I decided to skim over last year’s yearly summary and it really sunk in how different 2017 has been. Where 2016 was a rollercoaster of good and bad, 2017 was a year of recovery. I feel like I’m in the best place I’ve been financially and physically in many years.
What I did:
1.) This Month: I didn’t do very much writing this month, besides a few articles and blog posts, because I like to take a break from novel writing in December and January.
This Year: I edited, rewrote, edited again, and sent Starbloods out for beta feedback! Then I drafted Silhouette in NaNoWriMo!
2.) This Month: First of all, we had the biggest and earliest snow in winter that we’ve had in at least thirty years. We got eight to ten inches of snow and for Georgia, that’s a lot of snow. It also stuck around for a week, which is also unusual because it usually melts in two days. I was so elated to see the world turned into a winter wonderland around Christmastime.
I also traveled down to Florida to visit two of my good friends Casey and Amy. We had a blast playing video games, going to Holiday Matsuri, and just spending good time together. You can check out my full report to see details.
Christmas Eve Eve I went down to Callaway Gardens for the first time in fifteen years (Yes I’m old) to see the Fantasy in Lights with friends! While I was killing time for them to arrive I got to see the Butterfly House and a Birds of Prey show!
Then I got to see the Fantasy in Lights! It was so pretty!
Then there’s Christmas of course! Christmas Eve we did our tradition of going to church then getting pizza and looking at Christmas lights! This year we had roasted chesnuts and wassail. Yum yum!
This year my cousin told us to go to a particular neighborhood with no explanation and I’m so glad we did! Check out these lights and this couple even dressed up as Santa and Mrs. Claus!
Christmas day we had egg bake for breakfast and then we opened presents. I got a Fitbit Charge 2 and Asus Flipbook among them! O_O Totally did not expect to get a tech upgrade this year. I reaalllly needed a new laptop. My poor Lenovo is seven years old and feeling it. XD
I’m also super excited about my Bodychan model. It’s a super posable drawing model that I can put in just about any position I could think of! So I can draw some more complicated poses! I’m hoping to get the male model as well in the near future. Ship poses cometh!
After a Christmas dinner made by yours truly, we saw the Greatest Showman and oh my gosh was it amazing! This is one of the best musicals I’ve seen in forever! I’m listening to the music nonstop!
We finished the day puzzling and eating chestnuts and drinking wassails. ^ ^
The day after Christmas we went to Red Top Mountain to go hiking. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I’m definitely going to have to go back!
This Year: Where do I start? I experienced so much in 2017. First of all, in April, I finally got a job that makes the money I want and with hours flexible enough that I can travel and keep up my writing commitments. That was a huge blessing. Second, I really focused on my mental and physical health this year. I’ve felt better than I have in a very long time.
 |
| On a work trip in Tennessee. |
Third, I traveled to several places I’ve always wanted to go and those include Alabama, San Francisco, CA, Reno, Nevada, and St. Augustine, FL. I’ve now finally seen the Pacific Ocean, experienced a desert, and visited the oldest town in the USA.
 |
| Because me and my friends are weird. XD |
I’ve also tasted a lot of different foods I’ve wanted to try including, buffalo bacon, bannock, hot pot, borscht, elk, Weiner schnitzel, pelmeni, blintzes, dango, samosas, Thai milk tea, moon cakes, rolled ice cream, and Tawainese sno.
3.) This Month: I finished reading Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo and Red by Ted Dekker!
This Year: I’ve read 23 books, which I know is a sorry number, but most of them were very long haha.
4.) This Month: I drew an udra which is one of the aliens from Silhouette.
This Year: I drew every month but November in which I did some sculpting which still counts as art. I really tried to push myself out of my comfort zone this year with my drawings to do more positions that I’m not familiar with like sitting, kneeling, and laying down.
5.) This Month: I wrote a report on Holiday Matsuri and participated in a collaboration piece about Christmas anime episodes on Geeks Under Grace and I participated in a collaboration article about the best shows of 2017!
This Year: I wrote ten articles on Geeks Under Grace, I write twenty-two articles on Geekdom House, and at least ten other articles on various sites including Faith and Fantasy Alliance and the Fangirl Initiative.
The Geeky Department:
1.) This Month: I attended Holiday Matsuri where I had fun taking picks of holiday cosplays, shopping, and meeting J. Michael Tatum!
This Year: I attended four conventions this year, which is the most I’ve ever done in one year!
2.) This Month: I got to cosplay as Ymir from Attack on Titan and I added a wreath to give her a Christmas touch!
This Year: I’ve cosplayed as Ino Yamanaka from Naruto, Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a survey corps member, Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games, and I’ve added Fem King Graham of Daventry from King’s Quest and Ymir from Attack on Titan to my cosplay repertoire!
3.) This Month: I got to meet J. Michael Tatum who was one of my bucket list actors!
This Year: I had the pleasure meeting so many actors on my bucket list this year including Karen Gillan, William Shatner, Nathan Fillion, Brina Palencia, Gaten Matarazzo, Matt Smith, Mike McFarland, and Paige O’Hara!
4.) This Month: I’ve been mostly watching the new season of Kekkai Sensen and RWBY, though I’ve also been watching Spice and Wolf while waiting for new episodes of the former haha.
I also go to see Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, The Greatest Showman, and Murder on the Orient Express in theaters!
This Year: I actually didn’t see as many movies in theaters as I’d like, but I did see what I listed above and also Thor: Ragnarok, Logan, Beauty and the Beast, A Monster Calls, the Space Between Us, and The Circle. I also saw Kubo and the Two Strings on Netflix and Patema Inverted on Amazon Prime.
5.) This Month: I binge-played a lot of old Nancy Drew games, my favorite being the Secret at the Water’s Edge. It’s so creepy. XD
This Year: I played a lot of video games, including all of my old DS games, Kings Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity which I’ve been trying to get to work for years, and I finally finished playing Epic Mickey!
What I’m Going to Do/Some New Years Resolutions:
1.) Next Month: I’ll begin edits for Silhouette. It’s going to be such a mess. I’m nervous. XD
Next Year: I’m hoping to get Silhouette ready for pitching at Realm Makers in the summer, go through some rejection critique for Red Hood and tweak it some more, and other than that I’m honestly not sure yet. XD
2.) Next Month: I’ll be visiting my grandmother in North Carolina and working. Other than that I don’t know. XD
Next Year: I want to attend MegaCon Orlando, Realm Makers, and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party again. I also want to take a New York/New Jersey trip to visit family.
3.) Next Month: I’d like to read White by Ted Dekker and Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo.
Next Year: On my reading list for next year are at least these titles (not including the ones I listed before and let’s see if I can actually get through them all XD) …
Green by Ted Dekker
Germ by Robert Liparulo
Never to Live by Just B. Jordan
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
The Mortality Doctrine by James Dashner
And Then There Were None by Agitha Christie
Watcher in the Woods by Robert Liparulo
The Evaporation of Sofi Snow by Mary Weber
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide by Tony DiTerlizzi
Paper Towns by John Green
4.) Next Month: I hope to do more drawing. I’ve been feeling a little uninspired so I’m not sure what drawing I want to to do. XD
Next Year: I’m hoping to keep up doing at least a drawing a month!
5.) Next Month: I think I have at least one article going up on Geekdom House. Not totally sure. XD
Next Year: I hoping to continue posting on Geekdom House and Geeks Under Grace!
Last Month on Stori Tori’s Blog …
A Book Review of Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
Monthly Summary: November 2017
So Your Character is From Austria … Featuring Becca @ The Punk Theory, Anna @ My Bookish Dream, & Kat @ Life and Other Disasters
#MyFirstPostRevisited Blog Hop
Villain Necrologies and Debacles: Christmas Edition
So Your Character is From Norway … Featuring Tuva @ Tuva Tovslid
Lessons and Good Habits for Writing (and Living) Well
Writing Lessons from Movies: The Muppet Christmas Carol
So Your Character is From Sweden … Featuring Katrin Berndt & Matilda Sjöholm
Holiday Matsuri 2017 + Winter Florida Trip Report
So Your Character is … Project:
Last year this time I had interviews up from 13 different countries. Now the blog has 49! That’s roughly a quarter of the world’s countries! Wuuuuut? But I’m sorely lacking interviews of Africans, so if you are African or have lived in Africa for over a year please contact me! I’ll also be hosting a huge celebration of the fiftieth interview going up in February. Don’t miss it!
Countries:
Handicaps/Phenomenon:
Coming Soon to Stori Tori’s Blog …
I will be on hiatus for the majority of January, but I will be back on the 19th!
January 19 – The Handwriting Challenge – Sara Letourneau tagged me for this and now you all will get a peek of my chicken scratch.
January 20 – The Importance of Food in Stories – Food can add so much to worldbuilding and being a foodie myself I feel like it’s only right to dedicate a whole post to food.
January 23 – So Your Character is From Malaysia … – I have a pair of lovely ladies one of which I had the honor of meeting at Realm Makers will be joining us to talk about what it’s like to live in Malaysia!
 |
| She brought us Asian snacks therefore she’s my friend. |
January 26 – A Book Review Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard – My first book review of the year!
January 27 – Writing Lessons from Movies: The Hunchback of Notre Dame – This has become one of my favorite Disney movies and this post will be me raving all about why this movie is awesome.
January 30 – So Your Character is From the United Arab Emirates ... A whole post about this lovely country!
Overall, 2017 was a very good year. I’m hoping 2018 will be just as amazing. See you in January and Happy New Years!