Setbacks are the Mind-Killer

Bleh. Okay, I have an update now, which is better than what I had before. The first program I grabbed had gotten really good reviews but seemed to show more and more problems as I tried to use it. I couldn't get the background to go transparent, which would have been fine since I'm actually drawing up a background for it. The more major issue was that I couldn't get the program to record audio at all. It took a lot of work to make sure that the problem wasn't actually in my headset. Once we did, I found another program, one that I'll have to pay for, but that actually tracks my movement better than the other one. On the other hand, from what I can tell it doesn't actually have a recording function. This means that I'll be downloading a separate recording program tonight and trying to learn it. 

So, what does this mean overall? It means that while I may have a steep learning curve to overcome, I should have a proper introduction up for next Friday. It took way longer than I wanted it to, but I can't wait to finally have it up and working for you guys. 

Now for the other part of the update. I came down with a cold this month. Nothing serious, but it came with migraines, which means I'm a bit behind on my goal. The most recent specific update is that I realized that I had two chapters that I had rewritten, before deciding that the scenes just weren't working. Both needed to be rewritten from scratch. In Frank Herbert's Dune, his characters say, "Fear is the mind-killer." As a writer, I would like to make a personal clarification to that. For me, Setbacks are the mind-killer. 

I can deal with my own minor issues but setbacks make me exceptionally aware that it isn't me I'm letting down, but you, my readers. So, be aware, I'm trying to kick my own ass into gear to get this novel out to your as quickly as I can! 

"Excuse my rudeness, but please RIP"

Hello! First, for this week, I'm having a bit of a week over here. I still can not figure out why computer audio isn't working... Hopefully fixed next week. 

Instead of dwelling on all of that, I'm going to introduce you to one of the Hololive stars that I follow. What is Hololive, you ask? Hololive is one of the main VTuber enterprises. A Japanese business, they're basically in the business of making virtual idols. Some are just really fun to watch while they're gaming or hanging out, some are great singers or they have a great character theme. They all have individual "history" and character stories that they stick to completely. Essentially, when they are performing, that is who they are. And its wonderful. 

The one I particularly want to introduce you to is one of the latest batch. She speaks mostly English, though she does flip into Japanese every once in a while. Her name is Calliope Mori. Her schtick is that she's a reaper of death on vacation in the mortal world. A fun enough premise regardless, but the reason I really like her, aside from her kickass tsundere personality and her on-screen "romance" (as far as any tsundere has a romance storyline) with one of the other characters (a phoenix named Kiara, one of my other favorites to check out), is her music. I tend to enjoy pop music, but this girl raps, mixed with a bubblegum sound and I love it. Here's my favorite song of hers below, though I wholly suggest you listen to all five of her current songs. 

Now, aside from the fun of watching fun people having a great time (let's face it, you watch Vtubers for the same reason you watch any of these people, because they have fun personalities), one fringe benefit I'm noticing is that you will get more used to hearing Japanese spoken more easily, so long as you're listening for it and trying not to rely on the subtitles you can put up. It's fun to be listening and realize that I was able to translate a sentence with my minor knowledge of the language. 

Do you watch any Vtubers? Which ones? Let me know, as always, in the comments below or on Facebook. 

Avatar Reveal & Technical Difficulties

So frustrating! I was hoping to have this out for you yesterday, but the programs that I'm using are giving me problems. I played around with it a week or so ago and got it to work just fine. Now of course, audio issues as well as other technical drama. I can say that the YouTube channel has already been set up, though there isn't anything on it yet. I'll share a link as soon as I start posting. I may eventually add a Twitch stream to it, but since none of you seem to use it currently, creating it and content for it has fallen by the wayside. 

So, what am I going to do today? Well, I may not be able to show you the video I was hoping to, but that doesn't mean that I can't have an avatar reveal. Are you ready to see her?

The background is just a painting of mine from last year, though I'm working
on drawing an actual library shelf for her to hang out in front of. 

Isn't she awesome? 

Here's what the base character you're given looks like.

I created her out of a program called VRoid. They give you a very basic system to create a character and then let you go wild. I created every bit of her from scratch, except for the ears. Trying to make them proved too difficult for my current skill set. I found these offered by a VTuber known as @CakeCatBoy on Twitter. 

So, why did I make a girl with cat ears? Well first, they're fox ears, not cat ears. Second, when I was making an avatar there were certain things I needed to make sure she had. The first was a design that I found kawaii to the extreme without being chibi. I needed her to have colorful hair, mimicking the shades I turn my own hair. I settled on purple because I love the color and it works really well with the orange shirt. The last thing I needed was something to take her from reality to fantasy. I decided that while mermaid may be fun as heck, I'd much rather be a kitsune. One day, I hope to give her a tail as well, though I expect that will have to wait until I'm better at making characters. 

So, what do you think of her design? 

Resolutions... and a surprise!

So... 2021 didn't explode in its first week? I'm willing to call that a win.

So, what am I hoping to talk about today? Well, I think I'll talk about my resolutions for one more week. 

Normally, I would have a general idea of what I want to do for my resolutions by the first of January, even if I haven't set anything in stone. This year... it almost felt like I didn't want to jinx it by planning too far ahead. And while I think I still won't be planning the entire year with any exactness, I do like having an idea of where I'm going. 

First, while I love staying home and writing, I think I need to get back out in the world. Last year I stopped looking for a job around February... a mix of pandemic and no jobs miring me at home. Now, it looks as though some of the job market might be returning, so I'm going to go back to setting one day a week and doing nothing but sending out dozens of resumes and looking over the job market in general.  Personally, I'd love to see some sort of universal basic income but I'm not holding my breath for one. 

Second, I will still be writing, even if I get a job. So, my writing goals for the first quarter are to finish editing Fox's Facade and send the book on to my editor and betas. I want to publish Fox's Facade tentatively during the summer, so I'll play with that and see where it goes with an update at the end of the first quarter. 

Third, I am moving the "get healthier" option from last year to this year. Most of it will be a mix of RingFit and the Switch boxing game. Maybe not every day, but almost every day. I will be looking for healthier food options as well, but changing everything all at once doesn't work, so it will be little bits at a time, hopefully leading to a healthier me at the end of the year. 

Finally, I will be starting a Youtube channel and maybe a Twitch channel... though I'm not sure about Twitch just yet. I am going to be reading my novel, Hunter's Gambit, chapter by chapter for you guys, hopefully, one chapter each week. And because I've always wanted an online avatar, I've created one to use! I will definitely be posting my novel reading to Youtube, but let me know if you would like me to start a Twitch channel, as well. I could easily read the novel out and then have a question and answer period, if that would interest anyone, and then put out better-edited audio on Youtube later. Then again, I think Youtube has a live function as well, so really just let me know. I'm not sure exactly what week it will begin, but it will be soon! I'm just testing out programs right now and seeing whether my current equipment will work for this purpose before I put it out. I should have pictures to show you of my character by next week!

Let me know what you think about the Youtube vs Twitch debate and I'll keep you all informed. 

It's The First Post of 2021

*Pokes 2021 with a stick*

"Is it safe to come out yet?"

Normally, I would say that another year has come and gone, but, well, this year has been horrible. As a Canadian, I was saved from most of the trouble. However, at the end of the year, everything started to snowball, even here. That said, I'm making this week a time of reflection, which includes looking back at what I wanted to accomplish last year.

So, last year the tasks I wanted to finish were publishing Lord’s Curse, writing Noble’s Choice, Improving my health, open an account on Fiverr, open an Etsy shop, read 75 books, study Japanese and Spanish, clean my house, and editing Fox’s Façade.

Of that list, I did okay, I suppose. First, my successes.

I did publish Lord’s Curse during the warm summertime.  Working with my editor was awesome and I can’t wait to do it again. Though my release was overshadowed by riots and rampant disease, it was still published and that was a win. I also finished writing Noble’s Choice. And all in all, I’m really pleased with how it turned out so far. I can't wait to start editing it after Fox's Facade is done. While I decided against opening an Etsy shop, I’m counting it as a win, since I made a firm decision on it. When I open a web store I will probably create an account then and put the necklaces and prints up there at the same time. I also opened a Fiverr account. I got hired a few times, but things slowed down as the year imploded, which I understand. I’ll be promoting it a bit more in the new year, so if you have a bit of writing you need developmental editing on, consider using me!

I had a few things I worked on but didn’t succeed to a level of “success” as well, of course. For instance, I cleaned my house (office) and actually came really close to finishing… Before I ran into a month and a half of rush and had to stop. My office is a complete mess again now, but that’s usually how the year goes. The real difference for me here is that I actually have a place for most things now, which solves a lot of the cleaning problem. For my yearly reading challenge, I decided to try reading 75 books for the year. However, I found out that extreme stress makes it so I can’t concentrate on writing, which meant that I spent a lot more time listening to music than reading. Despite that, I did completely finish 65 books. While that total is low for me, I find reading speed very subjective, so I know that while some of you will give me shade for “only” finishing 65, the other half will be wondering when I find the time. It's not a win, but 65 books is nothing to scoff at either. My language studies are in here because while I think I’ve done rather well at identifying issues with my learning and have figured out better ways to learn in Japanese, I wrote at the beginning of the year that I wanted to work on Spanish as well. Since I dropped Spanish entirely, I have to count it as a partial win. The last thing in this list is my novel Fox's Facade. Even at the beginning of the year, I wasn't sure if I would have it done by December and the near-total rewrites did not help things. Despite that, I am halfway through my last edit before it goes out to beta readers and my editor, so we're on time for hopefully a summer release. 

The one thing that I did not keep up is my goal to improve my health. I am still overweight and want better stamina, flexibility, and balance. This goal is getting moved onto 2021's wholesale. With the Switchfit game as my Yule gift from my husband and the Boxing game (perhaps updating to the new one when I have a bit more cash), I'm hoping to have a better response to this next year. 

So, that's it. This is the beginning of a new year! Let's move forward bravely, but also carry a big stick to beat 2021 down if we need to. 💪

PenPen the Penguin rocking away listening to New Year's Tunes.