I've been thinking about starting some discourse within writeblr. I don't have any IRL author friends and so I rarely know how other authors view or feel about things unless I just happen upon it in a post on social media. I just think it'd be interesting getting a wider perspective on certain things from a variety of writers/authors from different backgrounds. I think there's so many debates within the writer/reader community that can easily be looked at as a black and white issue (very much so in this modern age when people tend to have knee jerk responses/reactions to things without appreciating the nuance to the issue) but it's actually far more complex than any one person could fathom. Most of the things I've wanted others to weigh in on I don't think are too controversial...some of them are just trivial things that have bugged me/I have opinions about and some are topics where I'm like I genuinely don't think there's a right answer or a solution to this issue.

So yeah. Would be cool to see if people would be interested in something like that. I haven't decided what it would look like - maybe a question/topic that I post weekly and people can reblog with their thoughts/opinions in the post or tags? Idk. I also know that once I put it out there I have no control over what gets said or what debates get started so I just worry about starting some unnecessary drama. That's honestly the complete opposite of the purpose of this, it's specifically to be open minded and hear different people's side of things and have a healthy discourse. So...we'll see

(This is a rant inspired by @inkovert 's post about perfectionism-- I recommend giving it a read, it helped me to see someone going through something similar)

When I was in middle school, I wrote fanfiction with my friends. I didn't post it and I didn't finish any of it, but it was a fun hobby for me. Until it wasn't.

At the time, there was someone in my life who mistakenly tore those of us around them down to deal with the pain in their life. I don't blame them because we were kids and kids do dumb things, but their actions have had a lasting effect on my writing hobby. I developed an inner critic so strong that I've shied away from writing for years now.

But recently I was inspired to write a new fic. And I've spent the last seven months writing it. (We're on chapter 19 of 21!)

It's been a lot of work. Pushing past an inner critic that decides to hate the words you wrote just a paragraph ago is very difficult. But I've come to the conclusion that I can't let it control my life anymore. So I'm writing, even if it's shitty, and telling my inner critic that it can come back and talk to me when I'm editing.

But there's other things in the way, too. I've been dealing with undiagnosed medical issues for the past 4 months that have put chronic pain in the joints on my hands. In month 3 of writing the fic, I was told to stop writing by my peers for fear I would make the problem worse. I've ignored them.

I've decided I can't live a life where the only thing I do with my hands in a day is work to get a paycheck. I'm allowed to have hobbies that use my hands. In fact, my mental health requires it.

So I'm restaking my claim over my writing hobby. My inner critic, born from the residue that unkind person left on my life, is no longer allowed to drive. I'm in the driver's seat. The critic is allowed to come out a bit in editing, but it is not allowed to halt me from working on my WIPs.

Life's top fucking short to steal your hobbies from yourself out of fear that it won't turn out as intended.

So what if my writing is shitty. It's allowed to be; I'm still a novice. If I want to rewrite the damn thing when I have more skills and knowledge, there's no rules saying I can't. What matters right now is getting something, anything, on the page. What matters now is doing a thing that makes me happy.

I will not let myself steal my happiness from me.

"fuck it, just hit post" - a 2024 writeblr resolution

In December I wrote a little rant about how much better I might feel if I stopped feeling beholden to put out aesthetic "content" and just shared the raw truth of my art and writing drafts. @inkovert also had some lovely thoughts on that post that inspired me.

So here's my best crack at it! Similar to @winterandwords CalmWriMo but as (hopefully) a lasting commitment to the whole year, Fuck It, Just Hit Post aims for me to share more regularly regardless of whether I consider the work "polished" enough to post or even if it gets 2 notes.

As someone who notoriously edits as they write, constantly worrying if their words are resounding enough for someone to read, I'd like to challenge myself to the "fuck it" mentality. Even if I get nothing from it--no notes, no new followers--my hope is that it'll shift my mindset away from "content creation" to the joyful act of creating, period.

If you'd like to join me in this New Year's Resolution, you can post whatever you please (doodles, wip updates, rambles, oc content, etc) under the tag #writeblr.fijhp ! I will track the tag and do my best to reblog everyone's work <3

This is more of a philosophy than a writeblr challenge, which means you can start and stop at anytime. Post once under the tag, or flood it. Who cares! You can do whatever you want forever. And the "fuck it" mentality will always be waiting if you'd like to try it out.

Writeblr Positivity Tag

Hi @inkovert! Thank you, as always, for the tag. Just a quick shout-out; if you don't know Inkovert yet, please please please go check out their WIP, My Dearest Enemy. Also, do you like having in-depth discussions about writing with other up-and-coming authors? Participate in @inkovert's Spilled Ink Saturdays. The first session (on book-to-screen adaptations) was a lot of fun!

✦ What motivates you to write?

I agree with @inkovert. It's not that I'm motivated to write, exactly... It's more that I feel I... have to? There's a sort of internal inertia that keeps pulling me back to fiction. Maybe it's obsession? Maybe it's Maybelline? 💃😉 No, but seriously, I think it may be connected to this weird instinct I have to document things? To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, when I was in my mid-twenties, I went through a terrifying break-in. I kid you not; there was a literal man with a balaclava crouched in my shower in the middle of the night. How did I respond? By screaming, obviously. But after the screaming? I called up my boyfriend and narrated every single detail of what I saw and heard while trying to escape the house with my family. In my mind, I felt it was critical to tell him what was going on, not because I thought it would help catch the culprit(s) (we didn't know if there were more), save us from whatever bitter fate awaited, etc., but kind of in the same way people carve "I was here" into walls? If I was going to die (which was a possibility; a friend's father died in similar circumstances at around the same time), I needed someone to know what I'd seen, to know that I'd seen... So, do I write because I'd die if I didn't? No. I write because I'm going to die anyway. Because I know I'm going to die.

✦ A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud of/happy with. If not, maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them):

I can do you one better! Because @inkovert kindly tagged me, I'd like to return the favour by referring you to their Wattpad page, where you can read their current WIP, My Dearest Enemy

✦ Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them, and what are they like?

Haha, I don't know if any of the OCs in The Sorcerer's Apprentice make me smile. They all worry me a lot. By accepting an apprenticeship with the sorcerer Valeriano, Altaluna is heading straight into a nest of venomous vipers, and they are going to maim her; they are going to maim her for life. Every time she feels optimistic or wow-ed by the glitz and the glam of her new environment, I cringe internally. My poor, sweet summer child! Valeriano, on the other hand, is a monster, so it's hard to smile when thinking of him. Hmm... maybe the only character I genuinely smile around is Cucufate, the talking monkey. He's the only character whose behaviour and snide comments can be underplayed as just 'animal antics,' which means he's the only character who can get away with giving people a little of what they truly deserve. It's hard not to love him for it.

✦ What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

Again, I have to agree with @inkovert. The editing process means no blank page, and no blank page means (rejoice!) no existential suffering. My first drafts are always shit and a disappointment. But my second drafts? Dost thou want to live deliciously? With the second draft, I know where I'm going, what's happening, where to trim the fat and everything I need to make the story what I wanted it to be in the first place. Usually, I downright discard the first draft and write the entire story from scratch, but better, so much better. And editing the second (or sometimes, third) draft? Pure, unadulterated bliss. Goodbye, low self-esteem, goodbye doubts; cue me some Nina Simone, why don't you?

✦ What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

Editing, re-drafting. I'm good at figuring out what's wrong and have no trouble whatsoever massacring my darlings.

✦ What is something in the writeblr community that is most enjoyable?

The community! I love participating in tag & ask games, reading people's work, celebrating my mutual's triumphs, and sharing my progress. I don't have any writer friends outside of Tumblr (apart from academic writer friends, though they're a very different kettle of fish), so I really appreciate being able to log on and be met with all this creativity.

✦ A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

Okay, so first thing first: I have ADHD. Any thought I have is an explosion that simultaneously sends spin-off thoughts in every imaginable direction, which, in turn, send spin-off thoughts in every imaginable direction, and so on and so forth, and on and on, until some of the spin-offs reach a dead end and their line withers, and/or I reach the limits of my capacity to hold all these thoughts in my mind and spontaneously combust. Instead of trying to fight this multi-generative tendency (this leads to a state of paralysis where I can't do anything), I've found a way to let the 'explosions' take the lead without overloading my systems, so to speak. Basically, I figured that if I stored every direction my mind went in somewhere other than my mind, I could let it do its thing without risking burnout. For that, I use MindNode, a visual brainstorming software. And let me tell you, it's been a life-saver. Now, when considering a scene, I document every possible route available to the characters and/or the setting, assign each ramification a score (for example, +1 Worldbuilding, +1 Foreshadowing, +1 Symbolism, +1 Character Development, -1 Cliché, -1 Undermines Tension, -1 Repetitive, etc.), and then choose the one with the highest score to write out. This method is obviously quite time-consuming, but it does have some unique strengths beyond helping me deal with my ADHD: (1) it ensures that there are no superfluous scenes in the grand design, (2) it ensures that all scenes are layered and fulfil multiple story functions at once, (3) it discourages going with the first option that presents itself (usually cliché, in my case), (4) it encourages out-of-the-box creative thinking, (5) and, finally, it's likely to lead to scenes that surprise you, the writer (for example, I was shocked by how many routes led to my character's death, lol). So, yeah, MindNode has been very helpful to me.

✦ A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law, etc)

I love the magic system, but I'm not sure I'll reveal anything more about it before publication than I already have in this post. You're just going to have to wait and see ;)

✦ Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters:

I follow TONS of talented writers on this site, among them: @inkovert, @that-chibi-writer, @tate-lin, @kingkendrick7, @ettawritesnstudies, @blind-the-winds, @aquadestinyswriting, @avrablake, @alinacapellabooks, @lordfenric-writes, @moonscribbler, @cee-grice, @sender-paulson, @sarah-sandwich, @liv-is, @athenswrites, @junypr-camus, @rubywrite, @winterandwords, @salmonandfox, @merlina87, @songsofsomnia, @words-after-midnight, @lucianinsanity, @talesofsorrowandofruin, @nanashi23, @sam-glade, @at-thezenith, @kestalsblog, @kaatiba, @theunboundwriter, and so many more!

Find the word tag

This one comes from June, by the lovely @artdecosupernova-writing -- thank you, pal! I'm looking for these words both in my new 2nd draft of Invisible Girl, and also a bit in the older stuff too :)

Leak and Combine:

Velia stepped closer to it, watching carefully in case she might need to bolt. The large stature of the cars combined with the inky night had her pulse rabbiting faster than she would have ever admitted. Velia reached out and ran her fingers over the gold paint adorning the passenger car before her. The train’s name, the California Limited, soft to the touch like a lucky charm. The train made another sound like a leak let out from a tire.       Velia left her fingers there and nothing bit them. Maybe she and the train would get along alright.

Heat:

“You[r Gift is to] feel body heat?” “Yes.” “Then perhaps you’re wondering why the room has gotten warmer?” Antonio asked, grinning broadly now. Velia, understanding, only shot him an amused eyeroll. Fred nodded. “Yes. But occasionally I can get thrown off by the newer equipment—machines that output, or the radiators. I thought—” “Fred,” Antonio said grandly, “Have you ever imagined a Gift that would render the Gifted invisible?”

Mirror:

Her first most treasured possession lived in her right coat pocket. A small circular mirrored cosmetics compact, the powder side long empty. The lid was worn down from years of being carried and stroked, and the catch stuck a little; it nearly always took her two tries to open it.

Leave:

“I’ve got a huge house, no one will notice if one more bed gets slept in. I’ll hire you too—carry my briefcase, Velia, you’ll get full medical leave, great wages, the whole package, I swear it.” [Antonio's] enthusiasm was infectious. “I’m handling myself just fine,” Velia protested. She didn’t really have a good reason for protesting.

No pressure tags for @sarandipitywrites @inkovert @kaiusvnoir @winterandwords @drabbleitout @magic-is-something-we-create @akindofmagictoo @imbrisvastatio @daisywords and anyone else who'd like to look for the words frost, north, glass, and pretentious <3

aaand @sleepyowlwrites an Antonio spotting, should you be interested 😌

TAG GAME / oc in fifteen or less.

rules: share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an oc.

i was tagged by @winterandwords thank you!

i picked theo for this, in part because he has some of my favourite lines but also because no one else would've worked for this.

1 / “I killed you.”

2 / “I said I don’t have any books in my extensive collection, but that doesn't mean I don’t know anything. When you’re stuck being home schooled in a mansion that’s haunted, you get bored.”

3 / “Let me guess, you thought I was some stuck-up snob who’s never worked a day in his life? Well, you’re half right, I’ve never worked once because I never had to.”

4 / “You don’t. You just learn to live with it.”

5 / “If you were smart enough to make a copy, then you were also smart enough to read through it, and you still signed.”

6 / “Long story short, I made a mistake and he seems to think that it included everything that we once were.”

7 / “That implies you’ve been keeping tabs on me."

8 / “Vultures is more befitting of London’s socialites."

9 / “You don’t need to, his disliking for me is completely justified.”

10 / “It makes sense when you think about it. People who get shot in the head can survive, but they don’t survive unscathed if they do. Aside from the wound in their head, memory loss is a common side effect. Given Mayumi's circumstances, it would be more surprising if her memories were intact.”

11 / “Nathaniel has no interest in involving me in what goes on there unless I grovel at his feet and…”

12 / “I’ve already risked my neck to tell you what I already know and if Nathaniel were to ever find out…”

13 /  “For what it’s worth, I do wish things could be different and… I’m sorry for everything that I did. You were right, I am a coward, always have been, always will be.”

tagging (no pressure!): @oh-no-another-idea @coarsely @inkovert + anyone else who wishes to take part!

Tag: Valentines Questions Game

I was tagged by @zmlorenz and @drippingmoon

Key for my character references:

A Flame in the Forest: Mariya, Vladimir, Zorya

A Shadow on the Wall: Zilla, Max, Wilhelm

In Want of a Wife: Cecily and Laurence

Books 2 & 3 of the romance series: Nellie ad Edward, Philip and Winifred

1. Which of your characters have some romantic chemistry?

Well I'm hoping that Mariya & Zorya have chemistry, and Zilla has chemistry with Max and Wilhelm, since those are the canon relationships (although Zilla/Wilhelm is more of a casual sexual relationship).

As far as my romance wips go, all my lead couples should have romantic chemistry if I'm doing my job.

2. Which of your characters do you think readers will ship?

Hopefully they ship the canon couples. I think there might be a preference for Zilla/Wilhelm over Zilla/Max, although it's not a love triangle or anything like that.

Some readers might ship Mariya and Vladimir (originally they were a couple but then I started writing them and there was no romantic chemistry).

Both my couples from books 2 & 3 appear in In Want of a Wife, so I'm hoping some people ship them (I think it's probably more likely people will ship Philip and Winifred based on their interactions in IWW).

3. Which of your characters are slated to be endgame?

All of my romance couples since that's the genre.

I can't say who is or isn't endgame in A Shadow on the Wall, but suffice to say it's not a romance heavy book and neither is A Flame in the Forest.

4. Are there any established relationships in your WIp? If so, how did they meet?

Zilla and Wilhelm have had a casual sexual relationship prior to the story, but not a romantic relationship.

I suppose many of the relatives of my romance leads are married (with varying degrees of happiness). I haven't really thought too hard about how they met.

5. What's your dream love confession scene between your characters?

I just wrote a sorta love confession for In Want of a Wife and Laurence just confessed his love for the first time...and he did it completely unintentionally and casually. Cecily's love confession will be a bit more epic.

There won't be any romantic love confessions in A Flame in the Forest. Any love confessions in A Shadow on the Wall will...be tragic.

Tagging: @missbrunettebarbie, @laufire-writes, @nectargrapes, @inkovert

THE FIRST PASS OF ACOGS EDITING IS DONE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

i edited that in 18 days!! i added 16k!! and i have a lot less left to do than i thought i did so it should be done within the week!!!

AHHHHH i'm so proud of myself i'm so happy i love acogs so fcking much

acogs taglist (lmk to be added/removed) @magic-is-something-we-create @inkflight @spencer-nyx @writing-is-a-martial-art @ashen-crest @wisteria-eventide @nikkywrites @denkis-phone-charger @myhusbandsasemni @lynolord @ettawritesnstudies @golden-apple-s-blog @chazzawrites @pen-of-roses @47crayons @wickerring @sleepy-night-child @florraisons @faithfire @croctears @inkovert @kait-writes

haven't been on here in any capacity in months and can't guarantee I won't disappear again but just wanted to hop on to dump some feelings that have cropped up lately into a post.

First, let me say that I love my story. it means the world to me. Additionally, I am fairly confident in my abilities as a writer (not saying that I don't occasionally get insecure like everyone else, but I'm past the early stages of my writing journey where I look at everything I put into words and think it's a flaming pile of garbage. I am confident that I am a competent writer and am generally good at what I do). But I'm starting to realize those two ingredients aren't enough to keep me going.

We're always bombarded with posts that say "write for yourself!" and "don't seek validation from others!" and "write what you want to write!". And, trust me, I am doing all those things. But that doesn't mean it's enough or that it solves everything. As much as I love my story/characters, and as passionate as I am about one day turning this WIP into a novel, it's SO easy to just...stop writing, despite all that. Because without some form of a reminder as to why I'm doing this or who I'm doing it for (outside of myself), it makes me question like...why bother putting words on paper for no one to see them? If I'm truly just creating for myself and myself alone, why not just leave my ideas and characters and plots in my head and day dream about them indefinitely to my hearts content? Some may immediately read that and think: it's to improve your writing skills, that's why! But after writing for years and years on end, it's pretty hard to expect to continue to linearly or exponentially improve in isolation. At the end of the day, some form of feedback is necessary for you to continue to improve - which brings us right back to square 1.

Anyway, all that is to say, I'm finding it hard to find a reason to keep writing lately. And even if I dangle the nebulous goal of publication in front of me....I'm a student living off of a stipend, and it's going to take several years for me to have the financial means to achieve that goal. So once again I find myself wondering...what's the point?

Last Line Tag CXXXVIII

I was tagged by @conteur-writeblr! Merci!

From Remnants:

Even as she asked the questions, she realized she already knew. Artem had finally made his move to flush her out of hiding. He’d gone after the one place she’d been recorded as calling home in the past six years, and he’d done it on her birthday so she knew it was for her. She hated the thought, tried to reason that there were other possibilities, but the truth of it sunk into her bones. She stared at the ash crushed into the whorls of her fingerprints. 

“Radka?” Damir asked, gently wrapping his fingers around her wrist. 

She let him pull her hand away from her face, shifting her horrified gaze to him as he touched the ash on her skin. 

“Is this…?” he trailed off, looking out the window. His face fell, recognizing it for what it was immediately.

And that’s the moment we switch from the middle part of the book to the steep lead up to the climax.

I tag @sureliipan, @inkovert, @seaside-writings, @seas-dubh, and anyone else who wants to play! As always, no pressure!

Positivity Prom: Week 3

I'm getting caught up on @inkovert's Positivity Prom today.

Last week's prompt was: "What made you start writing? Writing is not always enjoyable or immediately rewarding, so think about what makes you still do it in spite of that. If you've ever given up or fallen out of love with writing, what made you (or could make you) find your way back?"

And this one was a doozy. I may have talked about what put me on the path to writing way earlier, but I think I definitely was more in depth with this one.

The whole story will be below the cut, but the TLDR version is this: I started writing because of a sincere compliment from my 7th grade English teacher, Mr. Colunga.

Before that moment, I never wrote a story with the intent for it to be a book; I wrote stories to be made into manga. I was super into reading manga; the then Big Three (Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach), FMA, Rave Master, Fairy Tail and anything else I could get my hands on. I didn't think too much about writing as a format or medium; I was more focused on improving my art skills because they weren't "up to par" in comparison to manga artists (I know, I was very much full of myself).

Then in 7th grade, I had to do a book project for The Giver by Lois Lowry. Basically, there was this whole list of different projects that were worth a certain amount of points (like, 10, 25, 50, etc.) and you had to complete enough projects to equal 100 points. Of course, the point amount corresponded to the amount of involvement/effort for each project. But there were a couple of projects that would equal 100 right off the bat, so I was like, "Fuck yeah, I'll do those." One of them was "Rewrite the ending of The Giver." Since I was already dabbling in storytelling (albeit in manga form), I thought that that was the easiest one of all of them so I wrote it up, turned it in, and that was that.

Until Mr. Colunga wanted to talk to me while the rest of the class was doing the daily warm up. I remember the borderline panic that I was experiencing.

"I'm in so much trouble. Oh my god, I'm gonna be in trouble in front of everyone in class." I swear, I was dripping sweat in the amount of time it took me to stand up from my desk and walk to a corner of the room that was no more than 10 feet away.

Mr. Colunga just pulled out a stapled stack of papers that he was had under his arm. He kind of tapped it, his fingers splayed out so that he was mostly tapping it with his fingers. He took a breath, paused, and said, "This is really good. Have you ever thought about being an author?"

My thought process went a little like this: oh I'm not in trouble fuck now everyone must be listening to this I'm not good enough to be an author I just wrote what I thought would've been a good ending I'm not-

I just shook my head. "No, not really."

"Well, I think you have something in you, because this ending was really good. Like, really good. I almost cried at the end of it. It's incredible."

Then the librarian walked in and I thought that the conversation was over (because she probably had to talk to Mr. Colunga about teacher stuff) but then he's like, "Oh, great you're here!" and turned back to me and said, "So, I showed it to Dr. Taylor."

And Dr. Taylor is like, "Yes, it was really good. I cried reading it. Have you thought about joining the Creative Writing Club?"

And I'm like wut

"I think," Mr. Colunga went on, "that you should send this to Lois Lowry. I think this would be something that she'd be really interested in reading."

I just nodded my head, staring at the stack of paper in his hands.

After that, I don't really remember much. I just know that I never sent it to Lois Lowry, I joined the Creative Writing Club, and I gave up on perfecting my art.

I remember starting to write and wanting to write and loving writing.

I think that storytelling was something I've always loved and wanted to do, but I think writing and being an actual writer can be %100 percent attributed to Mr. Colunga.

Unfortunately, I have given up on writing a couple of times. Each reason was because of money; writing didn't make money so there was no point in it, everyone was a writer so there was nothing I could do that could possibly be interesting, I didn't have what it takes to be a published author because I'm not flexible enough to make it in an industry that needs flexibility in order to cater to your agent or your editor or the publishing house or the consumer or all of the above.

During the times I gave up on writing, I felt hollow. My head felt almost disgustingly empty. To me, writing is the background application that won't let your computer shut down right away. It was always there and it was this thing that not only gave me purpose, but gave me joy in a way that nothing else in this world could give me. Without it, I felt wrong. I felt untethered.

So I go back to writing. I always go back to writing. I realize that writing is more than a career or a hobby. Writing is my life. I'm not me without my writing. I can't imagine life without writing the stories I wanna tell, and I don't think I'll ever give up on it for the rest of my life.

Nine People You Want To Get To Know Better

Hi everyone, I'm back from an unplanned semi-hiatus (turns out moving countries can really do a number on you) and am looking forward to interacting again. On that note, thank you very much to my new mutual, @lordfenric-writes for tagging me! If you don't already know Fenric (can I call you Fenric?), go check out their Content Links Post for access to their 2023 NaNoWriMo project and more! Soft tagging: @tate-lin @lucianinsanity @songsofsomnia @moonscribbler @words-after-midnight @blind-the-winds @sarah-sandwich @mydeadpony @inkovert @sender-paulson @athenswrites @wordsacrossemptypages, @winterandwords and anyone else who'd like to participate! If you want me to remove you from the tags, just send me a message and I'll get right on it <3

Current Book I'm Reading: OK, so the first thing you need to know about me is that I'm a fully institutionalized academic, and although I've (THANKFULLY) left that world behind, I. CAN'T FOR. THE. LIFE. OF. ME. stop reading like an academic. I haven't been able to read fiction in over a year. The only genre outside of non-fiction that I still seem to be able to connect with is horror. And not like ghosts in your attic horror. Obscure, weird-as-fuck horror. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman & Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova horror (which are both excellent books, by the way). But that wasn't the question, was it? The question was: what am I reading now. Well, (oh god) I've been digging into The Last Man Takes LSD: Foucault and the End of Revolution by Mitchell Dean & Daniel Zamora, which sounds a whole lot more trippy than it actually is. Mainly, I'm interested because the authors point out that Foucault's late philosophy, his so-called 'ethical turn' towards an 'aesthetics of existence', was inspired by a trip he took to California (and the upper reaches of the universe). Since I wrote my MA dissertation on this exact topic (the ethical turn, not the LSD), I thought it might come in handy for future articles...

Last Song I Listened To: Bastille & Hans Zimmer's new cover of Bastille's Pompeii, Pompeii MMXXIII (recommended by a friend). Before that, I was listening to a 'British Folk/Weird Folk/Horror Folk' playlist on Spotify which was pretty interesting... Actually, it reminded me of being a child in the English countryside, stuffing my face with berries by the side of the road and then going to the new-age shop in the village to listen to whale-song CDs, touch magic gemstones, and smell incense sticks. Very hippie.

Currently Watching: The Servant on Apple TV (is the baby real or not!? It's driving me crazy); Foundation on Apple TV (and I swear it's not because Jared Harris is in it or Lee Pace wears chainmail crop-tops. I swear!); and... The News? Does the news count? I watch a lot of 'the news' now. Actually, I can't stop watching... It's been quite sad and terrible lately...

Current Fic I'm Reading: Sorry, I don't read fics! I know it's blasphemy. Believe me, no one is more disgusted with me than I am. But yeah, there you go... Never been my thing, really. Nothing against it.

Next On My Watch List: the upcoming Napoleon movie featuring Joaquin Phoenix; Killers of the Flower Moon; anything A23 produces anytime; Priscilla by Sofia Coppola (which is A23 also so, you know, naturally); and I'll probably re-watch The Green Knight for Christmas (it is a Christmas movie, after all).

Current Obsession: My WIP, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which you can check out on my writeblr side-blog (@thesorcerersapprentice) has been my main obsession for the past -what?- four years? More or less? I really feel like until I've written this thing, gotten it out of me, I won't be able to write anything else. It just won't leave me alone. I can't think around it; I always end up coming back. It's a story I fundamentally, deep down in my bones, need to write. So it's my obsession: today, tomorrow, and always, right up until the day it's done.

Heads up 7 up

Thank you for the tag @sleepy-night-child!!! Today we have a scene I messed around with that I hope makes it somewhere in my wild first draft...it’s a little longer than seven lines, but alas! 

Paris finished laughing and brushed his bangs aside--Velia now was certainly watching him again. “I’ll bet you’re really practiced at [an angry face] by now.” he grinned. “How many times do you glare at me when I have no idea?”

If you could see me, Velia thought, I’d be caught redhanded watching you like this, over and over again. It was probably a good thing, that he couldn’t see her. By now she’d thought it so much that she’d almost succeeded in convincing herself. Almost.

“I mostly glare at Antonio,” she joked.

The last crumbs of Paris’ smile vanished. “Right.”

Please come join in!!! Also, no pressure tags for @ashen-crest @inkovert @stuffaboutwriting @wannabeauthorzofija (hello zofija!!!)

Positivity Prom Week 3

Why write? What made you start writing? Writing is not always enjoyable or immediately rewarding, so think about what makes you still do it in spite of that. If you've ever given up or fallen out of love with writing, what made you (or could make you) find your way back?

Thank you @inkovert for hosting this event 💜

My entire childhood was dominated by stories - either ones I wrote, ones I drew as comics, or ones I played out with my toys.  I was a fairly lonely child so I think I came up with stories about friends going on adventures to fill that void

So, as you might expect, once I grew up and started making friends I slowly stopped writing.  I barely wrote at all for nearly 15 years, not because I didn’t like it anymore, but because I was so busy living in the “real world” that I didn’t have time for fantasy

Then one day I suggested to my partner that we try playing Pathfinder.  He loves making games and we both love writing so I thought it would be a fun activity for us to do.  We don’t play that much anymore but it reignited my passion for storytelling and I wanted to do more with it so I started this blog a few months ago!

Honestly, this experience has taught me why I love writing so much as an adult now - to the point where I’ve even considered maybe trying to do it seriously.  I’ve learned that I really like to entertain people.  If I can make just one person forget about their cares and lose themselves in a story, I’ll consider it all worth it

Heads up 7 up

@thegreatobsesso tagged me in this like a million years ago, and I'm finally getting around to it. Thanks!

Sliding out of the door without opening it all the way, Monty closed it carefully behind him. The wind snatching it out of his hand so everyone turned and stared had not been particularly enjoyable. Walking across the broad boards to where Uncle Keith was leaning over the railing, Monty leaned over too and realized Miss Nell was in the herb garden, broad sunhat and gardening gloves on as she sat on a flat rock Monty had noticed the other day. It had looked a good spot for sketching, and clearly was for gardening too.

“Well hello, and how are you this morning?” Uncle Keith asked, resting his hand on top of Monty’s head. Monty shrugged and made a bit of a face. He thought it accurately described the nothing quite right, yet nothing particularly wrong feeling permeating his body. “That good, huh?” He shrugged again, and Uncle Keith slid his hand down to his neck, big thumb rubbing a little. Monty let him for a moment, then moved so he could see what Miss Nell was doing better.

I'm going to tag @enchanted-lightning-aes @odysseywritings and @inkovert and anyone else who wants to join in. No pressure! Lol, or time constraints.

You know what I really love? Those stories that just start off slow, silent and unassuming. Introducing you to two strangers who you know are going to mean something to each other as the story progresses, you know there’s going to be history built between them, but you don’t know them yet. Their existence, or lack thereof, is inconsequential. They aren’t real to you so they don’t hold meaning in your heart or space in your mind just yet. But then the storyteller does something wonderful, something unexpected. In just a few short chapters, a few short scenes or episodes, that may only be nothing but a handful of hours to you in the moment, a moment that is somehow simultaneously slow yet swift, you witness the history, the pain, the love, the hate, the joy being built and sculpted between the two over the span of years, and, completely unawares, these two people have become buried in your heart, you mirror their emotions, their joy, their sadness as if it’s your own, everything they’ve experienced in a handful of years and you only a handful of moments until you’re left wondering, guessing what that time, just a few hours ago, when these two people meant nothing to you even felt like.