Good morning, Readers!

Sooooo.... I have nothing really to report.  I'm going to be doing some writing today, which, duh.  I'm a writer.

Other than that, things are pretty much the same.  I managed a full week back at the gym, not so much at running.  I did run one day, and wasn't terrible at it, so I'm feeling better about my chances in the 5K I'm running next month.

Things were all over the place this weekend, and much of a whirlwind.  Most of it was just me hating OC Transpo because it is the literal worst.

In other things that have nothing to do with anything, I've been daydreaming about remodelling my bedroom.  I rather like interior design, though I've not studied it in any capacity, and I've been pretending I have money and searching furniture stores for ideas.  It's fun, if a little bittersweet, because I can't afford any of it.  Still, in my head, I'm pretending I can, and I think I've pretty much sorted my bedroom out, so I can move onto the bathroom.

snerk

One day I will be able to put all this to good use.  One day.

Today's agenda is, of course, a trip to the gym, and writing.  Martial arts training, too.  Rinse, repeat.  My life is pretty dull.

Right, since I'm just blathering on about nothing in particular, I'm off to do things. Here's a great video from a fantastic YouTube channel that I use when I'm researching regular life things in the medieval period.  It helps with all the little things in my writing.  You know, the small details that helps fill in a world and give it dimension.

Anyway, enjoy the video, and I hope you tumble down into this rabbit warren like I did.  Sharing is caring.

Right, I'm off to go do things.  Hope your weekend was wonderful and that you have a good day today.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Yesterday I wrote.  It wasn't at the pace I wrote the book previously, but I did hit my minimum goal of a thousand words in my writing session.  They were a decent thousand words, too.  A surprise character showed up.  I wasn't planning on having another character be a part of this.  Here she is all the same, and her visuals are super cool.  She won't play a major part in this book, I think, and is generally just there to be helpful for now.

I really like the way she looks in my head, and I desperately wish I was good at painting, because I really want to paint her.  She looks cool.

I also streamed last night.  It was fun, even if I had no idea wtf I was doing.  I feel like I have to relearn the game every time I sit down to play it.  Oh well!  It's still a great game, and I'm still enjoying it immensely.  Though, and if anyone out there has been playing Far Cry Primal before, there is an undiscovered location at the top of the map, which appears to be a cave with the entrance covered by logs.  I can't seem to get into it.  Any hints?

There is more writing on the agenda today.  I'm also supposed to go for a run, but I don't think I'll manage it.  I have training this evening, and I'm already exhausted from the first week back into physical activity and I have martial arts training tonight.

I'm also getting anxious... CanCon is coming up, and I have to make a decision.  Will I try and pitch my Great Man series again?  Or do I try for my Avalon series.  I just don't know.  I think I'll have a better idea when I receive the  (harsh?) comments back on Soldier.  If it turns out that it needs too much work, I guess that's my decision made.  I'll pitch the Avalon series.

Which adds another stress.  I still don't have a good title for that first book.  Or the second, let's be honest, but since it all rides on the first book, that's the one I need to focus on.  So, here's a question, what would you call a book that follows a young man who has a motorcycle accident, falls down the side of a mountain, only to wake up in a different world that is in the middle of an invasion, and he ends up frighting for the resistance to repel said invaders?

'Cause I've got nothing.

Also, I need to come up with elevator pitches for both first books in both series, just in case.  And I need to write cover letters and synopses for both... It's stressful.  But I want to have it done and so thoroughly memorised that delivering it will be a reflex.  I cannot trust my brain to remember these things.  I get stupid nervous during pitches, and I stumble over my words and expend far too much effort trying not to cry.  I can't be expected to consciously remember things when I'm in that state.

I really want to get an agent, and I'm a pool of hope and frustration at the moment.

So, that stress is sitting in the back of my mind as I try and focus on writing.  As usual with the pitching/submitting process, I feel like I'm out at sea, barely keeping afloat.

Le sigh.

Right, I have to go and do things now.  Any ideas regarding books titles is welcome.  Leave them in the comments below.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Well, yesterday was absolutely lovely.  I went for a run after work, and while it wasn't a great run, it also wasn't the worst one I've done.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Also, it was a great day for it; not too hot, plenty of shade.  My lungs were not happy at all, but I did run the whole time (well, "run").  Then I went out to dinner with the flatmate, who has been away.  It was a lovely evening to be sitting on a patio, eating a good meal and having a good drink.  I've really missed just sitting and chatting with the Amazing Flatmate.  And the weather was so lovely for it too.  I returned home feeling relaxed and happy.

I then added the alcohol to the first of my perfume experiments.  I'm fairly certain that this one won't work out...  I'm going to have to tweak the recipe a great deal and try again.  Of course, I won't be certain until the next session of curing is done (two to four weeks), but just based on how the oils cured together, I think this one is a bust.  I will try again with a tweaked recipe.  The other recipe is working much better thus far.

An aside that has nothing to do with anything, the air conditioner in the office is finally starting to work.  Just in time for some of the coolest days of the summer so far.  Jerks.

I did not write yesterday.  Don't get mad at me.  I was working on the manuscript.  I was doing a read, a 'the story thus far...' kind of thing to get my brain back into the story and the characters.  I'll be finishing that today, so there might not be much writing today either.  Happily, though, I'm really liking the story thus far.  Even though I wrote it, and know precisely everything that's happened so far.

​Hopefully, I'll get in a little writing today, but it's not the end of the world if I don't.  Tomorrow should be a full day of writing.  I hope.

Right, I ought to get on with it.  Have yourselves a lovely day!

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

My brain is not braining currently.  I'm supposed to start writing again today, and I'm a little worried I won't be able to do it.  Prior to having to take a break to take care of other things, I was writing really well, easily hitting two thousand words in a day.  The last time I tried to write, I struggled to reach five hundred.

In any case, there's nothing for it but to write.  That's the only way things get written.

I'm still really enamoured with this story.  How could you not love something that has swords and laser guns, tech and magic, and really awesome folks kicking arse.  This particular book ends rather spectacularly, with the good guys in a bad spot.  I need to get there, and it's the getting there that's tricky.  Though, I now get to write a ritual scene, and I'm excited about it, because it's quite meaningful for one character in particular.  I can't tell you much about that, because that would be spoilers.

In other news, weightlifting went pretty well yesterday.  I survived alright, and actually might be reducing the weight on my assisted pull ups soon.  I did better on those than expected.  Today I'm going to attempt a run, despite still being a little snotty, and having not run in a fortnight.  I'm nervous that I won't do well, but I'll give it a good try.

I'm exhausted today, though. As usually I am after coming back to exercise. I wish I could have slept in, but alas, I must earn a pay cheque, and so I'm here at work.  Life.  It's so boring sometimes.

Right, I have to go and do the things I need to today.  Have yourselves a great day!

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I had a great weekend that was surprisingly productive.  Things got done.  Not all the things I wanted, though, as I was away all day yesterday, and did think I'd be home so much sooner.  The things I had planned to do yesterday did not get done.  I'll be doing them this evening.  Hopefully they'll get done quickly.

For those concerned, my flu appears to have at last abated.  I will be headed back to the gym for the first time in two weeks today, and try my hand at lifting.  I hope I haven't lost too much.  Chances are not good that I retained an awful lot.  Two weeks is a long time to be away from training.

As I have so much work to do tonight, I won't be headed back to martial arts training tonight.  I will be attempting run training again tomorrow, though.  I'm not looking forward to that, since I've not done any in two weeks and my lungs are probably still not in great shape.  But I need to do it.  I have a 5K run coming up, and I really should be working on getting my 5K time down, instead of being able to run 5K period at this point in my training.

I'm really pissed about that.  I have now just over a month to get myself into some sort of shape to run.  I was hoping to be regularly running 5K in under 30 minutes by this point.  Grumble.

Other than that, there isn't all that much to report.  I have things that need doing today, including trying to come up with a blog post for my fortnightly Black Gate Magazine spot.  So, I'm off to do that.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Did you know that one of the many effects of the B strain of Influenza is debilitating calf cramps?  I do now.  So I guess I had/have the flu.  It is getting better, thank heavens, and I slept very well for the first time in a while last night.  It's so nice to wake up feeling even a little rested.

Still, I won't be at training tonight.  I will be home, in bed, listening to music and reading.  Being ill has its advantages.

I did not stream last night.  Sorry.  I wasn't able to be 'switched on,' as it were, and talking and joking for three hours to an audience was well above what I felt capable of.  I did game, though, a little.  Not the game I'm streaming, though.  That's for my audience.  I played a bit of Skyrim, which is a very homey kind of game for me.  It's comforting.  I'm in Solstheim currently, preparing to battle against Miraak.  I'm finding it easier this time around than the last time I went there in my previous game (I never finished it), though Miraak can die in a fire, stealing my dragon souls like that.

Ahem.

Anyway, I did relaxing, comforting things last night (let's not discuss how killing dragons is comforting for me), and it proved just the thing.  I'm feeling much better today.

I will be back on my regular schedule next week, which is good, because I've fallen so far behind in my running training, and it's not good.

In other news, I've started making my own perfume (it's curing now, so jury's out if I got it right or just created a puddle of stink), "hard" lotion (bars that look like soap, but actually melt on the skin to massage in like lotion), with plans to make my own sulfate-free shampoo bars and soap.  I'm having fun with it, actually, and I really enjoy making stuff for myself.  It means I don't have to go out and buy it.  I'm in control of what goes into the stuff I'm putting on my body.

One day, I'm going to learn how to sew.... if ever I could actually finish a project that takes longer than an evening... and if I could just get the time I needed to do it (downtown is scheduled, and must be for mental health, so none of this 'just hustle' nonsense people keep peddling, m'kay?).  Le sigh.

Anyway, I'm going to end up just blathering about random daydreams I have, so I'll just leave it here.  I'm off to get on with my day.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

*Please note that this advice may not work for all Sonias.  Each Sonia is an individual and requires individualised care.  Be sure to consult your papers and read the personality profile of your Sonia carefully.

A Sonia is an odd creature, requiring a particular set of circumstances in order to thrive.  To keep a Sonia content, be sure to give it plenty of space.  A Sonia requires long periods of silence and or solitude in order to maintain equilibrium.  If a Sonia is surrounded by people and noise for too long, it will get testy and may start growling.  Long periods of recovery are required for a Sonia if it is over-stressed by people and noise.  Should this occur, feel free to offer your Sonia some tea on occasion, but otherwise leave it alone.  If you have a library, leave your Sonia there.  The quiet of the library and smell of books will be a great comfort to your Sonia.

Similarly, a Sonia can be very much like a cat in that it will enjoy your company, but not necessarily your attention.  Shared quiet activities like art, reading, or listening to music will do wonders in strengthening the bond with your Sonia.

How can you tell when a Sonia is unwell?

It's simple, really.  A Sonia's usually prodigious appetite will vanish, leaving you with no choice but to force feed the Sonia.  I recommend warm, comforting foods like soups and stews.  Also of note, a Sonia's usual fatigue will escalate, requiring a Sonia to sleep more than usual.  This can be difficult to detect, as a Sonia often requires more sleep than most, particularly if exposed to large social gatherings recently.

An unwell Sonia may also be a great deal more clingy than when its health is good, often whining for attention and care.  Feel free to ignore it if necessary.  An unwell Sonia will be drifting in and out of slumber, and so will likely quieten very soon.

A fairly indicative symptom of illness is whether or not your Sonia will play.  If it does not even approach the gaming centre, you can be fairly certain that the Sonia is not well at all.  It is best to let the Sonia be and not force the issue.  It may make you feel better to see your Sonia playing, but it is best to just let it rest and recover.  It will return to play soon enough.

If you have any other concerns, feel free to contact your local Sonia expert.  Call 1-855-555-5555 for a directory.

Thank you and remember: adopt, don't shop.

(For real, though, I'm still sick.  I will be streaming tonight, though, as I'm on the mend.  You'll have to put up with my snivels, blowing nose, possible coughing, and the usual amount of death and cursing)