Good morning, Readers!

So, tomorrow I'm off for my first ever Ad Astra.  I'm really looking forward to it.

Have I packed?  Uh... 

No.

That's what the night before is for, right?

Anyway, I'm excited to get there, but all the usual anxiety regard new situations and new people is, of course, present.  Luckily, I'll be in the company of friends - or at least friendly acquaintances - and I'm not on any panels.  Thank heavens!  I don't think I would cope well with being on panels my first ever Ad Astra.  Do I hope to be on panels there at a later date?

Sure!  It means I'm moving up in the world, stretching my reach just a little further.  But I'm not quite ready to do that yet.  I need to scope the place out first.

But enough about me.  The awesome folks I'm travelling down with are on panels and such, so check out their schedules:

The scheduling looks fantastic, and I'm really thrilled to be going.

BUT I have a lot of work to do before I head off to Toronto, including writing May's eNewletter (not subscribed? If you want, you can by clicking here).  I really should go and do that.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I write this today from my bed, not because I'm ill, but because I took a much-needed holiday day.

There is a reason for it beyond not wanting to go into work today.  A good friend of mine is being awarded this afternoon at a special ceremony, and I definitely want to be there.

It's also a nice break because I won't be editing today.  I should be getting it done, I know, but sometimes you just need to goof off.  Today, I need to goof off.

To that end, I gave myself a good long sleep in, longer than I intended, because the cats decided to cuddle, and we all know how willing I am to disturb the cats in order to start my day.

But I must be off to eat some breakfast and get ready.  The bus leaves sooner than I'd like to admit, and I sleep in longer than I should have.

Have a great day, all.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

It's worse than I thought, guys.

Mind if I build a blanket fort and hide from my life for a while?  I have a shit tonne of work ahead of me.  So here are more videos to occupy your time, since I'm not writing a proper blog post:

How about some baby elephants who want to be lap dogs?

If you're looking for reading material, here's an interesting article about portion control.

And here's the link to the Goodreads.com book club for Silver Stag Entertainment, my not all about me YouTube channel.  The best thing about online book clubs, is that you don't have to be reading the books at the same time.  You just need to have read them, and you can discuss them to your heart's content.  Any way, feel free to join it to discuss speculative fiction books.  There are plenty up there now to choose from.

Okay, now I'm just stalling.

I have work I need to do.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Yesterday I received the first Beta Reader's comments on Daughters of Britain.  It seems I have my work cut out for me.  I'm a little disappointed, really, as I worked really hard on the manuscript, and I honestly thought it was better than it apparently is.

Le sigh.

So because I will be doing nothing but some serious editing and some rewriting today, here are some brilliant videos for you to waste your time on.

Now go and enjoy your day.

I will be weeping silently.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

 I'm not sure what to blog about today.

Should I talk about the guy who, in response to the article I posted on Facebook about white-washing in media (specifically this time Ghost in the Shell), said that lack of representation in media doesn't matter?

Tuck your shirt in, sir.  Your privilege is showing.

But I don't want to rant about that today.  I'm tired today.  I'm so tired of having to explain what should be obvious if people would just stop and think about it for a moment.

Should I talk about my run yesterday, the first attempt at running home of the outdoor season?  I made such a poor showing of it, I don't really want to.  It was disappointing to say the least.  Despite having just exercised, I arrived home feeling like a fat, unworthy lump.  Luckily, the kitties don't care how lumpy I am, and game ample cuddles.

Should I talk about how I've still heard nothing about the science fiction manuscript I was shopping around.  Honestly, I think I'm just going to self-publish it.

I don't know.  Maybe I'm just still sad from the run, but I just can't decide where I want to take this blog post.  So, apparently, I won't take it anywhere!

I'm off to work on impossible dreams.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I have some really big dreams.  Like, crazy big.  Dreams so big they seem impossible.

Oddly enough, writing for a living is not really one of those dreams.  It used to be.  Now it doesn't seem nearly as impossible as it once did.  Now, it's just a matter of perseverance and patience.

(Hah!  Patience!  It's the patience that's the hard part, really)

But there are other dreams.  Dreams that are pounding the inside of my skull, demanding release.  Demanding attention.  Demanding that I work on them.  Screaming for expression.

And the problem is, I have no idea where to start.  I don't know what to do.  It all seems too big, so very insurmountable, way above my abilities.

That's not to say I haven't started.  I've built a website for one of these dreams.  It's unpublished.  It will remain unpublished, perhaps forever.  Who knows?  I would love to do this thing, but I just... I don't know how, and it's so frustrating.

It's mostly frustrating because It's screaming so loudly for attention, and I feel so damned impotent.

Still, I need to write up a plan for this idea.  Maybe, by some miracle, I might actually be able to make it happen.  Part of making it happen, I feel, is heading back to school.  I'm tempted, if only for the programme I'm looking at.

But it's more money than I have, and more time than I have and I'm not even sure I'll be able to make this crazy idea work even if I do go back to school. 

Ugh.  I feel like I need to be independently wealthy in order to re-enter the schooling life.  I'm not willing to dig myself deeper into debt.

Anyway, there are so many crazy thoughts running through my head at the moment.

I'm off to wail in despair...

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I'm all calm today.  Sorry.  There will be no rant.

In fact, this blog isn't about much of anything, really.

Yesterday was a sweltering day in the office.  It was so hot in the office that the one person who never lets me go early sent me home.  It was awful.  It was so hot that it took me the entire trip home to cool down, and even then, I had to lie down in front of an open window for a while.  Guys, it was hot.

Last night was lovely.  We had a gentle spring rain and a nice cool breeze.  I haven't slept so well in a while.  I love the rain  There is one thing I've noticed, however, when I'm alone and I've finished binge watching my show of the moment (yesterday's binge watch was ABC'S The Quest.  Are we getting a series 2, ABC, or what?  Also, I'm still available to hire.  Surely you need a kick-arse warrior woman type character to join the cast?  Ahem... I'm done.  For now), I'm prone to letting my flights of fancy take over.

Last night, I tortured myself with perusing European castles for sale.  I kinda want them all.  If only I had money.  I went to be slightly depressed last night, pining for a castle of my very own.  Luckily, there were kitties there to cuddle; very tolerant kitties...

I was supposed to be running this week, but I ran to Kung Fu in the park on Saturday and my right leg has still to recover.  I kid you not.  There's a weird, painful tightness in the lower half of that leg that really limits my movements walking down stairs.  It's really annoying.  But, I am determined to get my cardio up.  I will be running tomorrow... probably very slowly.  It's a 5km course, and most of it is uphill.

*weeps*

Anywho, I'd appreciate any tips and tricks for this lower leg thing happening.  I've tried massaging it and stretching, but it's still quite tight and painful.  Maybe I should just get a stick and roll it out.

And that's all the non-ranty things I have to say.  I am writing.  It's going relatively well.  Some days are better than others, as it always seems to be.  Speaking of writing, I should get back to work.

Ciao!