Tremendulent!

I think I can manage Five Things.

1. I finished my Black Sails fic for WIP Big Bang! It's frickin' over 100,000 words! At least 30,000 of those words were written in the last two months. *collapses* I'm owning this, I'm so proud of myself for finishing this story. I wanted to finish it and I did. WOO!

2. Following on from the above (holy crap, I finished it!), I'm glad I did it because I proved a few things to myself. Namely, that yes, I can actually write a novel-length story. And that I can discipline my writing. I have an actual method that does work. I can do this again. I want to do this again. (I...might have an idea I want to do this with...we'll see...it involves plants and Florida swamps and metaphysics...)

3. The move back to the states is progressing steadily. My flight back to my lovely trashfire state of Florida is on 15 October. I'm so conflicted about this move. I have no idea what it's going to be like when I get there and I don't even want to speculate about it. I'm just going to let it happen and try to be as chill as I can.

4. Wrapped up in the above is some serious baggage around the last 20 years and I'm trying not to kick past!seren too much. She would have done things differently if she could have. But, I feel very unprepared and like I've fallen behind where I'm 'supposed' to be. Which is, frankly, bullshit. I know it's bullshit. Still, the feeling remains and I'm working on it.

5. I'm having to move out of my current flat in a week because the uni semester starts soon, so a Master's student is moving in. However, my landlady's parents (bear with me) own this big house that's been converted into student flats, apart from the third floor which is a one-bedroom flat they usually stay in. They're heading out, so, I'm moving in!

I'm actually really excited! It's this big Victorian house that is on one of my favourite streets in town. It has a lovely view of the tennis courts as well as the sea (if you stand on your tiptoes). I've always wanted to see inside of the houses on this street and now I get to live in one! And it's all inclusive! No utilities bills or council tax for a month!

Happy Wednesday! ♥

*waves*

1. Got struck down by a dreadful cold last week. I even stayed home one day as my nose was pretty darn gross. I worked from home, naturally, because in this day and age heaven forbid you actually have an proper sick day where you don't work. Did I ever tell y'all that when I had my accident last year and could only use one hand and one leg, my boss dropped my work laptop off the day I got home from the hospital? *sighs*

2. It's looking more certain that I'm going to make the big move back to the States. Probably September? That's when my lease ends, so it kind of makes sense. I'm...terrified? I'm trying to find things to look forward to, and while they exist (my family, living rent-free for a while, I can get a dog, new places to explore, I won't have this constant feeling of being pulled apart, etc.), I'm having a hard time these days looking forward to much of anything. It's most likely a symptom of some larger depression issues, but being optimistic feels too draining as the thing I was looking forward to never matches my expectations.

I don't mean that I've become totally pessimistic, just...neutral, with a side of mild pessimism. :P

In short - this is a very big move and I'm very anxious about the whole thing, but I don't feel I can stay where I am any longer. So, it's probably a good idea to retrench.

3. I've signed up to WIP Big Bang 2019 to finish my Black Sails fic! I started this fic when we moved back to Wales, so it's fitting that I finish it before I leave.

4. Still doing lots of exercise and that aspect of my life feels pretty good! I have more energy and more shape to bits of me.

5. I don't think I have a #5? I hope everyone is doing okay! Happy Tuesday! ♥

Howdy!

1. I'm feeling much better about life and things in general. I mean, it's still January, but it'll be February on Friday and that means that time is passing and I think that's a good thing. But boy howdy, this month has lasted for at least a year. Sheesh. ( cut for a bit of rambling re: dudes )

2. I started exercising again! I went to my very first yoga class last week and loved it. I'll definitely be going back.

3. I'm also going to fold 1000 origami paper cranes this year. I'm teaching myself origami and if I make 3 to 5 cranes a day over this year, I should reach 1000. It's really fun.

4. Who actually managed to write and type up 2,500 words of the next chapter of 'a tide of hope' this weekend? THIS GIRL. WOOO!

5. Has anyone watched 'The Terror? It was an AMC series on last year about the Northwest passage. It looks intriguing!

I hope everyone is okay! Happy Tuesday! ♥

Things!

1. Yuletide story has been betaed (THANK YOU!!!!!) and posted. I'm feeling pretty good about it and I kind of like it. I hope my recipient does, too. I've never written in this fandom before and it was fun to try to get into something that I encountered during my childhood.

2. I just need to get through the next 4 days and then I'm off for the holidays! Woo! I'm spending them with the new fella which should be interesting. And fun. Hopefully, a lot of fun! He actually has to work most days, including Christmas Eve and Christmas day. He apologised for it and I was like, 'My dude. My Christmas wish is to stay in my pyjamas until at least noon and raid your very incredible DVD collection. I will be fine. I will be watching telly and baking. I will be so very happy.'

3. I wrote 500 words of the next chapter of a'a tide of hope'! Holy schniekes! My goal is to publish the next chapter before the end of 2018.

4. Anyone have any non-fiction book recs? I've got a few lists I refer to, but if anyone has anything off the top of their head, that would be grand. I have a very long train journey this Friday as well as the return one. I have some fiction lined up, but it's always nice to have a non-fiction in reserve.

5. I...don't think I have a 5? I hope everyone has a decent Monday! ♥

Hello! *waves* I've been neglecting this journal and I don't mean to. I'd like to post more, but the day always seems to get away from me.

So, here are my usual five things!

1. My husband and I have definitely separated and will be filing for divorce one of these days. It's been hard but also good. We still chat and email and things are actually pretty darn all right. We were having coffee one day, looked at each other and went, 'whoa, we've done the right thing, haven't we?' I feel positive about more things now and it's been incredible to just have time to myself and to relearn who I can be and what I can do without having to worry about him. I'm working really hard at my job and taking on all sorts of responsibilites and actually getting recognized for them, in fact...

2. I'M GOING TO NEW ZEALAND IN JANUARY!!! The company I work for is based there and we're the European branch. They've received some new investment money and will be making some changes and they want me to go over and sit down with the team. Eeeeeee! I'm going to Middle Earth!!! I'll be mainly on the South Island near Dunedin, but I've already looked at day trips in the area. I can't wait. I'm also hoping to stop in Melbourne, Australia to see some family there.

Things are happening in very cool ways for me and I'm feeling really grateful for all the hard work that I've put in. You do all these things. You show up. You put in the hours. You're supportive and you work hard and honestly, most of the time, I never expect to see any kind of reward for it. When a reward actually happens, my first instinct is to actually go: Are you sure? Has there been some sort of mistake here?

BUT!

I'm trying to squash that and just go with it.

3. I'm actually exercising. Yep. It's a 'boot camp' that's run two weeks every month from 6.30am-7.30am on the seafront and it's great. The ladies are wonderful and supportive and I have so much more energy and it's not in a gym. I mean, I still hate burpees and jogging, but I'd rather hate them outside than in a gym.

4. Oh, God, I'm so close to having this novel thing done I can taste it. I almost have it ready for some poor soul to read it. (If anyone wants to read this thing and be totally honest about what they think, let me know!)

5. That being said, I hope to finish that and then do something completely different for Nanowrimo. I have a standalone idea that I'd like to run with and see what happens.

I think that's enough for a Wednesday. All the positivity aside, things are still scary and I'm worried most of the time about the world and everyone in it. I hope you're all all right and making it through the days. Take care of yourselves! ♥

Hi there!

I don't have much to post, but I haven't posted ANYTHING in ages, so, here are five things that are occurrin'!

1. I'm trying to get my original novel thing into a 'truck draft' stage. This term originated (I think) with Jenny Crusie, as in 'I could get hit by a truck and the novel could stand on its own'. I have a lot of editing to do.

2. I started Crossfit last week and my thighs still haven't forgiven me. Oh, God. I regret everything. But I'm going to try to stick with it and see how it all goes. I just want some energy back.

3. Work is a thing and it's an okay thing and there are lambs all over the place.

4. I'm on Goodreads! I'm Seren Pen and I'm trying to get the hang of it.

5. I'm going to Greece late this year! It's for my sis-in-law's wedding and she's asked me to read something at the ceremony. Eee! I'm flattered and a little nervous.

Happy Sunday! ♥

Hi everyone! How is November treating you so far? I'm NOT enjoying the time change. It's now dark when I leave the office at 4.50pm. Not. Cool.

How is the writing going? I've done fairly well this week until today. I think I'm just tired, but I'm going to try to get something written. In any case, here's a little snippet that I've been trying to work on.

( Cwm Alaw is a lot like Stars Hollow from the Gilmore Girls but with more weird stuff. )

What have you all been up to? Feel free to share or ask a question or anything! Happy Sunday! ♥

I love October - all the birthdays! It's my husband's b-day today and mine was last week. He made me Chicken Fesenjan (chicken with a walnut-pomegranate sauce) and chocolate pecan pie. OMNOMNOM. So, today I'm making him puerco pibil (the slow-roasted pork dish from Once Upon a Time in Mexico) and a blueberry-peach pie. I'm using my slow-cooker and the pork has been cooking away for the last 2 hours. The house smells incredible.

And goodness, it's been a wee while since I updated. Work has been nuts. We're so busy. I'm working 9 hour days and I spend the morning doing tons of admin and data-input work, then after lunch I'm in the lab until it's time to go home. We have so many samples, it's ridiculous. Hopefully, this will settle down, um, in November? Maybe? I'm so tired.

It needs to settle down because I'm actually doing NaNoWriMo this year. Wooo! I'm FINISHING my Nora and The Ghost story. I've been thinking about how to go about doing it and I'm doing the hard thing and starting from the beginning. It's the only way.

I've been working on it piecemeal for a few years now, I know what I want to have happen, but it's not very cohesive. So, I'm starting from the very beginning and going straight through it.

I'm also handwriting it. My thoughts flow better with a pen in my hand. And I can edit it by typing it up later. This way, I can just get the damn thing DONE.

In other, other news, I love our new place. It's quiet, it's by the sea, and it has just enough space that it's fairly easy to stay on top of things. I'm really content. :D

How is everyone? Have a lovely Sunday! ♥

Things are...sort of all over the place these days. Emotionally, creatively, all of the above. And it's not something specific that I can fix or even figure out what the problem actually IS. I'd call it a funk, but it's a bit bigger and deeper than that. So, I'm basically trying to just muddle through and if sitting on my couch for an hour playing Bejeweled is what it takes, well then, that's pretty much what it takes.

However, I came across another decent Chuck Wendig blog post on being an artist and it was very helpful. Profane, as that's how he rolls, but helpful nonetheless. Check it out here: Defy Reality, Become an Artist.

My favorite bit is: Chasing the market is like chasing starlight: by the time I find the star that made the light, I remember that the light travels slow and that the star is already dead.

Naturally, this idea comes with some provisos, but it helps to reinforce the idea that writing what I want to read is a big part of writing. The rest can always come later.

Happy Monday! ♥

In five minutes, it will be 6pm and I can have a beer. (I have a rule - no alcohol until after 6pm. It's a thing, I don't know.)

Soooo, I didn't get to take this afternoon off - I had to run an extension of the experiment we've been doing all week, plus have a meeting with my boss so he could give me a list of stuff to do next week while he's off.

Oh, God, I have so much to do. On the plus side - I'm taking ALL of next Tuesday off. I plan to have a massage (with a lovely woman who also does aromatherapy and is so reasonably priced) and sit in a cafe and read and write all day. It's a Me Day. I'm looking forward to it.

Jenny Crusie was talking on her blog the other day about Discovery Drafts and I feel like that's what my Het Big Bangs end up being. They're the bare bones of something that I really should go back and expand upon, but that's often where I run into a block. How do you slow down and actually expand on something? I don't know how to elaborate and draw things out. Which leads me to wondering what I could do for a Het Big Bang this year that would be helpful for me in the long run. What's an idea that I could expand on? (I'm still eyeing Karen Page and Frank Castle but maybe he's a ghost? Or maybe they end up traveling together for some reason? I don't know.)

This leads me to my next question - (and I may have asked this before) - but what is everyone's opinion on the filing off of fanfic serial numbers and re-jigging fic for publishing purposes?

Eee! It's 6pm! There's a Corona in the fridge with my name on it and I even have limes!

Happy Friday! ♥