this week, other than my propensity to sleep through my alarm of late.  I have a video that needs editing today, which will be done by this afternoon, I think.  It probably means that I won't get writing done today.  I'm okay with this.

Right, I should stop daydreaming about sipping hot tea in the morning while sitting on a balcony, looking out over a changing forest, and get to work.

Hope you all have a good day.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Last night was great.  I went to training, the second week of adding a Monday night training session.  I practiced what I knew, and realised with some chagrin that I've forgotten a great deal.  I managed to get some time working on my staff form, though I have forgotten almost all of it.  It was great to be able to swing the staff around again, and it immediately put me in a better mood.

A direct result of me getting to muck around with weapons is an improved mood.  It's just fun, and  you can't stay mad when you're having fun.

Side note: if ever I gain enough funds to buy a house (HAH!), there will need to be a basement with a roof high enough that I can throw my staff around while training.  Of course, it would take some kind of miracle in order to get a house at this stage, but still.  I will need a basement with high ceilings.  For weapons.

Today also marks day two of Screw you, Failure.  Yesterday was day one.  It was weight-training day, which I did.  Sunday should have been day one, but I was wallowing in a stew of my own self-pity.  It was not as bad as it sounds.  There was chocolate.   Anyway, day two of Screw you, Failure is running day.  I won't be running long or far.  I have only the time between work and training to run, and taking into account travel time (over an hour thanks to public transit), I will only be running for a maximum of half an hour, if that.  Then I'm off to training.  It's the first week back with the regular crew, and I'm really excited to go back; as much for the friends as for the punching and kicking of things.

I'm going to be wiped tonight.

Speaking of martial arts, Saturday (yes, the same day as the stupid run which made me angry), I taught my women's only classes.  It's four hours of teaching epic things, and I love it a great deal.  My women's kickboxing class is full up.  I'm a little saddened to see that the kung fu class is not so full.  That's the class we get to play with weapons in, and I do wish more people would sign up.

Oh, while I think of it, if you're a woman in the Ottawa area and feel like taking a martial arts class that's less intense than kickboxing, give kung fu a go.  I teach out of Carleton U, but you don't have to be a student to take the class.  Here's the registration link if you're interested:

THIS IS THE REGISTRATION LINK.

If you're interested in joining our coed class, I highly recommend coming to our Tuesday and Thursday classes.  We're at St. Gregory at the moment, and we're doing a free week.  Contact my Sifu, Sifu John Hum for more information, and drop by to see what it's all about.  Also, you get to see just how terrible a student I am.

THIS IS HOW YOU CONTACT MY SIFU.

Honestly, signing up is one of the best things I ever did.

Alright, I'm fast running out of brain power, and must preserve at least some for writing today, so I'll sign off here.  Have a lovely day,

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I ran my first ever straight 5K race this weekend just gone.  I'm... not happy.

Look, I know, I know.  At least I did it.  I should be proud that I was at the event at all.  Blah, blah, blah.

I'm not, and y'all are just going to have to deal with that.

Why not?  I hear you ask.  Or someone asked.  Maybe I just am hearing things now.​  The point is, I'm not proud of how I ran. 

The usual annoyances happened.  My nose started running almost as soon as I did, resulting in some serious mouth-breathing.  That's normal for me, though, and happens every time I run.  I read up on it, and it might just be that I'm literally allergic to running.  Which is hilarious, and annoying, but not really anything I worry too much about.  That's not the reason I am so angry with myself over this run.

I'm angry because I had to walk a bit.

Granted, I knew that I wasn't any kind of runner.  I've known since primary school.  I'm not fast, or good, at the whole running thing.  I'm not built for it.  I'm built for pulling a plough, or hauling logs long distances.  I'm not a cheetah.  I'm an ox.  Still, having to walk pissed me right off.

More than anything else that could have happened, that was the most aggravating.  I'm furious about it.  It was stupid and unnecessary, and surprising, since my last few practice runs before the race, while weren't the best performance on the planet, did not require any walking.  Why did it on Saturday?  Don't know.  But I had to, and I'm angry about it.  I'd have rather broken my leg, frankly.

You don't understand how sore I am over the whole thing.  Not as in muscular soreness (though, for some reason, my forearms were aching Sunday morning.), but the emotional kind of soreness.

Anyway, I wasn't thrilled on Saturday, and so I slouched home, fuming at myself.  If you happened to be on the bus Saturday evening and saw someone sitting near the front wearing a scowl, that was likely me.  Because I scowled hard, the whole way home.  I'm quite upset with myself, really.

Ordinarily, or rather, previously, that might have been enough to make me give up.  You see, as a chronic overachiever, if I couldn't do something well when I tried, I would give up and go do something else.  Academics came very easily to me.  I barely studied in school.  I thought all things were supposed to be like that, and if they weren't, well, I'd rather not do them than fail.

I consider Saturday night something of a failure. It grates at me in the same way a bad grade would.  But I'm not going to give up.  I'm so, so angry that now I'm motivated.  I won't ever walk during a 5K race again.  And more, my time will be so much better.  I finished Saturday's race under the thirty-five minute mark.  Next race, it'll be thirty-two minutes.  The one after that?  Thirty minutes.

Screw you, failure.  I'm not beat yet.

I'd like to take the time to thank awesome person and gazelle in human form, Evan May.  Evan is not just a good person, a great and patient running partner, but also a kick-arse writer.  I love the way he uses words.  Do check out his stuff ( this  is his site).  Evan ran with me, and was nothing but kind and supportive, even when I was fuming and cranky (sorry, Evan!).  Also, thanks to Kaylee, who came along too.  She's a long-time martial arts student of mine, and I'm really grateful she was there.

I promise that next race, I'll be way better.

Right, I have work to do.  I hope everyone's weekend was wonderful.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Yesterday, because I felt I needed a refresher so I could answer someone's questions, I skimmed through my book Daughters of Britain.  Reading through again made me smile and wince in equal measure.  I do have to say though, that as far as crushes on fictional characters go, I'd marry the hell out of Adalbern.

I mean, he's patient and kind, tender and loving.

It feels weird to say, since I wrote the guy, but I'll pretend that because my stories and characters feel so external to myself, it's excusable.  Anyway, there's no real point to this thought save to say that I want my own Adalbern.

But not yet.  I'm happy single, so...

Today, I have to re-red Skylark in anticipation of the book release party happening in a few weeks.  I need to pick out a passage to read.... After I find out how long I have.  I have a couple of options depending on the time available.  I need to figure that out.  I'd like to get it all sorted soon, so I can practice like hell, and hopefully not spend the entirety of my time before the reading on the night hyperventilating.  That'd be nice.

For those who have read the book, what was your favourite part?  Maybe it'd make a good section for reading.

Also, I have to share that my good friend Éric Desmarais, who roasts his own coffee, is currently taking pre-orders for an advent calendar of his flavoured coffees.  It's a fantastic idea, and his coffees are absolutely delicious.  If that sounds like something you might be interested in, you can pre-order here.

Right, I need to get to work.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I'm over on Black Gate magazine today, talking about Can*Con, and the state of our community.

One of my favorite conventions, Can*Con, is rapidly approaching (sure, it’s the only convention I can afford to go to, it being in my hometown, and all, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that it is, in truth, a wonderful convention), and I’m excited. This excitement, however, is also tinged with not a little trepidation. There are many reasons for this, but foremost among them is anxiety. I am anxious for a number of reasons.

First among those reasons are the sheer number of people. There will be a lot of them. Some of them will be important-types. Some will be just regular folk like myself. Being a very small, unimportant fish, struggling to grow, being surrounded by much bigger, more successful fish can feel a little suffocating. It’s difficult to get seen, and harder still to be heard.
​
One of the reasons I so love Can*Con is how, despite how it has continually grown, it hasn’t forgotten those of us who aren’t so big and important.

Good morning, Readers!

I went back to heavy lifting yesterday and my thighs and back are quite sore.  I had given myself a week off following helping a mate move.  Because I am an idiot.  I need to run this afternoon, and my legs are not function properly.  It will not be a good run.  Oh well.

Today marks the return to a regular schedule that is only a little different from the schedule I've been maintaining for the past couple of years.  The change is only this: I am adding another evening of martial arts training.  I did used to train a great deal more than I currently do.  With this change, I'll be closer to the original training schedule I once had.  Not entirely, though, as I have other things to do of an evening.

I have noticed, however, that I'm not learning at the same rate as I once was, and it bothers me.  So, I'm using the extra training session to cement the stuff I've learnt and practice it until I don't have to think about it.  I need it, I think, to continue to learn and improve.

It also helps to get my butt off the chair for a couple of hours, which I sorely need.  My job is sedentary.  My hobbies are largely sedentary... I need to move more.  So, I've added an extra training day.

All of which to say that this, the first week of my new/re-established schedule of training, will be a hellish week.  I will likely be grumpy and continually tired.  And hungry.  So, so hungry.  But, with luck, the end of the first week will have me back into my routine, and things will start getting better.  I say with luck, because I feel like I am simply always tired, whether I'm exercising or no.  Being an adult is fun.

Happily, though, I really enjoy martial arts, and the people I train with.  A good thing too, or I'd have quit long ago.

Right, I'm going to take my tired self and get on with the day.  Hope you're all well.

​Ciao!