We're all finding ourselves with more time on our hands right now. But what to do while you're stuck inside self-isolating? The obvious answer is your favorite streaming service, but as a reader myself, I'm calling on all of you to try to read a little more. One of the benefits of reading in a situation like this is also that you won't feel quite as locked in your house. For a few hours a day, you'll feel like you're out of your home and in a completely different world. While I would love to hear that some of you are reading Hunter's Gambit, there are a lot of other great books out there for you to pick up. Many authors are discounting their ebooks specifically during the pandemic to give people something to do while they're stuck inside.
Laura VanArendonk Baugh is offering sales for physical books on her website and her books on Kindle are very cheap, as well. In particular, I can suggest her Kitsune series (Kitsune Tsuki & Kitsune Mochi) and her Shard of Elan series (Shard & Shield & Blood & Bond). The nice part about her Shard of Elan series is that the third book is coming out soon, so you'll have another out soon after you finish the first two.
Starla Huchton is offering most of her Kindle books for very good prices as well and I saw a post about her cutting three of those down to $0.99. In particular, I can suggest her Evolution series; think superheroes dealing with adult issues and throw in a bit of sex and romance. I found them very entertaining and like the way Starla writes her romances. Of those, I've read the first book of her Endure series, Maven and loved it as well.
Ana Johns's novel, The Woman in the White Kimono is also on sale in the Kindle store for under $5 and that was the best new book that I read last year. Consider it highly recommended by me.
As for what I'm reading right now, the book I'm reading from my 100 TBR list is Markswoman by Rati Mehrotra and so far, I'm rather enjoying it. Digitally, I'm reading The Hidden Princess by Georgina Makalani. As soon as I finish that book, I'll be reading my way through Annette Marie's Guild Codex: Demonized series; book 3, Hunting Fiends for the Feeble, is coming out on April 4th. For audiobooks, I'm currently listening to CE Murphy's Urban Shaman series, which is one of my favorites to date. I have also purchased and will be listening to Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs soon. This is the newest book in her award-winning Mercy Thompson series, another favorite of mine.
If you want to join me in reading any of these books, I am always looking to discuss books and share favorite quotes from them, so let me know if you decide to pick up any of these.
Friday, March 27, 2020
Friday, March 20, 2020
Taking a Week for me
This will be a very short post, so I'm apologizing in advance. My tendinitis snuck up on me this year and took me out this week. I'm under strict orders to rest my wrists, which means no writing or drawing for a few days. Which is sad, but since it happens at least once a year, I'm kinda used to it, even if I hate it.
I will say that I and my family and friends are all okay and no one has caught Covid-19. My husband and I are self-isolating as much as we can. That means I'm staying at home and my husband (whose job is essential and therefore can't) goes to work and then comes straight back home.
I'll leave you with blessings that your family remains safe as well, remind you to isolate yourselves as well as you can, and I'm hoping that I'll be back, better than ever, next week.
Personally, I suggest reading during your self-isolation to keep yourself entertained. It's about all I can do, since holding a mouse hurts too, which throws Don't Starve right out of the running. Oh, here's a WIP of my latest drawing. It isn't finished because of my wrist, so I'll post it again when it is done. There are a few things I still need to fix in the sketch (mainly connected to the head placement) and the colors aren't quite right yet. Aside from that, I quite like where it's going. What do you think?
I will say that I and my family and friends are all okay and no one has caught Covid-19. My husband and I are self-isolating as much as we can. That means I'm staying at home and my husband (whose job is essential and therefore can't) goes to work and then comes straight back home.
I'll leave you with blessings that your family remains safe as well, remind you to isolate yourselves as well as you can, and I'm hoping that I'll be back, better than ever, next week.
Personally, I suggest reading during your self-isolation to keep yourself entertained. It's about all I can do, since holding a mouse hurts too, which throws Don't Starve right out of the running. Oh, here's a WIP of my latest drawing. It isn't finished because of my wrist, so I'll post it again when it is done. There are a few things I still need to fix in the sketch (mainly connected to the head placement) and the colors aren't quite right yet. Aside from that, I quite like where it's going. What do you think?
Friday, March 13, 2020
Storytime - "We are smarter than I will ever be"
Okay guys, today we're talking writing, some storytime and how I fix my plots.
Research can be impossible sometimes. Normally for any rough draft, I'll find the information I need by doing a 5-click google search. This is something that was suggested by a Nanowrimo participant at one point. The general idea is as simple as it sounds. When you need to research something, you go to Google and put in your question. The catch is that you're only allowed 5 pages total. If you can't find what you need in those clicks, you put a little question mark on your page, describe what the heck you need to research and that's as good as it gets until you start editing.
Today, I hit a point where my research met my plot though, and I jumped into Google, trusting the 5-click google search to solve it. I needed, specifically, to know how people in the middle ages or Roman era would have tested the purity of water. Unfortunately, a 5-click search told me that they tested the purity of water by using sight, scent, taste, and temperature. However, beyond mentioning those things, they didn't explain it at all. And in my book, the thing they're looking for is tasteless, scentless and clear when dissolved in water.
I'm in a rough draft, which meant that I'd put in the earlier plot point, "test water". Unfortunately, I couldn't leave an entire chapter for editing that says "figure out how to test the water and show them testing it". This had now become a plot point. I needed to know this since it directly affects the plot. Unfortunately, partially because Google is a computer that does not know me and partially because I had a headache that was making it difficult to work (I can be honest) I couldn't find what I needed.
Then, while talking to a friend, it suddenly occurred to me that they might have the answer I needed. They are a chemist, by training and inclination and while I understand the basics of chemistry (that was a science I took in school and did reasonably well in), they naturally understood way more than I did. This all goes back to one of my favourite phrases on writing; "WE are smarter than I will ever be."
Of course, my friend didn't have the information right off the bat. I had to talk him through my problem, tell him why I couldn't use certain easier fixes and other ways to do it. But within about twenty minutes, we'd figured out what I needed and how to solve the mystery of my plot. I love the idea of what's going down, even if I still have to write it to figure out all of the exact ins and outs of how it starts happening.
It may be books away before you get to experience everything I'm working on, of course, but I can already tell that this information is going to make my book way better than what I could have come up with alone. And in the end, you getting the best book you can is the most important part, right?
Research can be impossible sometimes. Normally for any rough draft, I'll find the information I need by doing a 5-click google search. This is something that was suggested by a Nanowrimo participant at one point. The general idea is as simple as it sounds. When you need to research something, you go to Google and put in your question. The catch is that you're only allowed 5 pages total. If you can't find what you need in those clicks, you put a little question mark on your page, describe what the heck you need to research and that's as good as it gets until you start editing.
Today, I hit a point where my research met my plot though, and I jumped into Google, trusting the 5-click google search to solve it. I needed, specifically, to know how people in the middle ages or Roman era would have tested the purity of water. Unfortunately, a 5-click search told me that they tested the purity of water by using sight, scent, taste, and temperature. However, beyond mentioning those things, they didn't explain it at all. And in my book, the thing they're looking for is tasteless, scentless and clear when dissolved in water.
I'm in a rough draft, which meant that I'd put in the earlier plot point, "test water". Unfortunately, I couldn't leave an entire chapter for editing that says "figure out how to test the water and show them testing it". This had now become a plot point. I needed to know this since it directly affects the plot. Unfortunately, partially because Google is a computer that does not know me and partially because I had a headache that was making it difficult to work (I can be honest) I couldn't find what I needed.
 |
| Obviously not a picture of me and my friend, but it works in this context. |
Of course, my friend didn't have the information right off the bat. I had to talk him through my problem, tell him why I couldn't use certain easier fixes and other ways to do it. But within about twenty minutes, we'd figured out what I needed and how to solve the mystery of my plot. I love the idea of what's going down, even if I still have to write it to figure out all of the exact ins and outs of how it starts happening.
It may be books away before you get to experience everything I'm working on, of course, but I can already tell that this information is going to make my book way better than what I could have come up with alone. And in the end, you getting the best book you can is the most important part, right?
Friday, March 6, 2020
Chibify Me!
Okay, I'm no longer in a decadent pool of laziness. Which honestly is good. I can only sit around doing nothing all day for a short time before I'm bored. Unless I'm playing Don't Starve. I have lost days to Don't Starve when I was working for the Co-operators and I was on a weeklong vacation.
The Don't Starve binge itself only lasted a day or so past the last post. I am still being a bit lazy though... I'm only working on about 3 hours a day right now, but I am cleaning and doing everything else, so I'm calling it a good start.
Most of my office is finished. I have a desk-full of odds and ends to find homes for, some art supplies to get rid of, and a stupidly large amount of card decks to find homes for (I buy them for the pictures and because I like playing solitaire and other card games). Also, I haven't even been able to start on my closet yet. That said, its really coming along.
I started writing again a few days ago and have finished 3 chapters in Noble's Choice so far. I remember where the plot is going, have reworked things that weren't working well in my original draft and streamlined the plot. Originally one of the characters was supposed to be a very important villain, for example, and now he's just a distracting sub-villain. The story is coming together though, which I love. I want my rough draft finished before the end of March.
I have also talked to my editor. She is expecting that it will probably take a month to get Lord's Curse back to me, so I'll be spending Camp Nanowrimo (April) making one last round of changes before we can start on the final proofreading edits.
The other update I have is in my art. I jokingly mentioned that I wanted to draw a Chibi-Me and a Koi playing Don't Starve Together. While I had a picture of a koi, I didn't really have a chibi of me lying around. So I drew this one.
I'm not 100% happy with it yet. There is something about the shape of the eyes that seems off to me and I want to work on the hair more. That said, I am very pleased with it. Its the level of detail I want and she is adorable AF. I dressed her in my favourite outfit, a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt. You can't see it, but she is totally wearing a comfy tank top under the sweater. Also, I had to give her ears and a tail. Because I can.
What do you think of her? Have any of you ever drawn your own Chibi-Me?
The Don't Starve binge itself only lasted a day or so past the last post. I am still being a bit lazy though... I'm only working on about 3 hours a day right now, but I am cleaning and doing everything else, so I'm calling it a good start.
Most of my office is finished. I have a desk-full of odds and ends to find homes for, some art supplies to get rid of, and a stupidly large amount of card decks to find homes for (I buy them for the pictures and because I like playing solitaire and other card games). Also, I haven't even been able to start on my closet yet. That said, its really coming along.
I started writing again a few days ago and have finished 3 chapters in Noble's Choice so far. I remember where the plot is going, have reworked things that weren't working well in my original draft and streamlined the plot. Originally one of the characters was supposed to be a very important villain, for example, and now he's just a distracting sub-villain. The story is coming together though, which I love. I want my rough draft finished before the end of March.
I have also talked to my editor. She is expecting that it will probably take a month to get Lord's Curse back to me, so I'll be spending Camp Nanowrimo (April) making one last round of changes before we can start on the final proofreading edits.
The other update I have is in my art. I jokingly mentioned that I wanted to draw a Chibi-Me and a Koi playing Don't Starve Together. While I had a picture of a koi, I didn't really have a chibi of me lying around. So I drew this one.
I'm not 100% happy with it yet. There is something about the shape of the eyes that seems off to me and I want to work on the hair more. That said, I am very pleased with it. Its the level of detail I want and she is adorable AF. I dressed her in my favourite outfit, a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt. You can't see it, but she is totally wearing a comfy tank top under the sweater. Also, I had to give her ears and a tail. Because I can.
What do you think of her? Have any of you ever drawn your own Chibi-Me?
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