February provided a much needed break for me. I’ve been so stressed about finances of late that I feel like I’ve been going crazy. Having two weeks where I didn’t have to worry about bills was a much-needed hiatus.
What I did:
1.) I got Red Hood edited (again) and resubmitted to the publisher who wanted it for all for one thing. *crosses fingers* I also did some world building for Starbloods.
2.) I visited Cassia in Canada! We had an awesome time doing many wintery things! I gave a full report last Friday.
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| Skiing! |
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| Bannock! |
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| Ice Castle! |
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| Sushi!!! |
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| Buffalo Bacon! |
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| Fantasy photoshoot! |
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| Ice skating! |
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| Gibby the Snowman! |
3.) I finished reading City of Bones by Cassandra Clare! Which I enjoyed despite the fact that for some reason someone had the inclination to correct all of the “grammar errors” throughout the entire book. #LibraryBookProblems
4.) I finished a big shippy drawing of Matt and Ingrid. ^ ^
5.) Over on Geeks Under Grace, I reviewed the Space Between Us. On Geekdom House I did articles about The Hunchback of Notre Dame and A Monster Calls.
The Geeky Department:
1.) I finally finished Your Lie in April! I really enjoyed it. Kousei’s character development is great.
2.) I discovered Sonic X was actually my first anime ever. I used to watch it on Saturday mornings. I’m rewatching it for old times’ sake.
What I Learned:
1.) Snow is Really Enchanting – It has so many different natures. It can be dry or wet or seem like sand. It can be dangerous and beautiful. I love snow.
2.) I Really Like Ukrainian Food – While up at Cassia’s house I had borscht and perogies, both of which I really enjoyed. You Ukrainians know how to do food.
3.) Grief Hurts – The most suckish part of this month is my grandpa passed away suddenly. I’m still dealing with this and it’s making my depression act up. I only met him once, but he felt more involved in my life via online than my other grandpas. Part of me wishes it was a bad dream and doesn’t want to believe it’s real. Part of me just doesn’t want to talk about it, because no one can seem to do anything to help. It’s been tough … Prayers would be appreciated.
4.) Baths are Really Calming – So I’ve decided to start taking baths every Friday night. Why? Cause they really help me get into a zen. Before I started doing this I hadn’t taken a real bath in about … five years at least.
I’ve been getting bath goodies from LUSH and making my own pristine environments in the bathroom. I like I took the Guardian of the Forest Bath Bomb then burned Honeysuckle Bouquet, Leaves, and French Market candles and it made my bathroom feel like an enchanted forest. Then another night I did the Frozen Bath Bomb with Vanilla Snowflake, Flannel, and Canadian Rockies candles and it felt like a winter wonderland. Next time I plan to use my Intergalactic Bath Bomb with my Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey, Mjolnir, and Keep Calm and Carry On candles. Then I put my laptop on the toilet, sit in the bath, and watch movies or TV with no distractions in a serene environment.
When I watch stuff on my laptop normally I’m working on something, but in the bath it makes me focus and just relax and enjoy myself. I have a really hard time relaxing. I feel like every moment must be spent doing something productive, so this forces me to find my zen and it’s really been a help lately.
What I’m Going to Do:
1.) I’m going to work on some more worldbuilding development for Starbloods then work on rewriting it, since I plan to finish it during April Camp NaNo!
2.) More job hunting. Yippee.
3.) I want to finish the Lost Girl on Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill (if I haven’t already by the time this goes up) and Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. Also I want to at least start King’s Blood by Jill Williamson.
4.) I want to finished another shippy drawing I’m working on and do a shoulder up of Hayli from Subsapien.
5.) I’m planning on reviewing Logan and Beauty and the Beast. SO PUMPED! And I should have two more articles up on Geekdom House!
Last Month on Stori Tori’s Blog …
So Your Character is Blind … Featuring Cheyenne @ Cheyenne Raphael Writes
How Movie Trailers Can Help You Write Back Cover Copies
A Book Review of The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
Freestyle Writing Challenge
Writing Lessons from Movies: Doctor Strange
Beautiful People ~ Couples Edition: Caleb & Pro
Let’s Talk About the Punks: Four Ages of Technology
So Your Character is From Finland … Featuring Leona @ Leona’s Blog of Shadows
A Book Review of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Coming Soon to Stori Tori’s Blog …
March 3 – Questions for Ioto (Starbloods)! – A call for questions for one of my villains from Starbloods.
March 4 – Villain Necrologies & Debacles: Disney Animation Edition – I’m super excited about this post. I’ve gone through tons of Disney animated films to analyze the different ways that their villains have been defeated to gather statistics.
March 7 – A Book Review of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo – I really loved this book and I can’t wait to share my review with you!
March 10 – Beautiful People – I don’t know what Cait and Sky have in store, but I’m looking forward to it!
March 11 – Writing Lessons from Anime: Patema Inverted – I randomly found this mindblowing anime film on Amazon Prime and I’m so geeking out about it! It has so many great writing lessons I can’t wait to share with you!
March 14 – So Your Character is from Papua New Guinea …. Featuring Kara Swanson – I knew next to nothing about this post until I found Kara and this post contains tons of plot bunnies for an island society!
March 17 – So Your Character is From Ireland … Featuring A.I. Jackson @ Mouthful of Ink – What better post to have on Saint Patrick’s Day than to have one about Ireland?
March 18 – A Book Review of The Lost Girl on Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill – This has to be my favorite book that Stephanie has written!
March 21 – So Your Character is from the Midwest United States … Featuring Elliana Reickard – I’ve written a post about living in the South. Now Eliana has volunteered to write one about the Midwest!
March 24 – Interview with Ioto (Starbloods) – Ioto’s interview goes up on this day!
March 25 – How I Write Movie Reviews – I had a reader request I write a post about this, so why not?
March 28 – A Book Review of Firebird by Kathy Tyers – This wasn’t my favorite of books, but it was an interesting read.
March 31 – Monthly Summary – Like this but for March.
Elsewhere …
Never Give Up by Imogen Elvis @ Gossiping Dragons – I really needed this post right now.
This month was a fun one. I’m looking forward to Camp NaNo prep next month!