The Next Chapter

The next chapter weekly: April 2-8, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

Welcome to week 14, and, sadly, the last next chapter weekly for a while (see below). I’ve enjoyed this experiment and think I’ll return to it when I have more time or more spoons or what have you.

An image of The Moon tarot card.

From the tarot this week, I drew The Moon, which represents dreams, mystery, deception, illusion, fears, and the unknown. Something is not what it seems. So, am I delusional to think I’ll be able to devote more time to my writing and make significant progress toward my goals? I don’t know.

I’d like to hang my hat on the dreams alone, because dreams (the ones you have when you’re asleep) are cool, and aspirations (the dreams you have when you’re conscious) are a motivating force.

An image of The Mound of Wonders card from the Shaman's Pack.

From the Shaman’s pack I drew The Mound of Wonders, which represents the empowerment of earth. So, a faery mound. There’s another tale from the Mabinogion about when Pwyll met Rhiannon—you guessed it—at a faery mound. This card seems to be more about elemental power rather than mythic significance. And that’s fine because I love me some elemental magic. Earth is a good place to start, with grounding and steadfast intention.

This week also saw the Pink full moon in Libra on the 6th. That was the night the graupel (I’ve been calling it gropel—yeesh) started, and it was overcast. She’s been out the nights since and has been glorious. I formulated my full moon release and did a guided meditation.

The week in writing

Just blogging again.

I wrote 1,954 words for the week, and 2,535 words for April so far.

A screenshot of an Excel sheet showing writing progress of 2,535 words for April 1 to 8, 2023.

Last weekend, Pulp Literature did the cover reveal for issue 38, and—my name’s on the cover! First time ever! Eeeee! And the cover is gorgeous, am I right?

An image of the cover of Pulp Literature 38, spring 2023.

Early in the week, I emailed my poetry editor, Tanis MacDonald, and work will begin on my poetry collection, verra soon.

I got my first Canada Council Grant application submitted! I have no idea how any of these grants will work out. Will wait and see and report back when I have something to report.

I’ve given some thought to what I’m going to do with blogging and social media now that work on my poetry manuscript will be starting and my work with Suzy will be resuming. Rather than a complete hiatus, I’m thinking of something more strategic.

I’ll be giving up curation for the foreseeable and moving these next chapter updates to monthly ones again. So, no weekly tarot draws or other paganish stuff. I’ll still do that for myself, but I won’t be sharing it.

As I mentioned off the top, I’ll probably return to the weekly format at some point, but something else has got to give before that happens. Phil is mostly recovered now and has resumed most of the household responsibilities. This frees up some time, but I’m still working full time, and I only have so much vacation.

Something Phil’s accident and recovery has taught me is that I can’t do it all.

Curation isn’t a burden, per se, but it does take up a good chunk of time that I could be using to write or revise, or really, do anything creative. And there are others out there who are doing a more comprehensive job, like Elizabeth Spann Craig with her Twitterific links.

I also remember how much I enjoy my curation breaks for NaNoWriMo. Not having to do curation has actually made it possible for me to do NaNoWriMo in past years, in any capacity.

I’m going to use the break to rework my website. I have to update some pictures and messaging, redo the header to reflect my more recent publications. I have some decisions to make, as well. The site might become more static, especially if I turn my next chapter updates into a newsletter.

I won’t be as active on Twitter. Not that I was very active before. Other than my blog, the two main places you’ll find me will be on Facebook (just my personal account—I don’t intend to make an author page) and Instagram, where I post all my pictures. I may try doing more on Insta, but not right now.

Again, all these activities cost time and energy, and I only have so much of those, less as each year passes. If anything, I’m my autistic traits are becoming more prominent as I age, not less.

Filling the well

On Tuesday, I attended another TWUC Ontario Region Open Mic. Heard some poetry and some short fiction. It was nice to sit back and enjoy the work of other writers.

On Wednesday, the Sudbury Writers’ Guild Poetry Inner Circle brought in the lovely Tanis MacDonald (yes, my poetry editor) for a brief poetry workshop. Useful tools were shared. I’m sure I’ll be using some of them in the coming months 🙂

I also took Torvi for her grooming last Sunday, and Phil to his next physio appointment on Monday. He’s now starting strength training and his traumatized muscles are sore.

What I’m watching and reading

Phil and I finished watching the second season of Shadow and Bone. Neither of us enjoyed it as much as the first. Again, combining two book series that were never intended to happen at the same time means that each episode is packed with so many things happening, the show seems to hurtle toward its conclusion in a frenzy. And now it looks like they’re adding in the King of Scars duology as well. They’ve also had to make significant departures from the books and move events around. It’s really its own thing now and can’t be compared to the books that were its inspiration. It’s not bad, but I’m nervous about what future seasons will look like.

I watched the end of the first season of the new Quantum Leap. I like it. Ben Song is another kind, gentle soul who just wants to help everyone. I think the season finale ended the way it did in case it’s not renewed. We don’t know who’s coming back. So, they could move in either direction, or even bring Scott Bakula back for a limited run. They’ve made it very clear (repeatedly) that Sam never returned. Maybe part of Ben Song’s plan was to make it possible for Sam to stop leaping. I’ll watch the next season. If it’s renewed.

In reading, I finished Guy Gavriel Kay’s All the Seas of the World. It’s a sequel to A Brightness Long Ago and features many of the same characters. What can I say? Kay’s another author I’m completely unobjective about. I’ll read everything he writes, and I’ll love it.

I also finished reading K.M. Weiland’s latest writing craft book, Writing Archetypal Character Arcs. I’ve posted my review. Unsurprisingly, I loved it. This is a reference every writer should have on their desk. In print.

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

Until next tipsday (which will be the last for a while), be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

A hand holds a book with mystical energy floating up from it. The next chapter. A month in the writerly life. melaniemarttila.ca

The next chapter weekly: March 26-April 1, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s lucky week 13, finishing off March and ending with April Fool’s Day. Which I don’t observe. I’ve never enjoyed practical jokes. Now that I know I’m autistic, this isn’t surprising.

From the tarot, I drew the Hanged Man, which represents ordeal, introspection, fate, acceptance, momento mori, stoicism, and stagnation. Well, I’ve certainly undergone an ordeal, but I’m on the other side of it, emerging from the overwhelm of work and household responsibilities. I have accepted it, but I haven’t been particularly stoic about it. I’m certainly not stagnating. So, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. Not too sure what it means. More changes coming?

From the Shaman’s pack, I drew the Mother, who is Modron (literally Mother). Once again, from the tale of Culhwch and Olwen and the search for Mabon (the child of Modron). This card represents conception. When contemplating new projects, she can provide wise and loving advice. Well, there’s a lot of contemplation happening, and new projects are on the horizon.

The week in writing

Once again, just blogging. And grant applications (which I’m not tracking).

I wrote 1,306 words for the week and 7,084 words for March, total. That’s 109% of my goal. I wrote 581 words on April 1st, essentially this update. And again, the week’s visual tracking is broken into two parts.

I submitted my application for the Access Copyright Foundation’s Professional Development Grant on the 29th! Two down. Two to go (one due in the coming week and one in May).

Filling the well

I finished out the Perfect your Process Summit on Sunday and Monday. It’s usually a good variety of presenters.

I took Phil to his appointment with Dr. Vokey on Friday. The bone is healed! All that’s left is the soft tissue damage, which always take a long time. Phil’s resuming most of his former responsibilities around the house, but he can’t lift heave things yet, so laundry, shopping, etc. are still my responsibility.

What I’m watching and reading

I finished watching RRR. It took me three days with the run-time of 3 hrs 5 minutes. It was an epic tale. A young girl named Malli is abducted by the governor’s wife, and her village’s protector, Bheem, goes to Deli to rescue her. While there, he helps a man named Ram rescue a boy and the two become friends. Bheem is unaware that Ram is the police officer assigned to find and stop him from returning Malli to her village.

That’s just the set up. There are Bollywood numbers, romance, bromance, and tragedy. The fight scenes are over-the-top. Wild animals as distraction! Ram on Bheem’s shoulders, fighting as one! Ram dressed as Arjuna! The two men taking down an army of special forces and then destroying an entire compound!

So. Much. FUN!!

I read Annalee Newitz’s The Future of Another Timeline. A timely (sorry, not sorry) novel about an alternate world in which abortion was never made legal and reproductive rights are severely restricted. In the future, women called Queens have their hands amputated so they can focus on procreation.

But in this alternate reality, there are time machines that were discovered in the Earth. A whole new field of study, chronogeology opens up, and the protagonist wants to edit the past to make a better world. Compelling.

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: March 19-25, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s week 12 already?! Holy cow! Spring has sprung and I’m feeling good 🙂

CREATOR: gd-jpeg v1.0 (using IJG JPEG v62), quality = 90

From the tarot this week, I drew the eight of cups, which represents abandonment, withdrawal, and escapism. It’s kind of a negative card, but I’m thinking of it in a positive way. Specifically, this is about my purposeful and temporary abandonment of my writing while Phil recovers.

My creativity will out in weird ways, though. I’m working on grant applications and still playing around with my presentation for the SF Canada & Canadian Authors webinar.

From the Shaman’s pack, I drew The Inworld, which is the Third Circle, or Anwwn, the underworld. If you remember, I drew the Circle of Nine, or the Second Circle last week, and Arawn, the Lord of the Underworld the week before. It seems to be a thematic sequence. The Inworld represents accessing the wisdom of the ancestors.

This is interesting, because the third grant I’m applying for will be for a new project which will involve research into Finnish pre-Christian spirituality and history. Maybe my Finnish ancestors will have some wisdom for me.

The week also saw the spring equinox on Monday. I lit up my altar to welcome spring.

On Tuesday, it was the new moon, and I took some time to set my intentions for the next lunar cycle.

The week in writing

Once again, it’s just blogging. I’m not tracking the grant applications or the presentation.

I blogged 1,824 words for the week and 6,359 words for the month to date.

Work on the grant applications is going slow. I think I’m just intimidated. But … the CSFFA grant application is sent, for better or worse. One down. Two to go!

The presentation has taken a back seat while I focus on grants.

Another piece of excellent news: I was accepted into the SFWA as an associate member! Whee!

Thinking of something radical: a blogging and social media sabbatical while I work on revisions for my poetry collection and on Reality Bomb. It might mean several months (like five or six) incommunicado, but I think it’s what I have to do if I really want to get some work done.

Will keep you apprised as things develop.

Filling the well

This week, I registered for a Tiffany Yates Martin webinar through Jane Friedman on mastering point of view. I watched the replay. Tiffany is an amazing instructor and I always learn a lot from her.

I also signed up for an Authors Publish webinar with Book Publicist Isabella Nugent on setting yourself up for success. Again, I watched the replay.

Finally, I signed up for Daniel David Wallace event about perfecting your process. It runs from the 24th to the 27th, so I’ll be mentioning it again next week.

I took the week off work (vacation planned, prior to Phil’s accident) so I could rest and observe both the equinox and the new moon as my pagan heart desires.

I also wanted to accomplish a couple of things, just for me, this week. I wanted to gather all our tax info and send it to our accountant (done!). And I wanted to spring clean my office (also done!). It’s been a while and I decided I wanted to reorganize my bookshelves, cull some outdated filing, and generally tidy up the space. It’s been good for me, getting ready to dive back into writing in a more serious way when Phil’s shoulder is healed.

I had a blissful massage on Tuesday. My parasympathetic nervous system activated, and I got into “rest and digest” mode 🙂 And yes, that means my stomach was growling like ten.

Phil’s also feeling recovered enough that he’s cooking again! Physio is going well, and he’s found a position to sleep in that allows him to get a full night’s rest. He still can’t lift or push anything, though, so I’m still doing the groceries (with him, though, for the most part), laundry, clearing the steps of snow, taking the dog out (she pulls), etc., but progress is being made 🙂

On Wednesday, he went for a walk. On Thursday, he went for a drive. There’s still some awkwardness associated with that activity. He can’t reach with his left arm to turn on the headlights or the turn signal, but he can reach over with his right to flip the switches. He has an appointment with the doctor next Friday (March 31st), so we’ll find out more then.

What I’m watching and reading

I didn’t finish watching any series or watch any movies this week. Well, I started watching RRR, but the three hour and five minute run time meant I couldn’t finish it in a single sitting.

I read Ada Hoffman’s The Outside. I’ve had Ada’s work on my radar for a while because she’s another #actuallyautistic author. Her novel features autistic characters in a world that, while not built for them, willingly makes accommodations for them, and accepts them as part of society. There are still misunderstandings, but it’s a better world than the one we have.

The story’s good, too. Humanity has colonized the galaxy, but AI has become sentient, and something called the Morlock War has Ais installed as gods with cyborg angels doing their bidding. Outside the galaxy, the titular Outside, is heretical, and the god Nemesis has chosen to bring all heretics to justice.

In this milieu, Yasira Shien, a highly intelligent autistic, has completed her doctorate and created a revolutionary reactor that promises to provide for all the energy needs of a new space station, the Pride of Jai, which orbits her homeworld. But something goes wrong, and the reactor sets off some Outside cascade, which consumes the Pride of Jai and 100 of its crew. Yasira is now a heretic and at the mercy of Nemesis and her angels. If she’ll help them track down her mentor, Dr. Evianna Talirr, an even worse heretic, she might be shown mercy.

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: March 12-18, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s week 11! Spring is just around the corner, and it really feels like it. More mild days of melting snowbanks and mixed precipitation that’s more rain than snow. We may not see the snow plough again this year. Crossing fingers, knocking on wood, and all that jazz.

Onto the esoterica!

From the tarot, I drew The Lovers. The Lovers represents relationship, choice, perpetual bond, cooperation, love versus infatuation, and trust. This very much where my head is at these days. I’ve settled into a kind of new normal, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Phil as he continues to heal.

With regard to that, there’s good news and bad news. Thanks to an online search, Phil’s finally found a comfortable way to sleep in the bed that supports his arm and shoulder. So long, La-Z-Boy! He’s also been helping some with meals and even coming in for hugs (!) I’m gentle. The exercises from physio are helping, as well. He’s got a new set to add to what he’s already doing.

The bad news? Those same hospital web sites advised that it could be up to 18 MONTHS for him to fully heal, and even then, he might not have full range of motion. We’re thinking that the 18 months is for the soft tissue damage associated with the break, though, rather than the break itself.

I’m sure he’ll be nominally functional by mid-May. If not earlier.

And here’s a retcon. What I’ve been calling the Celtic oracle is actually the Shaman’s Pack. Oops. This week, I pulled the Circle of Nine. The Circle of Nine represents the second circle. It’s a veilish place where the mundane world yields a portal to elsewhere. The key word is experience.

Sorry about the lighting ….

Do I have enough experience to cross over and surrender to the other world? I don’t know, but it’s nice to have the opportunity presented, even if I ultimately decide to decline. Yaknow, due to life stuff.

The week in writing

Again, it was just blogging for the week. I did a little work on my presentation, but I’m not tracking that.

I blogged 1,875 words for the week and 4,535 words for the month to date.

My early-bird application for Your Personal Odyssey was rejected again. Though I’m still in the running for the remaining spots, I’m not hopeful. Once again, they’ve been inundated with applications. It’s their most popular program yet, I think.

But … my applicant profile to the Canada Council for the Arts, which I submitted on Sunday, was approved! I’ll be focusing for the remainder of the month on submitting a few grant applications.

The first will be to the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA AKA the Aurora Awards). They have a professional development grant, and the application seems fairly straightforward. That deadline is March 31st. The next will be to the Access Copyright Foundation also for a professional development grant (due April 1st) and the third (and more intimidating, TBH) will be an Explore and Create grant from the CCA, due April 5th. It will be my first attempt at all three, so I don’t anticipate success, but you can’t win if you don’t play, and the experience will be worthwhile. I’ll have documentation I can use for future applications, even if I have to change out the specific details.

Next month, I’ll be shifting gears for the next Ontario Arts Council Northern Arts Grant, due May 2nd.

Maybe this is the new world I’m entering? The next phase of professional writing life?

I’ve been thinking that if my webinar goes well, of starting up a podcast about neurodivergent creatives (which may be the focus for a future grant application).

Yeah … maybe this is a new world I’m entering. Frightening, yet exciting.

Filling the well

I had no writerly events scheduled this week but did watch the replay of Dan Blank’s Find Your Ideal Audience, which I signed up for last Friday. I try to keep at least one toe in the social media/marketing/promotion pool 🙂

I had a dentist’s appointment and had a very thorough cleaning of my teeth.

And I took Phil to his physio appointment on Friday. Progress is being made. The physiotherapist and Phil are very pleased.

What I’m watching and reading

I finished watching The Flash, season 8 (Netflix). This poor show. It long ago jumped the shark (which is sad because the actors are good) and nearly every season treads familiar ground. Season 9 episodes are already populating. Fortunately, there are only 13. The completionist in me wants to see this thing through. If you want a thorough critique, I’ll refer you to Friendly Space Ninja’s analysis of the series 🙂

I also watched the last episode of season 1 of The Last of Us (HBO). I haven’t played the game and honestly don’t want to. The series was great, though. I love Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascale as Joel. There’s a lot of tragedy and a lot of violence, but there’s also a lot of pathos. Loved.

Then, I finished watching the third and last (ever—the series has been cancelled) season of Pennyworth (HBO/network). As bloody and wacky as ever, but the series ends on a weird cliffhanger. Alfie’s about to say “I do” to Sandra after the main cast and a group of PWEs (read enhanced—this is DC) have escaped a London gone mad on milk laced with Lullaby (a psychoactive drug with murderous side effects) when a mushroom cloud erupts in the distance. The Waynes have one child at this point. A girl. Where’s Bruce? And I don’t remember Batman having a sister ….

Next, Phil and I finished watching the second and last season of Carnival Row (Amazon). It was clear they changed tack partway through the season, eliminating the political thread in a bloody massacre. Vignette can’t decide what she wants, a life with the Ravens, with Philo, or with Tourmeline. Philo almost gets himself killed every other episode. And our runaway lovebirds are quickly corralled by a revolutionary group called the New Dawn, which has a nefarious plan that fizzles in the final episode when the main agitator kills herself rather than be taken into custody. It was all very rushed. They probably could have used a few more seasons to tell the various stories properly, but they did manage to tie things up in the end. More or less ….

Finally, I watch Three Thousand Years of Longing (Amazon). Based on A.S. Byatt’s short story collection, The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye, the movie focuses on a narratologist, Alithea Binnie, who releases a djinn from a bottle and resists the temptation to make her wishes because every wish tale is a cautionary one. Beautiful, lush, and emotionally devastating. It’s too bad it didn’t do better in NA theatres. Loved!

In books, I finished Simon Sinek’s Start with Why, a long-ago recommendation from Gabriela Pereira.  Good, but repetitive. The principles can be applied to both my day job and my writing business, as well as the writing itself.

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: March 5-11, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Welcome to week ten of 2023! Yes, I’m going to keep counting them. I hope you’re enjoying these #actuallyautistic, paganish author-in-progress check-ins.

This week, I drew The World card from the tarot. This card represents realization, triumph, closure, attainment, reward, and fulfillment. Seems an odd card to be pulling now, when I’m consciously uncoupling from my writing to focus on other things.

Maybe that’s the realization. That this pause/retreat/whatever is necessary, and that I will return with renewed fervour when the time comes. I can always hope.

In the Celtic oracle, I pulled The Lord of the Underworld. That’s Arawn. The card represents unpredictability, the cyclical ceding of power, and transformation.

Again, from the Mabinogion, Pwyll enters into an agreement with Arawn to exchange places for a year and fight Arawn’s enemy Hafgan (lord of another underworld kingdom). This battle can be thematically tied to the battle between the Holly and Oak kings at the solstices when they each cede to the other protection of the world for the coming six months.

Arawn, with his antlers and red-eared hounds, is also associated with the Wild Hunt and Herne the Hunter/Cerunos.

So, again, if I’m not misinterpreting, I’m ceding my power (writing) for a season (the 8-12 weeks it will take Phil to heal), and it will be transformative. Gonna try to channel that wild power and see where it takes me.

This week also saw the full worm moon, or the moon of the crusted snow (and boy, is it ever crusted!) in Virgo. Still struggling with sleep hygiene, though I’m generally getting to be by midnight, and I’ve managed 11:30, which is my goal bedtime once or twice. Yay, me! I added to that continued goal the gentle release of my guilt for not writing.

The week in writing

While the only tracked writing I did was on this blog, I did get a couple of projects organized.

I started working on my presentation for SF Canada and Canadian Authors on being The #ActuallyAutistic Author. It won’t be scheduled until sometime in June or July, so I have time. Not much progress yet, but the PowerPoint is started. I have a rough outline that I’m working from. This is something I can do in dribs and drabs.

I also grabbed a bunch of old blog posts and combined them in one document. I’ve been mulling a creative non-fiction/hybrid project (including some poetry) re-envisioning my creative life through the lens of my autism diagnosis. So far, it’s only been copy and paste (copypasta) work, but soon, I might shape it into something a little more robust.

I blogged 1,543 words for the week, and 2,660 words for the month so far.

Filling the well

TWUC held its monthly Ontario open mic night on Tuesday. I didn’t read, but I enjoyed the work of those who did. I may read at a future TWUC open mic. I need to start getting out there again. My debut poetry collection is just over a year from publication (April 2024!).

On Wednesday, SF Canada held its special general meeting (again). This time, we got quorum, and a fifth member of the board was acclaimed. W00t!

I signed up for a Susan DeFreitas webinar, “The Heart of Story,” through Jane Friedman and watched the replay. Excellent, as ever.

On Saturday, I attended a webinar on grant writing with Lindsay Zier-Vogel sponsored by The FOLD Academy. It was awesome. I’m going to be diving into the grant app trenches again shortly.

What I’m watching and reading

My brain is a sieve. Forgot that I’d watched The Shape of Water (Amazon) Saturday last week. It was lovely, every inch of it. I’ve been wanting to watch it for years.

This week, I watched a documentary. Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me (Apple +). She’s lived a fascinating life. Beiber, leukemia (twice), and mental health struggles. It was inspiring to see that she addressed her issues with connection and good works.

I also finished the first season of The Winchesters (network). An interesting look at the origins of John and Mary Winchester and their hunting lives. Love Carlos and Lathika. The big bad of this alternate reality of the Supernatural universe was overpowered, though, and the finale was a little Dean x machina 🙂 but it was enjoyable.

I listened to a fun paranormal romance, Witches Get Stuff Done by Molly Harper (Audible Originals). Light and tropey and a little explicit (for those who might object to such content). The audiobook is a relaxing listen, but it’s not well written …. For example, “I heard the squeak as the ghost silently loosened the screws on the chandelier.” Or the guy hit in the head by said chandelier, blood pooling as he bleeds out, having the wherewithal to speak coherently and throw an important piece of paper into a lit fireplace. I mean, have you ever tried tossing a bit of paper, even folded up, from a prone position? Physics will frustrate the effort. Despite that, it was about the speed of my brain this week, and I 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: Feb 26-March 4, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

Greetings, folks! Welcome to March and week nine of 2023 🙂

In the tarot, I drew the six of swords. This card represents journeys, experiences, forgiveness, and optimism. Well, I’m certainly on a journey and hoping for a better place to land in the future.

In the Celtic oracle, I drew the Son. This card represents Mabon. You may remember a few weeks ago, when I drew the Eagle, that Culhwch was tasked with finding Mabon and consulted the eagle on his journey.

Mabon is the eternal child and may mean recapturing my youthful joy and playfulness. It’s something I’ve said I want to do. Can I actually do it?

Something I’ve neglected to mention in past NCW posts was that I’ve been reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (finally). Healing and reconnecting with the artist within, who is a child, plays a big role in TAW.

The week in writing

Once again, it was a “catch as catch can” kind of week. And all I managed this week was blogging.

So, 1,550 words for the week, 6,815 total for February, and 1,117 for March.

I’m settling into the fact that this enforced break could be a good thing for me and my projects. I probably need some time and distance before I dive back in. Yes, I managed to cut a chunk of words a couple days last week, but if I keep exploiting opportunities like this, I may be courting burnout.

It’s one thing to write (or revise) at every opportunity when your life is otherwise uncomplicated. It’s another when you have full time job and caregiver responsibilities at home. I’m going to give myself a break and, hopefully dive back in with energy when the time comes.

It’s not that I’m not thinking about my projects or making notes or dreaming of other things I’d like to do. So, part of me is still very much dwelling in writerland 🙂

Filling the well

While I had nothing scheduled for the week, I finally watched the TWUC tax webinar replay. It will be more useful to me when I have a book (next year … it’s coming …).

And then, on a whim, I signed up for a webinar on writing Native American characters.

Other than that, I was focused on balancing work, caregiving, and self-care. My mother-in-law delivered about a week’s worth of meals from Smith’s. Phil and I enjoyed the fajitas Saturday evening.

I’ve decided that I’m going to stop being stubborn and proud and accept the help people are offering. It will make life easier in the coming weeks.

What I’m watching and reading

I watched the first season of Mayfair Witches (AMC). Honestly, I’m disappointed.

I missed the latest iteration of Interview with a Vampire and was kind of kicking myself, because I’d heard good things about it from various sources. Unfortunately, AMC now has its own streaming service and I’m not subscribing to anything else, nor am I prepared to binge anything (at this point) during a free trial period. So, I didn’t want to miss this next entry into the Immortal Universe storytelling world.

The story wasn’t bad, but Rowan always felt off to me. I’m not sure whether it was the actress or the script, but I just didn’t care about her. On reflection, it may be that the book had a lot of key interiority that the writers couldn’t figure out how to show in a visual format. There’s only so much you can put into dialogue and flashback and otherworldly visions. The rest has to be carried by the actress. Rowan looked continually frightened. Until she wasn’t. And then, I got whiplash from the uncharacteristic changes in the last couple of episodes.

In reading, I finished reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. And yes, I am doing morning pages … just not necessarily in the morning. It depends on the day and what I have to do. I find that I’m already doing or have done a lot of what she recommends.

I also finished Jordan Ifueko’s Raybearer. A girl, raised in isolation, is sent to become one of the crown prince’s council of eleven. But she is bound by her mother’s wish to kill the prince when he anoints her as one of his chosen. Early on, I’ll admit to being irritated with Tarisai, but the story held me long enough for the character to mature and for the story events to carry me through.

Finally, I read Charles Dickens’ The Signalman. It’s a short story (novelette?) and I’ve read it before. I just didn’t remember until I started reading it again 🙂 A solid ghost story about a spectral visitor who foretells train-related deaths.

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 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!