Blog Scraps
Getting Started Wed, 21 Mar 2018 14:04:03 So I've had this domain for about 8 months, and I've done absolutely nothing with it, except change the theme about a million times. True - real life has been heavy, taking up a huge amount of space in my concentration and "spare time." But I refuse to quit moving, and will keep trying to make this space for myself. So, here's my obligatory beginning post, full of uninteresting cheesiness. Watch this space.
Working on a Timeline Sun, 25 Mar 2018 Literally. A couple of years ago I used my NaNoWriMo coupon to bag on to a copy of Aeon Timeline 2 I've fiddled with it before, but I've just recently realized it may be the tool I need to pick up the narrative thread of the story. I'm a single mom, and there are many moments I just can't keep up with daily writing. Some days, I'm just happy to be able to get up and go to work and get my bills paid. A few weeks ago, when I got up the gumption to take another look at it, I found I'd both lost my place and had a billion threads to tie up, give or take a million or two. So I opened a fresh timeline and got to work. It's excruciating and unbearable in someways - lots of scenes to track, and I'm doing my absolute damnedest to not look at the quality of words in this still unpolished draft. On the other hand, wow, what a thing I will have when I am done! You might check out the program if you get a chance. Some aspects of it are pretty intuitive, but to be frank, you may end up hitting the help documents and even YouTube to understand it's finer points - it can be a bit fiddly.
Time Wed, 28 Mar 2018 Time. There isn't any. Or rather, there's not enough. I've been working retail for years, now, and while it's a good job at an indie bookstore, it's hella hard work and tiring. And I'm a single mom, "unevenly yoked" (his ironic words) to an ex who doesn't step it up and do his part. So I'm worn out. The middle of my life snuck up on me and now I have to fight for breathing room. There's time to rest, but not enough time to rest, get all my required BS done, and write/create as I'd like. Imma get there, but damn - the work I still have to do on my in-progress novel is staggering.
Update Sat, 23 Mar 2019
Getting back in the swing of things. Posting reviews for books on Edelweiss, now off to review on Amazon, for the writers. Working on my own writing, slowly. Perhaps I'll finish my novel in the next year or two.
Draft -- I Keep Thinking About the Fact That Job Was Rich... Sun, 11 Aug 2019
It's been a while since I read this one, and I passed on the reader (it's been that long) to someone in the store, so I'll be writing about this one at a distance, so to speak. However, it's probably the best horror fiction I've ever read. Want to get that out of the way now. If horror's your thing, no questions asked, this one's probably for your. Drop everything, go buy it.
I first became familiar with Stephen Graham Jones
Draft -- Review - The City We Became
Draft -- Review - Concrete Rose 2021-04-17
Angie Thomas is such a brilliant writer. That's all there is to it. I love everything she writes. It takes a lot for me to really get deeply invested in characters right now - chalk that up to depression or grief or something of the like, but it's a thing, except with Ms. Thomas's books. Her characters are vibrant and full and I want to know how they're doing well after I'm done reading about them. Concrete Rose is no exception. I think it's her best yet.
Mental Health
CW: Abuse, Mental Health, Ideation
I got married (*gasp*) 30 years ago today. I was a kid, really. Not out of my teens. Married someone who was 26. Had no idea what I was getting myself in for. Just thought it was something one did. He was clearly abusive about 3 months into the relationship. I had to arrange for his hospitalization within one year, the first of many. I was 20.
Draft -- Review - Where the Drowned Girls Go
WHERE THE DROWNED GIRLS GO
Seanan McGuire
Self determination
Draft? -- Mini Review - The Drift - A quick Dip into Apocalyptia 2023-05-13
THE DRIFT
C.J. Tudor
Draft -- On Feeling Useless 2023-06-07
Missing? -- Review -- How to Sell a Haunted House 2023-07-05
Draft -- Beauty, Equity, Horror (2025-01-08 ?)
Did I get your attention? ^_^
Seriously, though, I have a trio of books to recommend, all recently finished. All of them deal with equity in our shared spaces
And I wish to hell like I'd made notes, because I don't know what I was talking about.
Perhaps Tauhou is one.
Perhaps Coup de Grace
Perhaps Somewhere Beyond the Sea
Perhaps psalm for the wild-built
perhaps time's agent
whispering dark
Long Road Ahead and Behind... Sat, 10 Aug 2019
...but I keep trying.
Oh My, What a Year. Sun, 29 Mar 2020
I'm looking at you, 2020, in particular. -.-
Hopefully an update soon.
Adventures in Reviewland Fri, 13 Nov 2020
2020 is certainly a year for the books, but for me, not one for books. One of my greatest frustrations this year as a bookseller has been a lack of time or energy for reading and reviewing books. Real life was hard, somehow reading was also hard.
One of the perks of being a book buyer is ARCs, or Advanced Reader's Copies. They tend to slowly collect around booksellers, like dust woolies. I'm half convinced they breed in the dark. Because I have tons of them. Absolutely oodles. That image to the left is not my bookshelves, but somedays it feels like it could be.
One of my plans this fall is to dive back in, see what I can discover. Most of what I'll be reading will be books for children and young adults - young readers' literature is a passion of mine, and has been a professional focus. Not all of it will be, however. I have a few books I'm reading now - you're welcome to check out my Goodreads to see what I have on the burner currently, but my next book will come from these stacks. I think I'm going to just start with what's on my rolling cart (I have one of those, too, also full of books.) and on my bookshelf, and use a RNG to pick my next book, counting from the top left of my main to read bookshelf. I might just call this whole project "RNG Reviews." ^_^ What do you think?
I also have a lot of F&Gs to catch up on - Fold and Gathers. These are picture books that have not been bound, but do contain finished art or mostly finished art. I was thinking I could do those too, on Fridays as I can. Since I'm coming up with corny names - "F&G Fridays" sounds good to me. (Side note - I once got accused of being profane when talking about F&Gs. Interesting conversation, for sure. XD)
Grief Pause Wed, 25 Nov 2020
Dad died, and that's obviously affected things. I'm reading, thinking of writing, making some headway, but also sometimes not. More soon.
Do Over Sat, 25 Sep 2021
Big changes. More word soon, for the bots that drop by at least. Hollering into the void over here. Invisible me, invisibling. I'm in the process of moving where I invisible, though. Writing this in a whole new state.
Renewal? Fri, 08 Oct 2021
...maybe it's a refresh, instead.
Had a birthday yesterday, which, while a tiny bit imperfect, was exactly what it needed to be. It was a landmark birthday, one of those they make cards for, and it went ok, which is a first for landmark birthdays for me. My 16th birthday I literally drove cross-country with my dad, moving station with him and starting over in high school with one year to go. My 18th was fine, although my parents forgot to call me. 21 was fine, there was some alcohol involved, but a bit downplayed, because of my partner. Same with 25. I had a kid at that point, which was interesting. Trigger Warning - light discussion of domestic abuse ahead.
30 and 40 were both clusterfucks. My ex was a controlling abuser. He picked a horrible, day long fight with said oldest child on my 30th. My 40th I put my foot down and reclaimed my time by going out with friends. So that night I was treated to an all night diatribe of yelling, in front of the kids. All the things I wasn't doing, why we were "unevenly yoked" ... always with that phrase. There were lots of other less palatable words and phrases, but that was something he used to say a lot. Complete bullshit. I'll spare you how I came past that. It's an old story, but one I'm slowly walking through. Getting by and moving on...
Anyway, flash forward to yesterday, which was a day of relaxation, and just a nice day. One child brought me decadent little delights and fun literal interpretations of things (chocolate cake with pumpkin cupcakes on top - who knew?!), one child bought me Indian food, one wrote me the best little rap song. A good day. Not dramatic, but what I needed.
It's been a long year. A year ago today, bad things culminated. Not my fault things. There are things I could have done differently, but ultimately, I put down boundaries, and experienced consequences. That's fine. My dad (and last living parent) died, too. And a beloved cat. So I've done a lot of messy grieving in the last year. I'm not getting younger, and the world doesn't stop turning, but I finally feel like I can step back onto my own path again, and make my own way into the future.
It's good to have my life back.
Real Life Sure Is A Thing Wed, 26 Apr 2023
I do keep trying, tho.
Long story short, been gathering my resources and healing from a long journey to get where I am. Refreshed, renewed, I begin again.