From my Family to Yours,

Go, spend your day with your family, and I'll be back next week, hopefully with some news.

Happy Holidays... Mostly

I have complicated emotions around the holidays. Not all holidays, of course. For instance, I love Valentine's, no holds barred and White Day (a Japanese semi-equivalent of Valentine’s Day, more on that in a future post) is a high favorite on my list. No, the ones I have issues with tend to be Christian holidays. Specifically, because I'm not Christian anymore, which means that most of my feelings on them are more complex than whether or not I enjoy it or believe in it.

I won't be getting into why I changed religions here. I didn't change my beliefs because paganism is better or because there was anything wrong with Christianity. For me, asking why someone follows a specific religion is like asking why someone chose blue as their favorite color instead of yellow. One clearly fits better on a personal level. My experience doesn't invalidate yours, any more than your experiences would invalidate mine. They’re different and that’s okay.

So, why do I bring this up? Well because Christmas is the one holiday that I feel invested in, regardless of the fact that I'm not Christian anymore. It was a part of me, ever since I was a child. Being born only three days before Christmas essentially meant that as I grew up, that was simply part of my holidays. The two were connected. Add to that my inherent love of pageantry and you can see where I lost everything.

Still, for a few years after changing my religion, I was adamant. My tree was a Solstice tree, gifts were Solstice gifts. We celebrate Solstice, not Christmas. Despite that dedication, there were some things I just couldn’t seem to shake the habit on and therefore kept or adapted and traditions from other places that I’ve stolen to add to our own celebrations. So, what does this end up meaning?

Well, it means that my winter holidays tend to end up a bit muddy.

I love Christmas songs, even if I’m more fond of the modern songs than I am of the classics. They get added to my music list usually on December 1^st. I set up a Christmas tree every year (since I never remember to call it a solstice tree), crowned by a blue/silver angel that my husband and I found and loved, despite my preferences towards wanting a star (to stand in for the Sun). I give gifts throughout the season to friends and all of my family gifts on the 24^th. After that, things start getting odder.

I love Santa Claus but prefer to go with the ‘history’ as coined by L. Frank Baum in the Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (where he’s a human raised by fey who gives gifts to children) and he delivers gifts whatever and whenever your winter celebration is. December 25^th is a dedicated non-work day, usually devoted to reading and playing video games. We will usually order Chinese food for dinner. I say Happy Holidays, rather than Merry Christmas, to people and I support service staff not being forced to say Merry Christmas to everyone (happy holidays will suffice if the company insists). I give all of my friends and family books and snacks for Jolabokaflod rather than giving Christmas gifts, unless I have no money and then I make art for them. We honor the Jólakötturinn (the Yule Cat) and make certain that every year both my husband and I receive something made of cloth (blankets, socks, and scarfs are common gifts). We celebrate the Solstice (this year on the 21^st) and the return of the sun on the twelfth day after that (usually celebrated on the first of January because we’re more likely to have it off) as the first day you really notice the longer days.

Yes, it is kinda weird to say "Merry Book Exchange" but I've been
using it in holiday cards for too long to change now.

So yeah, that is my muddy, nostalgia-filled holidays. Do you celebrate any holidays this time of year? If so, what and how do you celebrate it? Do you take traditions from multiple sources or are you still doing things the exact same way your parents did it? I know we have a lot of readers from the southern hemisphere, so I’ll be excited to hear what differences there are among us.

Just a Quick Editing Update

 It's been a good week, even if I have been more on the anti-social end of things. I've been working away on my novel and have finished editing the first eleven chapters. That puts me 25% of the way through already. And while the new chapters are definitely better written, I have to admit that for the most part, the editing hasn't been too bad. I think I've only had a really tough time with one or two of the chapters so far and the new direction for the book is making my original story pop a lot more than it was originally. I have very high hopes that this book will be out to you all soon. 

That said, it isn't all easy. I live in Canada and I have to admit that the stress of the new lockdown is starting to get to me. I've taken a few more days off than I should be doing things other than writing; usually still things that I need to get done, so at least I'm still being productive. In the end, it's slowing me down, but I'm not letting it stop me. I don't let anything stop me. 

And I think that's where I'm going to end it today. I'll be jumping back into my editing as soon as this goes up, so wish me luck! :)

Gifts for the Writers on Your List

 The season of giving has returned to us. While I usually hard push for presence, rather than presents, this year, our unique circumstances suggest that if you do have money to buy gifts for your friends and loved ones, this is the time to take that route. 

With that in mind, if you're looking at that reader/writer in your life and just not sure what to get them (and you don't want to stoop down to buying them the holidays' newest savior), here's a list of things they are almost guaranteed to enjoy. 

1. Author Swag
   Most writers and readers love books more than anything. However, most buy their books themselves, so buying actual books can be difficult. Instead, I suggest swag from their favorite author. A mug with the catchphrase of her favorite series, a t-shirt with the cover of his favorite novel on it, a notebook with art directly from the books... all of it will go over insanely well. In particular, most of your favorite writers will have a store where you can buy said swag. Buying direct from the author when possible is a great way to support that author while making your writers really happy. 
2. Books
   Does your writer love science fiction? Find out if they're already rocking the new favorites that were just released this year like Network Effect by Martha Wells or To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini; both of which were nominated for Best Science Fiction book of the year on Goodreads. They love Fantasy? There are, of course, my books, but if they've already read those, you could look at Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson, 4th book of the Stormlight Archives series and just released in November so still very new. Looking for a graphic novel to expand their reading experiences? I suggest Monstress. Start with Volume 1 unless they're already following it though. If you want my suggestions for favorite books, I absolutely loved The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns and The Good Brother by E.L. Chen. I also finally had a chance to read the first book in the Wolf and Parchment light novel series and it rocks as well, though my preference stays with Holo and Lawrence from Spice & Wolf.
3. Stationary
   Most writers and readers love pens and other stationery. While I'm not sure why, I can easily suggest colored pens, colored paper, pretty notebooks, pencil cases, washi tape (not only good for crafts but for using in school for personal things as well), and any pen that writes in metallic inks.
   
4. Subscriptions
   Believe it or not, there are book subscription boxes out there. You can get a new book each month, with tea, cookies, candles or bookmarks. These boxes are generally cheap, are usually separated into genres so you can get them good books delivered monthly to their door. And let's be honest here, new books delivered to your door in a pandemic when you can't go to a bookstore is awesome. Even if you can't afford a big gift, even just one month for them to try the system out will almost certainly make your reader/writer friends smile. There are even a few subscription boxes for authors, specializing in improving craft, new stationery and other writing supplies and other authorly goodies. 
5.  Cash
   It's 2020 and we need to move past the idea that giving money is gauche. There are a lot of things that are too personal for me to suggest for readers and writers, but they still need. Writing software, subscriptions, e-readers, tablets for e-readers... these are very expensive or exceptionally personal items that we need, but we would never expect someone to buy for us. A donation from multiple people means we can afford big-ticket items that we will absolutely love.
   

And that's it for this list. Let me know if you think of any other good ideas to add to this list and let me know if you want me to look into making writerly swag. I don't know if that's something you'd be interested in, but if it is, let me know and I'll put it on the planning lists for next year. 

Of Writing and Ruin

     This week is not about distractions, although, I am conceding defeat in this Nanowrimo. Yes, for the first November since I started taking part in 2007. Why? Well, I've mentioned that book 5 was just not coming together and while I've gotten nearly 20k on it, I hit a point where I need to have that plot figured out prior to writing it. Normally, if I was having this problem, I would just write through it and fix all of those issues later. Here though, I noticed a particular theme. All of my decisions to make kept returning to prior ones made in books 3 and 4. That was when I realized that I really need Fox's Facade and Noble's Choice solid before I continue writing book 5. 

     This doesn't mean that I won't be working on it... it means that I'll probably finish the next draft for it next year, when I'm more prepared to write it and have those issues worked out and a great plot to keep you guys interested. 

     Fortunately, it isn't as if I have nothing else to work on right now and I'm not just talking about Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin on the Switch. For right now, I am back to editing Fox's Facade and planning out what changes here will lead to in Noble's Choice. Also, while it's still a little hush-hush, I'm currently making a few plans for the new year. If all goes to plan, I should have more information on those big plans a little further into December. 

     All that said, I do want to talk about Sakuna. I've been playing for six or seven hours now and feel that I can make an educated review on it. 

     Firstly, know that my review is good. This game is fun as hell. Sakuna is a bit of an unsympathetic bitch when you start, but even just six hours in, I can tell that she's improving. Its part of her growth as a character; something that I can really appreciate. She starts off as a Goddess that has always had the world held out to her on a silver plate. She's never had to work for it. And while her parents have gone missing, its clear that she doesn't let it bother her. The game starts when a group of humans find the bridge to the celestial realm and sneak into Sakuna's donation of rice and sake to the head Goddess looking for food. Upon catching them, she attacks and accidentally lights the sake and rice on fire. In punishment, she and the humans are sent to the Isle of Demons and charged with clearing it of evil. 

     The gameplay is really fun, a mix of rice farming sim and sidescrolling combat. I will say that the first year of growing rice, you feel out of your element and wish they would just tell you how to be a master like they do in other games. This, like Sakura's maturity and growth, is deliberate. When you first arrive on the isle, Sakuna has never had to grow rice before, she's just always had it done for her. Learning how to grow rice in minute detail isn't easy and I applaud the game for not making it feel like it is. The combat is very cool and despite being side-scrolling is difficult without being impossible. I'm playing on average, because I don't generally do combat in games, but I am enjoying this one. I just met my first real boss fight and am losing horribly. But with every failed attempt, I learn more about the bad guys and plot how to destroy him and thus, I get farther each time. Because there are multiple levels, you don't need to be forever fighting the same battle. If this one is too tough right now, choose other levels and improve your gear before going back. 

     I will say that if the idea of growing rice, day by day, doesn't interest you, then this may not be the game for you. A lot of this game is growing rice. You need to pick weeds daily, check on how much water is in your paddy each day, fertilize your stalks, and even chaff and hull your rice yourself. I am finding it impossible to put down, even with its difficulty though. It's a different type of game and I for one am here for it.

     The game is entirely voice-acted and I have to say, they didn't skimp here either. The cast really comes through, making you feel like you're personally getting to know all of the characters. Also, the art is incredibly gorgeous and the character design is beautiful. If you're looking for a game to pick up this holiday season, I can heartily suggest this game. 

5 out of 5 stars 

     Offhand, the Divine edition is amazing. It comes with an omomori charm showing Sakuna, a three-disc soundtrack, and a 128-page artbook in addition to the game. Totally worth the additional $20 or bucks.

CD Case Front Cover

Inner CD's contain different pictures on each album

Artbook; and the art is amazing

Omomori charm with a picture of Sakuna

Back of the omomori charm

Distractions

     It's Friday again, and this time, I have some good news. I have actually been writing again. Not as much as I would like, but it's coming and that makes me happy. I think I have nearly 10k of words on book 5, which is pretty darn good considering that I'm still working on some of the character motivations. It means that this book could end up being a lot like book 4 was. When I worked on book 4 during NaNoWriMo, the story just wasn't coming. I finished 50k, but the story didn't make sense till I worked over the plot again. I ended up rewriting all of it, but book 4 was way better as a result. 

     Of course, I can't guarantee that this one won't end up being pretty perfect as well in the end. That's the thing with drafts; a lot of the time, you just don't know till you go back and read it again. 

     That said, there has been a lot to distract all of us this month. The Boys is out on Amazon Prime and while I refuse to pay Amazon every month for Prime (their streaming service leaves a lot to be desired), I don't mind paying for it a month to get this show. As well, K/DA has been gracing all of us with their music and I'm here for it. Villain had an amazing video for it... I can't wait to see Drum Go Dum later today. Lastly, Sakuna of Rice and Ruin has finally been released. It's a video game about an adorable goddess, daughter of a harvest deity and a warrior deity. You are the goddess, banished to an island and tasked with clearing the isle of dangerous oni. It's a mix of side-scrolling adventure and Story of Season farm sim. Because while you may be a goddess of Ruin, you cannot forget that you are also a goddess of Rice. You have to grow rice, take care of the humans in your care, and become the goddess you were always meant to be. I haven't played it yet, but I can't wait to. 

Picture was taken from XSeed's website... The art is phenomenal as you can see.

     So, while I get back to writing, tell me what's distracting you this November. Or are you just as diligent and on the job as ever and I'm just a slacker? Let me know.

Whoops!

Every Nanowrimo is different. Some I whiz through, never slowing down. And some, I have to run my way all the way to the end, playing catch up the whole way. 

This year is going to be one of the later. Seriously, if it isn't one thing, it's another. 

However, instead of whining about it, I am going to celebrate my wins and introduce you guys to a new-to-me original song from Amalee and Divide Music created for Hazbin Hotel. This song could make me ship Charlie and Alastor all on its own, though I certainly hadn't even considered it before I heard this and saw the art. 

What do you guys think? Also, let me know who your favourite characters from Hazbin Hotel are? Personally, I love Cherry Bomb and Angel, though Vaggie is up there as well. I love her fiery personality. Oh, and definitely don't stop at just this song. Amalee does amazing covers and I have more than a few of her songs on my playlists.