Monthly Review

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IT IS THE END OF FEBRUARY! That's crazy. That also means it's time for my monthly review, so here we go!

Most of the good things have happened in the past week. I wrote about 1400 more words in Divided Princess since last Wednesday. I'm really moving on that, and I'm excited. I think I've also figured out a piece of the reason for the plot that's been missing, so fleshing that out will be fun. I might actually do a brainstorming session on that.

That said, my church had their Black History Month program last Saturday, which included an exhibition, so I had my first author table!





It was so exciting. All but 2 books were sold; I donated one to a free library outside of the church; and someone may buy the other Sunday. I definitely kept my name tag and ripped the one on the wall off when I left. I have to buy more business cards! I'm so happy. I created two recipes from the story, so I passed those out as well. I'm in the process of getting the key ingredients so I can actually make them myself. My sister gave me ground deer meat, and she's ordering goat's milk for me. That's as close to elk and sheep's milk as I can get.

Health-wise, I'm fat, haha (only to me, I know), but my pulmonary function test went well this past Monday. My last PET scan showed I was responding well to chemo, so things are looking on the up and up! My hair is getting a little thin in the front, so we'll see if I have to shave my head. I wear wigs sometimes anyway, so if so, I'm ready; not emotionally, but provisionally anyway. They gave me a new medicine to combat nausea because the original one wasn't working. Big difference in how I feel afterwards now. I did a lot more than I usually do the days after treatment, so that's really good. Chemotherapy has come a long way from even when my pop-pop was sick 20 years ago. If anyone of you gets sick with a specific cancer, I recommend going to a place like Fox Chase, which is where I'm going. I have a doctor who specializes in Hodgkin's lymphoma, and that makes all the difference than what my local hospitals have.

Work is going well, too. We have a few job duty shifts to ease the load of our Admin II; and I don't mind a couple more tasks. We're also interviewing, and I'll be on my first interview panel! Fortunately, the questions are already laid out. I'll probably feel as nervous as the interviewees. Wish my luck! haha

I started Door Dashing this week to make a few extra dollars on days I'm free and feeling well. Hopefully that helps ease some of the costs I have. Last year I tried transcription work, which is okay if you have the time, and I just don't, not the kind that transcription takes up anyway. You spend half the time just looking for audio with good sound quality, and you don't get paid for that! The money I did make certainly came in handy, though. So if you do want to try it, Rev.com is the place to go.

(All this free advertising. *shaking my head*)

I hope you had a great February. If you participate in Lent, which starts today, I hope you get something spiritually fulfilling out of this season. I will see you all in MARCH.

February Writing Update


This will be a short post. February is moving much more quickly that January, I believe. It's already the 3rd Wednesday of the month, which means I share a writing update. As of yesterday, I have successfully done the following:


  • written 1326 words in Divided Princess
  • written 460 words in my asexual romance WIP

Winning!

I'm glad the brain juices are flowing again, and hopefully once my treatments are done, I'll eventually get back to full gear. I'm halfway there, and I feel like this experience will turn up in a story, too. I would just like to be far away from it if it does.

One of the things I'm trying to work out for DP is the meat of the plot. I know what's happening and partially why, but I need to figure out the underlying why that brings it all together. I have A and Z. I just need the rest of the letters to fall in line.

Welp, that's all for this week! What are you working on?

Wednesday Words: N.K. Jemisin's Dreamblood Duology


Happy Wednesday!

We are almost halfway through February, and that means it's time for another installment of Wednesday Words, where I share with you what I am reading.

So, I was planning to read N.K. Jemisin's Far Sector this week, but when I opened my Kindle, I realized I had bought the second comic and not the first, so I will get that Friday. My error gives me a chance to catch up on two books of hers I haven't read yet: The Killing Moon, and The Shadowed Sun in The Dreamblood Duology.


I think I read a page or two of The Killing Moon; I have a sample on my Kindle. Also, I absolutely love Nora's writing, so I'm ashamed to not have read this one yet! Because I have a collection of the two books, instead of sharing lines, I will provide the premise for both and hope the second doesn't spoil the first for me. Eesh. 

THE CITY BURNED BENEATH THE DREAMING MOON

In the ancient city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law. Upon its rooftops and among the shadows of its cobbled streets wait the Gatherers - the keepers of this peace. Priests of the dream-goddess, their duty is to harvest the magic of the sleeping mind and use it to heal, soothe...and kill those judged corrupt.

But when a conspiracy blooms within Gujaareh's great temple, the Gatherer Ehiru must question everything he knows. Someone, or something, is murdering innocent dreamers in the goddess's name, and Ehiru must now protect the woman he was sent to kill - or watch the city be devoured by war and forbidden magic

---


(THE SHADOWED SUN)

Gujaareh, the city of dreams, suffers under the imperial rule of the Kisuati Protectorate. A city where the only law was peace now knows violence and oppression. A mysterious and deadly plague now haunts the citizens of Gujaareh, dooming the infected to die screaming in their sleep. Someone must show them the way.

Ooh, these sound like they'll be dark! I'm here for it.

What are you reading this week? If you haven't already, in honor of Black History Month, please pick up a book by a black author, past or present. I have one out, if you're interested. *wink*

Insecure Writer's Support Group


It's really the first Wednesday in February already! That means it's time for another installment of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Visit him and the main IWSG Website to join us in the fun.

The optional question for this month is: Has a single photo or work of art ever inspired a story? What was it and did you finish it?

I haven't had a photo or work of art inspire a whole story, but I have used art as inspiration for characters, monsters, etc. Most prominent is the design of the iron giants in Fractured Princess, which I modeled after Umberto Boccioni's "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space."


My version isn't as scary as Boccioni's, but I meant for it to be. D'ah well.

What about you all?