Alice in Thunderland

The next chapter: April 2023 update

/ Melanie Marttila / Leave a comment

Welcome to the first next chapter, back in its monthly format. This means it will be epic. Sorry, not sorry.

The month in writing

I’ve had to completely revamp my annual plan. Well, not completely, but mostly 🙂

My original plan had been to finish mapping out Alice in Thunderland in January and finish the first draft in February and March while continuing to work with Suzy on Reality Bomb. But a budget situation at work and the attendant loss of income meant I couldn’t continue working with Suzy. We parted ways at the end of January.

I then thought I’d continue working on my own and sign up again once my position and salary had been restored, but Phil had his accident (on Valentine’s Day, I’ll remind you), and all writing work was suspended until such time as he recovered.

In the interim, I got the hare-brained idea to start applying for grants. All of them.

Now that Phil’s recovered, I’ve committed to …

  1. Finish my #ActuallyAutistic Author presentation script and resources,
  2. Revise my poetry manuscript from now through June (in progress),
  3. Write a creative non-fiction (CNF) piece for a call due in early May (in progress),
  4. Work on another CNF piece,
  5. Revise a short story for an anthology call later in May (started),
  6. Start working with Suzy again (come hell or high water, as they say),
  7. Revise another short story for a potential project,
  8. Apply for more grants in May and June (working on one, now),
  9. Deliver my #AAA presentation in June or July,
  10. Revise yet another short story for future submission,
  11. Revamp my web site (some of it’s already done—just bits and pieces left),
  12. Work on new poetry,
  13. Work on a CNF project,
  14. Start work on my new fiction project in September, and
  15. Apply for more grants, September through November.

You can see why I’ve decided to cut back on blogging in the interim.

Alice is taking a back seat, for now. I think it was a good project, but I don’t have the head space or energy to get back to it right now. I do have the outline finished and a solid idea of where I need to head when I do get back to revisions. So, it’s in a good place.

That was the only big change from my original plan, aside from pushing out some timelines because life is what happens when you may other any plans.

So far, the experiment in rearranging my creative life (i.e., giving up curation and returning to monthly updates) seems to be working. I’m a lot less stressed out, that’s for sure. Or I was.

Just gonna let the Excel speak for itself.

Unfortunately, the universe couldn’t take it easy on me. An added stress is that a general strike was called on April 19, 2023. I’m showing up and showing solidarity, but the first day was bitterly cold and I had to take a nap after I got home (which I never do) to warm up and recover. Subsequent days weren’t any easier, though I planned a bit better each day.

My executive function is definitely compromised. Meltdowns each morning, naps most afternoons, and I’m having trouble functioning on any level. At least I didn’t have to picket on the weekends. As of today (April 30, 2023) there’s a new offer on the table, but I haven’t heard anything yet. I expect we’ll be back on the picket line tomorrow.

In other developments, I’ll be one of three judges for the K. Valerie Connor Memorial Poetry Celebration contest held by the Leacock Museum in Orillia this year. I’m honoured to have been considered.

I received another bit of amazing (ah-MA-zing!) news this morning, but I’ll have to wait a bit before I make that announcement. Stay tuned! And yes, I’m a tease.

Filling the well

Just picking up from where I left off in my next chapter weekly updates. I’m not recapping the whole month (!) As you’ll see, it’s been a month FULL of events.

I attended the online book launch for Fonda Lee’s The Untethered Sky on April 10th. A great conversation between Fonda and Andrea Stewart about all aspects of the creative process.

I had signed up for a FOLD Academy webinar with Liselle Sambury on April 8th, but was unable to watch it live, because recovery. I watched the replay once it was posted to their YouTube channel. It’s an interesting method, and Sambury offered a lot of alternatives for outlining and tracking your novel.

I signed up for an Authors Publish webinar on a new (to me) poetry form, the zuihitsu, with Eugenia Leigh. Because it was held during the workday, I watched the replay. Zuihitsu is a fascinating form, but I don’t know if I could manage the consciously disordered nature of a zuihitsu collection. It does track with some of the ideas I’m hoping to play with poetically, though. We’ll see where it leads.

I met with my poetry editor, Tanis MacDonald, on the 12th. It was less fraught than I thought it would be (and that would have been on me—Tanis was lovely). Now I have my marching orders and some work to do 🙂

I attended the Writing Success Series Discovery Night on April 13th. I’ve signed up for the Donald Maass six-webinar package and will return for individual sessions by Eric Maisel, Janice Hardy, Tiffany Yates Martin, and Beth Baranay.

I signed up for another Dan Blank webinar about defining your identity and creative voice on April 14th. Again, because it was during the workday, I watched the replay. Dan has a lot of good information about how to engage with social media on your terms and it all begins with defining your identity and creative voice.

On April 15th, my friend and former poet laureate of Sudbury, Vera Constantineau, launched her poetry collection. Enlightened by Defilement is a collection of haibun inspired by the 108 defilements of Buddhism. It was a lovely afternoon at the Hilton Garden Inn, good food, and a lot of familiar faces that I haven’t seen in a while 🙂

That was a big week of writing-related events, I realized, and dialled it back a bit. Yeah, all of the above was in one week. I might have overdone things a bit.

Just four more writing-related events in the month.

I purchased a Rambo Academy webinar on revision that I could watch at my leisure, which I did.

I attended Mary Robinette Kowal’s Barriers to Writing webinar on Sunday, April 23. It was extremely helpful in a few different ways.

Finally, I registered for a TWUC webinar on marketing and self-promotion presented by Rod Carley and Ali Bryan, which I also watched in replay. With my debut poetry collection coming up next year, it was very helpful!

I almost forgot! The FOLD started on April 30th, but as the bulk of the event is in May, I’ll leave the details until next month’s update.

In the self-care department, I had an appointment with my doctor because of a bump on the inside of my wrist. It’s a ganglion cyst and nothing to worry about unless it gets bigger and/or starts causing pain or impeding my range of motion. Something to monitor for now.

Phil had another physio appointment and an appointment with an endocrinologist for his type II diabetes. Unfortunately, the diabetic clinic is being shut down. It’s disappointing because he was finally getting the treatment and support he needed. And then his appointment with the endocrinologist was cancelled. Super frustrating.

I took Torvi to the vet for her annual exam and flea/tic/worm medication. An expensive trip, but she was her crazy, adorable self for Dr. Andrews, and she’ll be protected for the coming year.

What I’m watching and reading

I finished watching The Witcher: Blood Origin (Netflix). An interesting origin story for the witchers, with great characters, fight scenes, and a tie-in to the main series. Also, it was only four episodes, so it didn’t have time to fall prey to some of the gaffs other series suffer from.

Next, I watched The Wonder (Netflix), based on the novel of the same name by Emma Donoghue. Mystery and pathos. Lib Wright is a nurse who is called upon, with a nun, to perform a 14-day watch on a girl is a small Irish village who hasn’t eaten in four months. Ah, my heart.

I finished watching the first season of The Peripheral (Amazon). Bizarre and brain-twisty, but I loved it. Virtual reality isn’t just VR. It’s time travel and the creation of alternate realities called stubs. A VR gamer and her ex-military brother are inducted into a program with new technology, and a whole new world of complex future and present political and corporate intrigue changes their lives.

I also finished off the first season of Extraordinary (Disney +). In a world where most people develop powers (some of which are bizarre, and others, totally useless), protagonist Jen is powerless. She’s also a horrible person who has no money to pay for the expensive treatment that could rectify the situation. Growth happens. British series. British humour.

Then, I watched Ghosted (Apple +). It was the fun escape I needed after three days of picketing. Lots of cameos by popular action actors. I was laughing out loud. It might have been the dysregulation, but I enjoyed it. There was some problematic content, though, like the white male protagonist getting all stalkery (repeated texts, tracking her, a surprise trip to see her) on his love interest after she apparently ghosts him. Unfortunately, the stalking is critical to the plot. Like, there would be none without his intrusive and unwanted behaviour.

In reading, I finished T.J. Klune’s Wolfsong. The protagonist, Oxnard, or Ox is clearly autistic coded. And bisexual (pan?). I loved the book for that alone, but it was a love story between a human boy and his wolf pack. Correction, packs. There are some explicit sex scenes if you’re not into that kind of thing. My heart (again)!

Then, I finished The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Richardson. A fascinating historical fiction based on true events. Look up the blue people. They were an actual thing. And the packhorse librarians. Loved it!

And that was the month in this writer’s life.

Until next month, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter weekly: Feb 19-25, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

Greetings, my writerly friends, and welcome to week eight of 2023 🙂

This week, I again had a repeat pick, this time from the tarot: the king of wands. Just a reminder, then, that this card represents inspiration, charisma, and natural leadership. I chose to focus on the inspiration aspect of the card last time, largely because I don’t think I’m that charismatic, nor do I exhibit natural leadership.

This time around, I think I’ll focus on the imagery in the card, rather than the traditional Rider-Waite-Smith deck images that I’ve been sharing. The tarot deck I’m using is the Somnia Tarot by Nicholas Bruno. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful deck and I’d rather you check out his work for yourselves.

The card shows a figure draped in white cloth sitting in profile on an austere throne in the dark. The cloth flows out from the figure to cover the floor where a candelabrum, a fallen chandelier, and several candlesticks are lit. There are two more candles at the top of the throne and a sconce extends from the king’s covered face. In the king’s hands is a book and they read by their own light. Haunting image.

It speaks to me, though. I’m in a place where, though my mind is still brimming with ideas and I have the sincere desire to write, life circumstances leave no room for creative pursuits.

I’ll have to keep my candles lit until Phil’s recovered.

cock-eyed again …

The Celtic oracle card I drew was the Boar. Boars are fearsome beasts and Celtic legend is filled hunts for magical boars, and people being killed by boars (I believe Robert Baratheon’s death by boar in GoT was inspired by this tradition).

The sow is associated with the goddess Cerridwen, the Welsh goddess of rebirth, transformation, and inspiration. Her cauldron, Awen, is one of poetic inspiration. She consumed her servant, Gwion Bach, and later birthed him as Taliesin. From the Mabinogion is Hen Wen, the oracular pig, who ate the beech nuts of the tree of wisdom.

Either way, the boar/sow represents power, something I’m in need of, right now.

Monday was the new rowan moon in Pisces. I spent some time on my intentions for the coming weeks. I want to focus on supporting Phil in his recovery and not stress about not being able to write. But … if the opportunity to write presents itself, I want to run with it.

The week in writing

As you might guess, not a lot of writing or revision happened this week. But I did manage to fit some in (!)

I received a kind rejection of one of my stories. Once again, feedback says it reads like the beginning of a longer story. It’s not, though. So, I’ll have to figure out how to tweak it into story shape. I has some ideas 🙂

Here’s how the week went.

On the 22nd and 23rd, I worked on Reality Bomb. I cut another 721 words, bringing the monthly total to -1,049, and the total to date to -1,681. It’s still a far cry from the 24k words I want to cut, but if I keep up in this vein, I should be able to make it 🙂

I also, on the 22nd, finished my freewritten outline for the remainder of Alice in Thunderland. Now I just have to go back and add in the bits and pieces the last four chapters plus epilogue require in my revision notes, and I should be good to go for the writing. If I can make the time.

I had thought that I’d already be writing the last part of Alice by now, but it wasn’t to be, so I eliminated my February writing goal for this project. We’ll see what March brings.

On the blog, I wrote 1,649 words for the week and 6,382 words for the month to date, exceeding my goal of 6,000 words. And there’s still one more tipsday before the month ends.

Filling the well

I didn’t have any writerly events to attend and tried to focus on reinforcing my reserves of energy, creative and otherwise.

I still haven’t watched the replay of the TWUC tax strategies webinar.

I’m just trying to take it easy and keep up with the household chores and errands.

What I’m watching and reading

In the viewing department, I finally finished The Rings of Power (Amazon). I see the criticisms levied against it (harfoots abandoning their people on the road, ill-timed cavalry charges, too obvious Gandalf tease), but I enjoyed it.

Then Phil and I finished season one of Lockwood and Co. (Netflix). An interesting and light YA horror series. A mysterious event in the past has turned the world (or at least the UK) into ghost central and only young people have the gifts to fight them. Most companies are headed by adults, but Lockwood and Co. is an independent, and Lucy, their newest recruit is a star who’s afraid to shine.

Then, I watched The Woman King (Crave). A-MA-zing! Viola Davis was robbed.

Moving on to the week in reading, I read Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Loved! The human race (being the human race) is on the decline. Earth is uninhabitable and off-planet settlements are struggling. In a last-ditch effort to save humanity, several teams travel to candidate planets to terraform them to support the dwindling human race. One ambitious project is seeding new life in the form of chimps (they’re only called monkeys) and a nanovirus intended to bioengineer them into a better version of humans. Only something goes wrong, and the monkeys die, but the nanovirus makes it to the planet and finds the next most intelligent creatures it can. Spiders.

Don’t let that put you off. Tchaikovsky (brilliantly) makes spiders empathetic (!) even though he writes them in omniscient.

And that was the week in this writer’s life.

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter weekly: Feb 12-18, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

Greetings, all, and welcome to week 7 🙂

This week, I pulled the seven of cups from the tarot. This card represents temptations, choices, or bewilderment. This week, I was supposed to have a poetry reading, and a special general meeting for one of my writing organizations to attend. It was also predicted to be a hectic week at work with a very important project (not mine, thankfully) that had to get done.

I was thinking that I’d have to make some tough decisions and maybe not work on either Reality Bomb or Alice in Thunderland for a couple/three days. Turned out to be more than that due to an unfortunate accident (see below). This was a good reminder to be cognisant of my energy levels and plan accordingly.

In the Celtic oracle, I drew The Bride of the Waters, or Boann, goddess of the Boyne River and or poetry, fertility, and knowledge. You may remember a couple of weeks ago, when I first drew The Father/Dagda, that Boann was his mistress. It was a good omen for the poetry reading.

Here’s a little more information on Boann from the Discover Boyne Valley site.

It’s been a pretty tight grouping of interrelated cards for the past few weeks. Interesting …

So. Before I get to the week in writing, I want to tell you what happened. On Valentine’s Day, Phil slipped on some black ice in the driveway and fractured his shoulder. When he came in and told me what happened, I dissociated and went full on factual Mel. It’s how I handle crises.

I got him to the hospital, he got x-rays, a sling, and a prescription for pain, and an appointment with a specialist on Friday. He’s in a lot of pain and has to sleep (or try to) in our La-Z-boy recliner.

On Friday, the specialist confirmed that we’re doing everything we can. Surgery, thankfully, is not necessary. We’re in a holding pattern for two weeks until he’s reassessed, and physio begins. Six weeks after that, Phil might be in a position to transition back to his regular level of activity.

And he has arthritis in his shoulders, too.

Family has arranged for a snow plough to keep the driveway clear, and everyone has been offering us food. Phil just did a fairly big shop last weekend, so we have food that needs to be cooked and/or eaten first.

So, I’m doing the cleaning and some of the cooking. Phil’s stubborn that way. I’ll also be shopping, running my mom to any appointments she needs to go to, and all that jazz.

Needless to say, I have had to redirect from creative pursuits. It’s just the way it is.

The week in writing

My intention was to proceed with the next chapter/group in RB, but I decided to divert to some work in the map, reworking it to match my revamped chapters so far. I figured it would be easier to work on that periodically and then get back to working of chapter four after the hectic of the week was over.

I managed to get this done on Monday.

The good news is that I don’t have any other events or meetings scheduled for the month. Things should open up after this week.

I also wanted to finish freewriting the last chapter and epilogue for Alice, and then go over what I had and tweak until I was satisfied.

Welp, the work emergency (mentioned above) turned out not to be (an emergency), so that was a relief. But then Phil’s accident turned the rest of the week on its head. I thought I’d picked the wheel of fortune last week!

Here’s how the week turned out.

As I mentioned, I reworked the RB map for the three chapters I’d already rewritten on Monday. But I only worked on RB one day this week, the 14th. And I only got that work done while I was waiting for Phil to be released from the hospital. I reduced a further 38 words on the draft, making the monthly total -328 and the year to date total -960.

I finished freewriting chapter 28 of Alice and moved on to the epilogue (also on Monday), but I haven’t touched it since.

On the blog, I wrote 1,890 words for the week, bringing the monthly total up to 4,733.

Filling the well

I attended a Mary Robinette Kowal webinar on Diagnosing Story Problems on Sunday afternoon. The more I attend her sessions, the more I learn.

As I mentioned off the top, I had a reading on Valentine’s Day, but with Phil’s injury, I had to cancel.

I signed up for a TWUC webinar on Tax strategies for writers but will watch the replay in the future.

And then, I had a special general meeting (SGM) for SF Canada to attend. They were in need of one more board member. As I’m already on one board, I did not put my name forward. We didn’t get quorum, so we’ll be trying again in three weeks, as per the bylaws.

And … I applied for associate membership in the Science Fiction Writers Association (SFWA). It may be up to 30 days for them to assess my qualifications. I’ll get back to you about that.

What I’m watching and reading

I watched The School for Good and Evil (Netflix) on Saturday night. An interesting take on the YA magical school trope. The school teaches heroes to be heroes and villains to be villains, with an eye to maintaining balance. Occasionally readers of fairy tales get thrown into the mix, as is the case with Sophie and Agnes. And of course, there’s something wrong at the school … Entertaining. I enjoyed it.

I have to backtrack a bit for the week in reading. That I forgot I finished reading The Spectral Arctic by Shane McCorristine may tell you something about what I thought about the book. The topic was interesting enough. It’s about how ghosts, dreams, Inuit shaman, remote viewing, and other psychic phenomena played into the search for Franklin’s expedition and shaped the whole tenor of Arctic exploration for ensuing adventurers. But the book was clearly an academic dissertation and while the author included colourful citations from the likes of Charles Dickens and Margaret Atwood, it was … just … boring. Sorry.

Definitely not boring was Luane G. Smith’s The Vine Witch. A sweet paranormal romance about a winemaking witch, who, after freeing herself from a cursed life as a toad, returns to her vineyard to find it sold and the grapes suffering under several vile spells. Multiple mysteries, adventure, and, of course, smoochies.

I also finished my re-read of Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys. You already know I loved the book, and the series. I didn’t mark up the book as much as I intended, but I did note some structural and stylistic patterns. It was a rewarding exercise.

And that was the week in this writer’s life.

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter weekly: Feb 5-11, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

Welcome to week six of 2023!

This week, the tarot card I drew was The Wheel of Fortune. This card symbolizes infinity, boundless energy, turning point, destiny, life cycle, endless possibility, and purpose. It can represent unexpected changes, in either a positive or negative direction.

I’m seeing this card as a positive change in my life, both at work and creatively.

From the Celtic oracle deck, I pulled The Father/Dagda, for the second week in a row. And I shuffled that deck.

Pairing The Wheel of Fortune and The Dagda seems portentous.

The 5th was also the full cold moon (and moon in Leo for the astrologically inclined). I renewed my goal to rid myself of a certain kind of autistic inertia and get to bed at a reasonable hour. It’s getting better, but I’m not as rested as I need to be.

The week in writing

I worked most days on Reality Bomb and finished freewriting ideas for chapter 27 in Alice in Thunderland. I’ve moved on to chapter 28, but I’m thinking I have to rework these last four chapters before I get to the actual drafting. But I will get to it before the end of the month (!)

I took Friday and Saturday off after a full week of work. I just needed a break.

Copy edits for my forthcoming story in Pulp Literature arrived and were actioned promptly.

My application to the Writers Union of Canada (TWUC) was accepted (very quickly—within a week). I’m updating my CV, etc. today 🙂

Here’s how the week broke down:

I managed to reduce RB by a net 401 words for the week, a net -290 words for the month so far, and a net loss of 922 words on the draft overall.

I’m moving on to the next chapter using the pattern I started with Suzy, i.e., combining three chapters and paring down to a reasonable length. In RB, I have this nasty habit of repetition, like everything has to happen three times before I move on. I also write events in an inefficient order. Working on cleaning those issues up.

As I mentioned, I finished chapter 27’s freewritten outline and moved on to chapter 28 in Alice. This week, I hope to finish chapter 28, sketch out the epilogue, and tweak the whole climax and denouement in preparation for finishing the first draft.

In creating my map for Alice after drafting most of it, I’ve been marking in each chapter how it needs to change, what foreshadowing needs to be added, and how cause and effect can be strengthened. I think it’s a good approach. We’ll see how it works out and whether I want to use it for future projects.

I’ve blogged 1,615 words for the week and 2,843 words so far in the month.

Another Shaelin Writes video cracked open the concept of subtext for me. Look for that on tipsday. I really relate to her process and way of thinking about writing, even though she writes literary fiction and I’m a genre writer.

Filling the well

I attended a FOLD webinar, “How to Write a Great Book” presented by Evan Winter on February 11, 2023. It was a good presentation. Unfortunately, Evan’s journey to publishing was anomalous, i.e., he self-published his book, attracted the attention of a publisher, who helped him get an agent before moving forward with the deal.

I had my biannual appointment with the OBSP, AKA the booby squishing, on Monday. Not as bad as the first time.

I took my mom to our next hair appointment on Saturday.

What I’m watching and reading

In the viewing department, Phil and I finished watching The Legend of Vox Machina (Amazon), season 2. The series really strikes the perfect balance between comedy and drama. And most of the characters progressed in their arcs/got their moments to shine.

I also watched The Banshees of Inisherin (Disney +). Good movie, but it made my poor heart hurt.

Moving on to what I’ve been reading, I finished Sue Lynn Tan’s The Daughter of the Moon Goddess. There’s a lot of fighting and battles, but the story had an overall dreamy feel to it. It was gentle and lovely. I really enjoyed it.

And that was the week in this writer’s life.

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter weekly: Jan 29-Feb 4, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

Welcome to next chapter weekly, a look at the week in this writer’s life.

This week I drew the three of wands from the tarot and the father from the Celtic oracle deck.

The three of wands represents discovery, negotiation, great effort, and foresight. This felt fortuitous as this is the week that I intended to get back on my writing game in a more serious way.

The father represents the Dagda, the “great god” of Irish mythology and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He controls life and death, the weather and crops, and time and the seasons. He can be equated to Zeus or Odin from other mythologies.

He was married to the Morrigan, but Boann was his mistress, and Brigit, or Brigid, is one of his children.

February 1st was Imbolc, or Brigid’s Day. Brigid is, among other things, the patron saint of poets and scholars. How apropos 🙂

I lit the candles and incense on my altar with special intention on Tuesday. The light has been steadily returning and I’ve had a distinct upswing in energy of late. It’s time to rededicate myself to my creativity.

The week in writing

Last week was all about playfulness and reacquaintance. I may not have written or revised every day, but I read things over, maybe accepted some track changes, or deleted some comments that were no longer needed.

This week, starting on February 1st, I got back into writing and revision more consciously and decisively. At least that was the plan. But you know what life does when you’re making those …

So, yeah. I didn’t get back to Reality Bomb or Alice in Thunderland until the 3rd. That was Friday. Better late than never?

Here’s how the week broke down. To show you the whole week, I have to give you two screenshots. The last three days of January are on this first one.

And the first four of February are on this second one.

Again, I entered my curation posts for the coming week before I took this screenshot. I’ll learn, eventually.

For RB, it was a week of net gains. 45 words on the 31st and 111 words between Friday and Saturday for a total of 156 words. There was some deletion in there, too. In fact, chapter two has shrunk a page. I’m hoping to finish up chapter three and move on to chapter four.

I closed the month with a net reduction of 632 words. I decided to take out the word goal for the months. My ultimate goal is to reduce about 25,000 from the draft. That’ goal is now in my annual tracking page as a negative number, and I’ll keep track of it there. Right now, it’s showing -521 (-632 + 111) words of the -25,000-word goal, or 2%.

On Alice, I finished up my freewritten notes for chapter 26 and I’m moving on to chapter 27 (of 28—getting closer!). I’ve also decided to add an epilogue. Originally, I had intended to begin writing in January to finish off the draft, but that hasn’t happened. So, I took out the wordcount goal for January on Alice as well.

For the blog, I wrote 1,708 words for the week between curations and this update, 1,228 of those in February. I finished out January with 7,306 words, or 104% of my 7,000-word goal.

Filling the well

I took this week as annual leave for myself. I needed to recalibrate after the cold, dark months of the year.

I signed up for a Dan Blank webinar this week: A simple plan to share on social media, in newsletters, and more. Though I could have attended, I chose to watch the replay. I prefer digging into webinars in my own time, when my head’s in the right space for it.

I applied for membership in The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC). It may be a while before I hear back.

I also had my annual checkup with my doctor. I came away with a referral letter for my registered massage therapist, a prescription to help with my next outbreak of blepharitis, and a vaccination for pneumococcal pneumonia (Prevnar 20). I am as protected as I can be until next fall’s flu/potential covid booster.

What I’m watching and reading

In the viewing department, I watched Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney +). I appreciated Coogler’s focus on grief and the tribute to Chadwick Boseman, but it was a Marvel movie 🙂

I also finished watching season 2 of Res Dogs (Disney +). SPOILERS The dogs finally make it to California and Bear wants to stay. It seems likely since their car and money have been stolen. We’ll see what happens in season 3.

Catherine Called Birdy (Amazon) was a delight. Bella Ramsey is awesome as Birdy (and a stark contrast with her character in The Last of Us). It’s a total fantasy, but I loved it.

Moving on to the week in reading, I finished Jay Baruschel’s Highly Legal (Audible Originals). An entertaining examination of the legalization of cannabis in Canada, and it’s ongoing challenges.

Then, I finished reading Tanis MacDonald’s Straggle. An in-depth consideration of what it means to be a woman walking through the world. This creative non-fiction collection of essays and poetry looks at one woman’s experience through engaging with wildlife, birding, reflections on youthful walks, and some not-so-youthful. Excellent.

And that was the week in this writer’s life.

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter weekly: Jan 22-28, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

Welcome back to the next chapter weekly, my personal update on what’s going on in this author’s life.

This week, I pulled the king of wands from the tarot and the eagle from the Celtic oracle deck.

The king of wands denotes inspiration, charisma, and natural leadership. This may be the week where I find my way back into writing, which is my intention, anyway. I don’t know about the charisma thing or the natural leadership thing. Maybe I’ll take control of my own creative ship? Learn to implement some of Suzy’s lessons on my own? We’ll have to wait and see.

Sorry for my lopsided photography.

The eagle is considered one of the oldest and wisest of animals in Celtic mythology, second only to the salmon of wisdom, which I picked last week. The Eagle of Gernabwy features in the Welsh Mabinogion. In the tale of Culhwch and Olwen, one of Culhwch’s tasks, in order to win the hand of his beloved, is to find the missing and magical child, Mabon. He asks a number of animals for guidance, and eventually gets a handy clue from this ancient and wise bird.

One thing I forgot to mention last week was that I did set a new moon intention to get back in touch with my creativity. I’ve had this feeling lately that we’ve been working at arm’s length. Gonna do some courtin’.

The week in writing

This week was about getting back on track in little ways. Touch Reality Bomb and Alice in Thunderland every day, but not force anything. This will be a week of gentle exploration and playfulness.

I also received and actioned the edit notes on “Psychopomps Are Us,” the story that Pulp Literature has accepted. One step closer to publication 🙂

Here’s what the week looked like:

With respect to RB, I cut a net 71 words this week, bringing the word count for the month to -677. That was four days of playing around.

On Alice, I free wrote my way to the end of chapter 25 (of 28).

On the blog, I wrote 1,286 words for the week, bringing the monthly total to 6,826. I remembered not to enter my curation before my weekly update this time, so the numbers on the spreadsheet reflect reality for once.

And … I’m trying my hand at another application for Your Personal Odyssey. Will the third time be the charm?

This week also saw the quarterly board meeting of the Canadian Authors Association.

Filling the well

I signed up for another Tiffany Yates Martin webinar through Jane Friedman, “The Biggest Mistakes Novelists Make.” Because the webinar was during the workday, I watched the replay.

I also signed up for a webinar on revisions presented by Emily Colin through Authors Publish. Again, I watched the replay.

On Saturday, I went out for supper with some friends, and my best friend and her spouse, visiting from out of town, came back to our house for a visit afterwards. It was lovely. A different kind of balm for the soul.

In the self-care department, I met with my Canada Life financial advisor and took stock of my investments. That ten of swords got me thinking 🙂 Fortunately, it looks like we’ll be in decent shape. I don’t have to go to extremes to ensure a decent retirement.

What I’m watching and reading

I did not finish any series or watch any movies this week. It was bound to happen sometime 🙂

In reading, I zipped through The Mistletoe Mysteries (Audible Originals). Fun, flirty, Canadian cozy mystery—they even mention Sudbury (!) And who wouldn’t want to listen to Cobie Smulders?

And then I moved on to Wildlife Confidential (Audible Originals) with Samantha Bee and Andrew Phung. Fun stories of animals, dramatized by intrepid reporter Cameron the Crow (Bee) and researcher Gordo the Groundhog (Phung). Entertaining and featuring a cast of Canadian voice talent as the interview subjects.

And that was the week in this author’s life.

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter weekly: Jan 15-21, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

Greetings, all!

This week, I pulled the King of Swords from the tarot, and The Horse from the Celtic oracle deck.

The King of Swords represents a catalyst or wise council. This is good, because I’m meeting with Suzy this week, and a mentor at work. But really, I’m thinking that it’s time I seek the wise council within, know what I mean? I really have to develop (or redevelop) my self confidence.

The horse represents Epona, Gaullish horse goddess, the Great Mare. She was the protector of horses and possibly a fertility goddess. She was the only Celtic deity to be worshipped by the Romans as the goddess of cavalry. Unfortunately, her origins are lost because no one recorded the mostly oral Gaullish myths and legends. There is a Roman tale that survives about a guy that, fed up with women, decided that a horse would make a better mate and produced Epona. Typical Greek/Roman stuff.

I did find this on the OBOD web site, though:

“Epona is the Patroness of all journeys, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. She is the Goddess of the Land and its seasons, of fertility in all things. …. I feel Her presence beside me keeping me safe, giving me strength for each day. I see Her touch in every new green shoot of the Spring and in every fruit of the Autumn. I hear Her voice in the whispers of the breeze through the trees and in the song of the river.”

So, I think I’ll take it as a sign that I’ll be going on a metaphorical journey (I have no plans to travel physically). We’ll see where it leads 🙂

The week in writing

Continuing as I have so far this month, I aimed to finish my map for Alice in Thunderland by Jan 20th and then leave the project for the rest of the month before returning to it and finishing the last four chapters. I submitted my fourth assignment to Suzy on the 15th, so I had a few days off Reality Bomb.

But things changed mid-week. It was a busy week with appointments, sometimes several on the same day. It was a bit hectic and thank goodness for Phil, who managed to get me supper on the busy days. I didn’t get any work done on the Alice map after Monday. I decided to take it easy for the rest of the month and get back to it in February.

I met with Suzy on the 19th. Again, it was a fruitful meeting. But just as we were getting some momentum, I had to withdraw (because of that work/financial situation I mentioned a couple weeks back). We were at the end of our scheduled meetings, and I don’t have the disposable funds to continue, though I really want to because I’m learning a lot. The accountability is also great. When I have external deadlines to work toward (i.e., someone’s waiting/depending on me to do the work), I tend to get it done.

She’s going to check in with me mid-April to see if a resolution is on the horizon.

On that topic, I received notification on Friday that I was successful in the assessment process and am now part of a qualified pool of candidates. Though my employer won’t be able to take any action until at least April, the way has been cleared. So, I guess the resolution (partial though it may be) to my financial difficulties has come through within ten weeks. Thanks, inverted ten of swords 🙂

On the downside, my application for an OAC grant was not successful. I received that notification Friday morning. Another Sudbury writer was successful, though. All congratulations to her. She deserves it.

I’m really getting the vibe that I should take December and January off. From big projects, anyway. Mapping in preparation for revision, poetry, short fiction—I think these would all be doable, but heavy revisions or drafting may be out of the question, at least for my neurodivergent brain.

Here’s how the week broke down.

I wrote a net 16 words on RB on Sunday, and then left the project to rest.

I added the last two drafted chapters of Alice to the map and started freewriting ideas for the next chapter before the week got to be too much. That, too, is sitting for a bit.

I blogged 1,731 words for the week.

So, total revision 16 words and total writing 1,731 words for the week and a net -606 words in RB and 5,540 words in the blog for the month.

Filling the well

I attended the Spoonie Authors Network Launch on the 15th. It was a lovely reading, and I won a copy of Nothing Without Us, Too 🙂

I had a massage on the 17th and a meeting with my support group on the 19th. This month’s topic was trauma. Both informative and cathartic.

What I’m watching and reading

I didn’t finish any series this week, but I did watch Where the Crawdads Sing (Amazon). So good. Gave me a Grisham movie (at their best) vibe. Another book that’s moving up on my TBR list.

This week, I finished Stephen Fry’s Secrets of the Roaring Twenties (Audible original). It was an interesting historical podcast and, because it’s adjacent to the time period Alice is set in, very informative.

I also read Lori Devoti’s One Soul to Share. A vampire looking for a soul meets a mermaid looking to make a deal with the sea witch Melusine for the same. A straightforward paranormal romance.

And that was the week in this writer’s life.

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter weekly: Jan 8-14, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

Welcome to the next chapter weekly for the second week of 2023.

I must say that coming into this experiment, I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough to fill up a weekly update, but I think I like this new format. What do y’all think? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.

This week, I drew the Ace of Cups and The Salmon.

The ace of cups represents abundance, relationships, and contentment. I was hoping that the abundance might have something to do with my financial situation, but alas, that was not the case. Instead, I received the confirmation that all would be status quo at least until the new fiscal (April 1, 2023) and probably longer.

What I did have an abundance of this week was workdays with minimal meetings. I was able to make progress on a project and that did, indeed make me content. I also made progress on my creative endeavours. More on that, below.

And I was quite content in my relationships, noting several of them in my nightly gratitudes. I try to record three before I go to bed. Sometimes, I record them when I get up the next morning. I haven’t successfully incorporated this new piece into my bedtime ritual.

The salmon of knowledge or wisdom is associated with a young Fionn mac Cumhaill, who inadvertently absorbed the salmon’s knowledge when he burned his thumb while cooking it for the poet Finegas.

Am I becoming wiser? I don’t know. More knowledgeable, certainly. About instructional design, about autism, about my craft. If only I could access that knowledge “on demand” by biting my thumb, like Fionn does 🙂 

The week in writing

My goals were again simple. Seven more chapters of Alice in Thunderland in the map and more work on Reality Bomb’s first three chapters.

I accomplished both, but I’m still experiencing a lot of self-doubt when it comes to revisions for RB. My next assignment is due on the 15th, so the night this post goes live, and at this point, I have no idea if I’ve managed to do a good job. I’ll find out next week, one way or the other.

Here’s how the week broke down.

Again, there was a lot of up and down with respect to RB. I edited down the second chapter by a couple of pages. I think. But it’s still too long and I’m not sure how to shrink it further. Same goes for the third chapter, which is, again three chapters slapped together.

This week, I’ve cut a net 636 words. Not bad. And despite the adding and cutting, I’m now down a net 606 words on the first three chapters overall. We’ll see what Suzy says next week.

My two weekly curations and this update amount to 1,785 words, and my total bloggage for the month so far is 3,807 words.

I meant to mention my new colour coding on the Excel. This year, I’ve decided to give myself a visual of my days off, days of significance, like full and new moons, and appointment days on my spreadsheet. My hope is that it will help me be more realistic with respect to my creative output on any given day.

I got the idea from “colour blocking” my calendar at work. So far, I like it. Visually, if nothing else 🙂

Filling the well

On the 14th, I attended a FOLD webinar called “Unsettling Poems” presented by Liz Howard. It was an interesting session and I think I have some ideas swirling around in my head. I’ll let them percolate for a while, I think.

I also attended a webinar about “Autism and Mental Health” on the 10th presented by Dori Zener, the therapist who set up the autism support group I attend. It’s all part of my learning.

What I’m watching and reading

In the viewing department, Phil and I finished watching the first season of Willow, the series (Disney +). It was a little uneven. The elements didn’t all come together for me. I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but I was hoping for better.

I’ve seen some critique of the series as too grimdark for the original movie, but I don’t think that was the case. I think, rather, that it’s the result of things not being properly woven together, as I mention above. Their attempts to attain the comedy of the original were clearly there, but they didn’t land. I’m not sure if it was the script or the acting, but that’s my opinion.

As for the grimdark content, I read the book that was written as the sequel to Willow, yeeeears ago. It was called Drumheller, and I can’t find it online. Madmartigan and Sorcha were both dead, and Elora Danon was purposefully hidden, as in the series, because a powerful sorcerer wanted to control/enslave her and failing that to kill her. Unfortunately, when her guardians die, Elora is lost, and Willow has to become the Drumheller (a process that almost kills him) to find and protect her before the big bad does his worst. If memory serves, it made the series look like Looney Tunes by comparison. Now that was grimdark.

Then, I watched The Boys: Diabolical (Amazon). Fun shorts that are as bloody and chaotic as the series.

I also watched Swiss Army Man (Amazon). I decided to check it out, because it’s another movie by the Daniels, who were behind Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. I’m kind of glad I didn’t see SAM first. I would have gone into EEAaO with completely different expectations.

It’s as much of a mind fuck as Bunny was. Right up to the end, you’re wondering if the main character is delusional or if any of this is really happening.

Moving on to the week in reading, I read Another Richard Wagamese book: One Native Life. Another balm for the soul, but also, a compassionate look back at the author’s life and what it taught him as he struggled to regain his identity as an Indigenous man.

In audiobooks, I’ve decided to catch up on the podcasts I followed. Catherine Hernandez’s Imminent Disaster was fun. I’m not big into sketch comedy, but it was good.

And that was the week in this writer’s life.

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter weekly: Jan 1-7, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

Greetings, all! Welcome to the revamped next chapter weekly 🙂

I’m going to try something a little different. At the start of each week, I’m going to draw a tarot card and a Celtic oracle card to see if they offer any guidance.

This week, I drew the ten of swords, inverted, and Blodeuwedd.

The ten of swords represents fear of betrayal in relationships or fear of financial ruin. Inverted, it can represent temporary success.

While I don’t think there’s any problem with any of my significant relationships, there has been a little financial insecurity in my life recently. The two-year acting assignment as an instructional designer I achieved in November 2020 came to an end at the end of November 2022. Though I had been successfully deployed to my current division, it was an “at level” deployment, at a step lower in salary. So, I’m doing an instructional designer’s job for a courseware developer’s pay.

I have been working through another assessment process that should get me into a qualified pool from which I could be assigned to a position at my acting (or actual) salary, but as a business analyst. There’s also another possibility that I could have my salary bumped up by other means, or by an assignment to another team in my division.

I’m interpreting the inverted ten of swords to mean that this unfavourable financial situation will be resolved, one way or another, in the near future. It might involve some change, which I’m rarely comfortable with, and perhaps several changes, before all is said and done, however.

Bloddeuwedd represents a claiming of one’s own power, steering your craft, or directing your fate. I’m seeing this divination in terms of my vocation as an author. I’ve been taking steps to improve my craft and those steps will lead to success. The card could also support the resolution of my financial difficulties.

We shall see where these oracles lead.

This week also saw the full wolf moon. I did a little ritual to help rid myself of a bad habit. As the moon wanes to new, I hope to do a little better around my sleep hygiene/routine. Again, we’ll see how things go. I’ll let you know how it’s going in a couple of weeks.

The week in writing

I’m starting off 2023 slow and steady. I took New Years Day off except for posting my next chapter update and year in review. My two goals for the week were to continue mapping out Alice in Thunderland and work on the first three chapters of Reality Bomb.

I’m pleased to report that I’ve added 7 chapters to the Alice map (not recorded in the spreadsheet). This brings me to chapter 16 of 28. This work is in anticipation of a) finishing the last four chapters of the draft and then, after a brief break, b) revising the novella. I’m trying to incorporate some of the lessons I’m learning while working on RB with Suzy.

With regard to RB, the work is going slow. I’m definitely lacking confidence, but I’m finding my way. Made a belated discovery: I can input negative words in the spreadsheet. D’oh! It does give a better idea of my progress, or lack thereof. This week was a lot of back and forth, up and down. I’m trying to cut a bunch of pages out of chapter two (which is three of the previous draft’s chapters smooshed together). It’s challenging but rewarding. I’m definitely feeling that the draft is improving.

Here’s how the week broke down.

Revisions on the first two chapters of RB have resulted in a net gain of 3 words (!) Also, note that I only entered the net gain or loss for the day. There was often a lot more words written, then deleted, or vice versa, on any given day. It’s been weird.

On the blog, I wrote 420 more words on the last monthly next chapter update before posting it, 236 words on tipsday, 218 words on thought Thursday, and 1,150 words on this next chapter weekly for a total of 2,024 words. The total shown on the spreadsheet includes my tipsday and thought Thursday posts for the coming wee, which I prepare and post on Sundays.

Filling the well

I signed up for “Write that Book Already” from The Narrative Project and Sidekick Press from January 2 to 6. Interesting sessions, but three a day, so it was a challenge to keep up.

I also took my mom to another hair appointment and did some minor shopping.

What I’m watching and reading

In the viewing department, I finished watching Dickenson (Apple+). Just a delight.

In another surprise, two more episodes of The Shining Girls appeared on Apple+, completing the series. Very different than the book. Beukes’ novel didn’t include any of the time shifting and changes that the series does. To explain, every time Harper murders one of the other shining girls, Kirby’s world changes. She may not live in the same place, have the same job, or the same relationships with other people in her life. Visually, her hair and clothing style changes as well.

There are other shining girls that are characters in the series that are merely victims in the book. In the series, some of these women take back their power when Kirby kills Harper in the story’s present. She then uses the house to travel back in time and prevent Harper from ever moving in. Ultimately, she saves Dan (who was killed in the series and whose fate was uncertain in the novel), and all the other women harper had killed. Interesting.

While I was in Apple+, I checked out what else there was to watch and got a lovely surprise. They’ve done an adaptation of Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and the Horse. So much the sweet self-care I needed in these still dark days of winter.

I watched Strange World (Disney +), a charming eco-fable wrapped in generational drama about fathers, sons, and legacies. Some things were a bit “on the nose,” but I enjoyed it for what it was, and I really appreciated how Ethan’s having a boyfriend is no big thing, even to his ultra-macho explorer grandfather. Refreshing and light.

Moving on to the week in reading, I started off 2023 by reading Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Yes, another classic I’d never read. I loved it. Dickens really does comment on the ills of his world in multiple respects.

Then, I finished Rachel True’s True Heart Intuitive Tarot. I quite like her take on the tarot and may pick up the physical book and deck she designed.

And that was the first week of 2023 in this writer’s life.

Until tipsday, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter:  December 2022 update and year-end wrap-up

/ Melanie Marttila / 3 Comments

Happy New Year, everyone!

Your monthly PSAs:

All lives cannot matter until Black, Indigenous, and people of colour lives matter.

Continue to observe public health guidelines (washing hands, maintaining physical distance, masking where you can’t, getting your vaccinations—not just covid, but flu, etc.—as recommended). Covid is endemic. It ain’t going nowhere. Take care of yourselves and the people you love.

Russia’s unprovoked war in the Ukraine continues and continues to be deplorable. I stand with the Ukraine!

Reproductive rights are everyone’s fight!

Starting in the New Year, the monthly PSAs will cease. They have become performative, despite my best intentions. Y’all know my views. No need to harp.

The month in writing

First, I decided to let Alice in Thunderland sit until the 5th. Though this year’s NaNoWriMo wasn’t as exhausting as it sometimes can be, I still needed a break. Plus, I had some other writing work to do.

Even when I returned to Alice, though, the words weren’t flowing. I’m trying to listen to my body and brain more and on the 11th, I decided to let Alice sit until the New Year. She’ll still be on my mind, though. I have to think about the best way to end the story, which might involve me rewriting the beginning. Thinking of a circular, or echoing ending.

I had to do some work with Reality Bomb for Suzy, in any case, but I decided to take things easy and not stress out.

I had a stretch of vacation and wanted to focus on planning for the New Year and resting up. The dark time of the year is here, and I wanted to see what it would feel like to actually give myself some hibernation time when my energy reserves are low.

It was nice. I watched a lot of movies (see below) 🙂

Here’s how the month broke down:

The only writing/revision I did on RB this month was for my assignments. It wasn’t tonnes. No goal, but I wrote 9,398 words.

Like I said, I decided to let Alice percolate after the 11th. Between the 5th and the 9th, I wrote 1,008 words. Initially, I had thought Alice might be a full novel and I had committed to continue drafting through December. My goal was therefore fairly steep, and I chose not to change it (this time). So, 1,008 of 17,250 words works out to 6%.

For the first time all year, I didn’t meet or exceed my goal for the blog. That’s because I counted the bulk of my work on last month’s next chapter update towards my NaNo goal. Even including what I’d written of this update up to December 31st did not crack my goal. I wrote 4,644 words of my 5,000-word goal, or 93%.

I received the welcome news of another short story acceptance on the 8th. More on that later in the year.

And I received a lovely gift, just in time for the holidays, two of my poems, “Avalon” and “Blood Flower Moon,” were published in Polar Starlight 7.

And now for the year in review …

The year in writing

At the beginning of the year, I made what I thought were reasonable plans. I wanted to finish next round revisions of Reality Bomb by June (six months should have been doable, but alas), spend the summer focusing on poetry and short fiction, and then prep Maurshka for NaNoWriMo.

Welp, I was still working on RB in October when I signed up with Suzy. I decided to give up bulling my way through the revisions and see what Suzy had to say.

I did work on some poetry and sort fiction in the summer, but the short story I started (just something for myself) petered out and I haven’t thought of a way to proceed with it yet. I also decided that I’d set Marushka aside and prep Alice in Thunderland for NaNoWriMo instead.

With RB on hold, I did move on to work on Alice for NaNoWriMo, but I wasn’t aiming to win. I decided to take things easy and thought that Alice might be a novella, anyway.

And you already know how December worked out.

In terms of publication, it was a good year for me.

It started out with the publication of “The Undine’s Voice” in Polar Borealis 21 (May 2022), followed by the publication of my poem “Pillar” in Polar Borealis 22 (July 2022).

In August, “Torvi, Viking Queen” was published in Pirating Pups, edited by Rhonda Parrish, from Tyche Books.

And, as I mentioned above, I had two poems published in Polar Starlight 7 in December. So, two stories and four poems.

This may not seem like a lot, but it was great for me. In 2021, I had one story and four poems published and in 2020, I had three poems and a reprinted poem published. Slow progress, yes, but progress, nonetheless.

Also, I signed a contract with Latitude 46 for my first solo poetry collection, to be published in April of 2024. That’s not nothing 🙂

Here are the annual stats:

Project

Goal

Actual

Percentage

Reality Bomb

Revise 50,000 words

Revised 79,517 words

159%

Alice in Thunderland

Write 90,000 words

Wrote 29,307 words

33%

Blog

Write 55,000 words

Wrote 67,405 words

123%

Short Fiction

Write 6,000 words

Wrote 2,915 words

49%

 

Revise 10,000 words

Revised 478 words

5%

Poetry

No goal

Wrote 20 new poems

—

As you can see, I undershot the most with respect to the short fiction. I only wrote one new story, revised a couple, and stalled out on the second short story I started.

I’m not counting Alice as an undershot because of the novella thing. I think it will probably come out between 40 and 50k by the time I’ve finished drafting it and revised it.

Here’s another look with a monthly breakdown:

This year, I’m giving myself ten months to revise RB down to my 100k goal length, and then I’ll work on a query and synopsis, and hit the trenches.

I’ll finish Alice by the end of March and revise her by the end of June.

Sometime in the spring, I’ll be working with an editor on my poetry collection. Not sure how long that will take, but I’m scheduling six months.

I’m hoping to write and revise 6,000 words (each) of short fiction this year. We’ll see how that goes.

I’m toying with a creative non-fiction project. Not going to talk about this too much until there’s something to talk about.

And I’ve chosen my NaNo project this year. More on that in the future.

Again, I think the goals I’ve set are reasonable ones, but that always changes as the year progresses.

Filling the well

I have to backpedal a bit to November. I signed up for Tiffany Yates Martin’s Prologues webinar through Jane Friedman and watched the replay. I always learn something from Tiffany’s webinars and she’s a great presenter.

On December 4th, I attended a Revisions workshop with Mary Robinette Kowal. Her approach really speaks to me. I’m learning a lot.

I signed up for another Jane Friedman webinar, this one from Allison K. Williams about writing your second draft.

And I signed up for an Authors Publish webinar about writing layered stories readers will love with Nev March.

I had my second call with Suzy on Dec 7th. Part of my assignment was to work on my protagonist’s “why,” but I wasn’t sure if the why I had established was compelling enough given the why of my antagonist. There’s some massaging to do, but we can make it work.

I received my next assignment, to reframe and reorganize the first 20 pages of my draft given her review of my first chapter. Our next meeting was on the 21st. Again, progress was made. I think I just have to learn to trust myself more. Our next meeting is January 19th.

I attended the in-person holiday get-together of the Sudbury Writers’ Guild on the 17th at Twigg’s. I had a lovely crab salad sandwich and London fog. And some cookies.  

We lowkey celebrated Mom’s 79th birthday on the 20th. Chinese and cake.

Christmas was going to be at my mom’s on Boxing Day this year. Unfortunately, my brother- and sister-in-law got covid and we had to postpone. I’ll leave the decorations up until then, I think, though Phil says he wants to take down the railing garlands while the weather is mild.

Phil went full techie on my desktop, trying to keep things running well for as long as he can. I cannot afford a new computer right now.

I got a long-overdue haircut.

I also got my flu shot and had another meeting with my support group.

What I’m watching and reading

In the viewing department, Phil and I watched Wednesday. And we really enjoyed it. Jenna Ortega does an awesome job of letting us see what a teen Wednesday would be like. Yes, there were some overly complicated story beats.

Then, I watched The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special while putting my Christmas tree together. Silly, fluffy, and kind of dumb, but totally enjoyable for all that 🙂

I watched Spirited (Apple+). A fun take on A Christmas Carol. Old Marley runs a whole spirit division dedicated to reforming curmudgeons every year. The current ghost of Christmas present (Will Farrell) sets his eyes on an “unredeemable.” I won’t spoil the twist 😉 And really, Ryan Reynolds makes anything fun.

I received a holiday surprise 🙂 Fraggle Rock (Apple+) released a holiday special, too! Comfort/nostalgia viewing.

Black Adam (Crave) was next. It was a movie. Dwayne Johnson was fine, but I prefer his comedic roles. And Pierce Brosnan was a good Dr. Fate, but I really didn’t care about the other superhero characters and wasn’t given any reason to.

Then, I watched Wolf Walkers (Apple+). A balm to my pagan half-Irish soul. And beautiful. Just watch it, y’all.

I also watched Glass Onion (Netflix). As brilliant as Knives Out, but totally different. Janelle Monae was spectacular.

I decided to watch Guillermo Del Torro’s Pinocchio (Netflix). A dark and decidedly anti-fascist take on the traditional tale. The ending was bittersweet.

Then, I watched Slumberland (Netflix). A touching tale about grief and the power of dreams.

Phil and I watched the last season of His Dark Materials. Really good. Loved, in fact.

Moving on to the month in reading, I listened to The World We Made by N.K. Jemisin. Living cities versus eldritch horrors, vol. 2. Awesome. Robin Miles is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, and Simon & Schuster does a good job of the production.

Then, I finished Fevered Star, the second in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, by Rebecca Roanhorse. It was good, and I’m eager to read the third book.

I finally read Embers by Richard Wagamese. Brilliant and soulful. Teachings to return to.

I followed that up with another Wagamese book: One Story, One Song. The same as the above.

Then, and I think it was the weirdest read of the year, I read Bunny by Mona Awad. At first, I thought it was magical realism, then the body horror entered into the story, and then I wondered if everything was all in the protagonist’s head. It was a real trip, whatever it was. With thoughtful homage to, and feminist commentary on Alice in Wonderland, Frankenstein, fairy tales (Red Ridinghood, in particular), with a touch of Heathers and The Craft, Bunny was a wild critique (ha!) of MFA programs and the white privilege rampant in the university system.

Though it took me a while, I finished Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Real and the Unreal. There are a lot of stories in this collection, which was originally published in two volumes. A little Orsinia, a little Hainish, some science, and some whimsey. Good, but epic.

Next, I finally grabbed A Dead Djinn in Cairo, by P. Djèlí Clark. The missing piece of the Fatma puzzle! It explains a few things in Master of Djinn that were alluded to, but not fully fleshed out. Very good.

I finished Diana Gabaldon’s Lord John and the Hand of Devils. I didn’t realize how much of a lush Lord John was (!). Entertaining, and again, filled in a few gaps.

My favourite non-fiction read of the month was Chloé Hayden’s Different, not Less. Awesome to read about and autistic girl who received diagnosis and supports before she became an adult.

I didn’t quite meet my 2022 reading challenge. 55 books of my 60-book goal. Close, but no cigar. 92%. Not bad. This year, I’m taking my reading goal down to 40 books. Because I intent to do some close study/rereading this year, I don’t think I’ll be able to read many more.

And that was the month—and the year—in this writer’s life.

Until tipsday, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!