You'd be surprised how much time pursuing a Bachelor's degree in nursing can take. Paired with holding down a job and dealing with a young one with health issues, it really does just make the pages of the calendar fly by. I was certainly surprised when I wandered over to my poor, neglected blog to find that over two years have passed since my last post. Whew! Well, I'm still alive.
So what have I been up to in these intervening years (apart from the afore mentioned adulting)?
Well reading and writing, actually. With a little crafting thrown in for some spice.
I'm (finally) starting to query agents for the Tree Mage story. It's exciting and scary at the same time.
I finished the Vampire Story a while back. Originally I thought it'd just be a guilty pleasure piece that I'd eventually post for free on-line. The Hubs thought it was original enough, though to try to get it published, so I'll be trying to query that one once I get a good flow going for the Tree Mage tale.
Very recently I wrote a Dresden Files fanfic, which was a big departure from my usual work. I've written a fanfic before, but the main characters were all original. This one literally just plunks me down in the Dreseden-verse and lets things fly. It was a bit of a therapeutic piece. Again, another one that I felt would never see the light of day, but now I'm thinking to maybe throw it up on FanFiction.net. It was so much fun to write and I hammered out around 33,650 words in a little over a month (which for me is pretty impressive!)
I've also starting picking away at another draft of "The Kai'us Planet" (as always). I'm trying to get out of my rut by "flipping the script" (changing where and when things happen, and who responses to what situations at certain times). It seems to be working, but there's a lot of story to go.
And of course there's those little cultural details that pop up and side-track me. Earlier this year I spent several days developing the housing and village construction for three of the Kai'us races. Just a few days ago I realized that beings who are pyrokinetic and are surrounded by sand would be pretty epic glass-smiths, so now I'll be incorporating intricate glassware into the story. Also earlier this year I revamped the Kai'us alphabet (again!). I really like it this time and, like the latest number system, it's something I'd actually be able to remember.
Still along the Kai'us vein, I've started making a "census hoop" which is what the village chiefs would use to keep track of who marries who in their village. To keep things specific, I'm making the hoop for the first Grand Chief's village, since I know who would be in that village. I've only gotten the first two rings done however, (encompassing 16 families). There'll be four rings total, covering 48 families and several generations. After that, the hoop becomes more a of "net"; and it's really that stage that I'm more interested in. It's a project that requires a fair amount of time, space and concentration though; so I don't get an opportunity to work on it too often.
My Regency-era outfit is still right where it was when I last wrote about it. I've also started an 1840's mourning gown for my niece. I've gotten the shift and two petticoats done. Still need to finish the corset and then move onto the actual gown. (We'll get there!)
I've just started to feel well enough in recent months to give martial arts a try again. Have only gone to one class so far and I hurt for days after, but it was so much fun. Can't wait to go back!
