I'm Not Dead

Oi, you blokes!

Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

Okay. Maybe you didn’t think I was dead. Maybe you didn’t notice I’d even been gone.

That’s okay. We’re all busy, right?

But I am sorry I nipped off there for several weeks without so much as a wave goodbye. I feel badly about it.

But there is a reason. A very good reason.

Actually, about 106,001 reasons.

Yeah… I spent September finishing the first round of edits on book 3 of the Turrim Archive, and then dove right in without even pausing for breath and started working on book 4.

And if all goes well this week, I am hoping and planning on being done with book 4 by the end of this week!

Right now, my goal in life is to finish this round of edits on the series before Christmas. Which means I still have half of book 4 and all of book 5 to do… but if everything keep going as smoothly as it has been (yeah, I know that’s a massive IF) I think it’s doable. Of course, that means working my tail off and not being online as much for a while. Hope that’s okay.

So, I have been hard at work for you, Dear Reader, even if you haven’t been able to see the progress I’m making.

As an aside, if you’re interested in seeing more constant updates on my writing/editing process, I would love to invite you over to my Facebook Group. (That’s where you can also sometimes get some sneak peeks and snippets).

But editing is not all I’ve been doing. Though it has taken away the most time from blogging and social media-ing… yeah… that can be a verb now, right? I mean, it’s 2021!

My oldest hobbit decided to go out for cross country this year and is absolutely LOVING it. Which means we spent most of September trying to figure out how to navigate being involved in our first “big kid” sport! It’s a lot of time and effort, a lot of driving to practices and meets, a lot of cheering my head off and trying to learn all her teammates’ names… but it’s been an absolute blast. I have even gained a new appreciation for running even if there isn’t a pack of werewolves chasing you down! gasp

All this time on the road or at practices HAS given me more time in my day to edit and write, though, without distractions because I don’t have internet in my car. Which is nice, and has made for much editing of the words.

Secrets too secret to tell…

I have also begun work on a TOP SECRET exciting thing.

And that’s all I’m going to say about that for now.

Family Time

In August/September I got to see a ton of family! My brother and his family came to visit for a week, and then later my mom and sister visited for a week and it was SO MUCH FUN!!!

I got to hear sneak peeks of my sister’s next album and I’m not going to spoil anything but I am going to tell you that it’s gonna be EPIC and I will be screaming about it when it releases. Fair warning.

Let’s see… what else?

Well, we had the sixth annual Silmaril Awards last month, and that was a lot of fun as usual. Thanks to all who came and commented and nominated and just generally made this a fabulous event!

I know I gained a new favorite read because of the Awards this year. I’ve been blitzing through the City Between books as quickly as I possibly can. I’m in the middle of book 4 at the moment and they are so fun. They are a very good October-ish read, so I’m glad that the Silmaril Awards brought them more immediately to my attention just as I had finished my previous reading adventure (right at the end of September I had finished book 8 of Keeper of the Lost Cities and am anxiously awaiting book 9).

Seriously, obsessed, y’all.

Oi. But… I do have a slight problem.

See… you know Athelas? He’s one of the main characters in this series? Well, he came in second for the Silver Tongue Silmaril a couple of weeks ago… and… well… all the other finalists have cleared out. But… um… Athelas is still sitting in one of my corner chairs, smiling softly to himself about something that appears to be amusing him.

I’m not sure if it’s ME or if he’s just wondering how long it will be before Zero and Pet and Jin-Yeong find him.

But it’s making me a bit nervous.

I’ve tried all the usual tricks to convey that he’s not welcome here any longer… without saying it right out, of course. No sense being rude to the fae. I don’t have a death wish, obvs.

I’ve cleared my throat.

Slapped my knees and said, “WELP!” loudly as I stood up.

Hinted about needing my chair back.

Talked on the phone to my mom about guests who won’t take a hint about when it’s time to leave where I know he could hear me…

And… nothing is working.

So I keep giving him tea… which I’m sure isn’t helping make him less comfortable.

But if someone could let Zero or maybe his author know where he is so they can come retrieve him… I’d be eternally grateful.

You know what I miss? Going to the movies.

Not because of That-Which-Shall-Not-Be-Named, theaters around here have been open for like a year. But because there just hasn’t been anything GOOD in theaters since… um… End Game, maybe?

I don’t have any opinions on this at all.

Thankfully, our basement is all set up now and we have a pretty good movie-watching area of our own.

We’ve watched a few fun ones that were new to me in the past month or two.

A Quiet Place I and II

Yeah, I know. The first one’s been out for a while… but I hadn’t gotten around to it, okay? Now I understand the hype and I am a MASSIVE fan. But I am still NOT OKAY with the thing that happened at the end of the first movie. NOT OKAY.

Or with the thing that happened at the beginning of the first movie.

MacFarland, USA

With a cross-country runner in the house, we are now watching ALL the running movies. I can’t wait to introduce her to Chariots of Fire next. But MacFarland was SUPER cute. I loved it.

Monster Hunter

Um… pretty much the most ridiculous movie I’ve ever watched.

But… kind of fun anyway?

It’s based on a video game apparently, which would explain the lack of a plot of any kind. Literally, this movie has no story. Just monsters. And hunting. Though in all fairness, I think the monsters did more of the hunting than the being hunted… but maybe that’s what the title actually meant.

It was kind of like Kong vs Godzilla. Everything you need to know about the movie is in the title, and going into it expecting anything more is just silly.

So, that was a little bit of a different kind of Adventures and Episodes post. I’m planning to be around more and have a little more energy in the coming months. There are some blogging tags and fun things I hope to participate in, and I’m hoping to have a new spooky short story to share with you here at the end of the month.

Did you get any additions to your TBR from this year’s Silmaril Awards?

Any tips on how to get Athelas to go home?

Have you watched any good movies I should know about?

Would you like me to share more snippets and writing updates here on the blog?

Talk to me in the comments, please, dear Reader! I love hearing from you!