What I did:
1.) I managed to finish prepping for NaNo on time by a hair. Thanks to my writing buddy. My outline is pretty smoothed out, so I have my roadmap for NaNoWriMo! Yays!
2.) Offline life carried some really good things and some not-so-good things. We’ll start with the not-so-good things to get them over with. (I include these because no one’s life is perfect and I don’t want to be one of those people who acts like their life is peaches and cream when, yes, they are still a human with problems like every other human. Rant over.) I got let go from Queen’s Pantry because the boss said they were downsizing, which sucked a lot and my twelve-year-old tabby cat passed away when I was out of town, so yes I have struggled this month, but I also had a lot really great things happen this month.
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| I miss you, buddy. |
First of all I got hired as a social media manager for Splickey Havok Magazine! The same magazine I got published in early this year! I’m in charge of all of the content posting on their Facebook and Twitter.
Second of all I got to go to my cousin Josh’s wedding. His venue was absolutely gorgeous. I had a great time spending time with cousins, enjoying the beautiful mountain weather, and consuming lots of good wedding food.
Then I finished the month with a bang and go to go down to Florida to visit some friends! We went to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween party, consumed sushi, judged a cosplay contest, and played lots of video games! Yesterdays post will let you know about all of the details of those happenings.
3.) I finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling and A Time to Rise by Nadine Brandes!
4.) I didn’t do too much drawing this month, but I managed to finish a shoulder-up of one of my baddies named Mordraug from Starbloods.
5.) Lots of articles up this month! I had a guest post about editing over at Olivia K Fisher’s blog, this month’s Fandom of the Month Club Unboxing at the Fangirl Initiative, and Standing Out in a Pack of Wolves and Understanding Mental Illness: My Journey with Effie Trinket on Geekdom House.
The Geeky Department:
1.) I’ve been bingewatching Downton Abbey this month with no shame. I want to finally finish the series!
2.) I marathoned the first five games of the King’s Quest series with friends in Florida!
3.) I did a photoshoot at Disney World in my Ino Yamanaka cosplay! It was super fun!
4.) I brainstormed for my next cosplay, which I’m hoping to reveal officially come January! I’m working with an Etsy seller to get a part of it custom made for me. So psyched!
5.) I judged a cosplay contest! I feel super official now in my cosplaying skill. XD
What I Learned:
1.) You Have to Accept that You Can’t Be Okay 100% of the Time – I’ve mentioned briefly that I struggle with Depression. The details about that is a post for another day, but this year it’s been an especially big struggle since my car accident. It got really bad two weeks ago so much I didn’t feel like eating and getting up was painful. It’s really hard to accept that I just can’t be okay all of the time. I want to be, but it puts pressure on me that ends up making me feel worse. It’s a journey, but I’m learning that yes, this is a serious problem, yes, it gives me some limitations, and yes, it’s okay that I have down days and I have to take steps to manage myself–and all of that is okay.
2.) You Don’t Have to Feel Sorry for Every Little Thing – It’s part of women’s habit and an introvert’s habit to practically apologize for everything almost down to breathing. I don’t think that’s exactly right. I just had it when I was apologizing for not cleaning the dishes when I was having a busy day and just couldn’t get to them, and I said, “You know what, I’m not saying sorry anymore. I had a busy a day. I couldn’t do it. There’s other things in life more important that making sure a fork is in the dishwasher.” It was kinda freeing and I’m trying to start that as a habit of not saying sorry so much.
3.) Taiyaki is Delicious – Taiyaki is a fish-shaped pancake with different fillings originating in Japan (No they don’t taste anything like fish. They’re sweet). I’d seen this in anime and I’ve always wanted to try them. While in Florida, I went to a taiyaki and ice cream place with my friends and we got to eat some! They’re so delicious. I got traditional red bean filling and Bavarian cream. If you ever get a chance to try them, they’re so worth it!
What I’m Going to Do:
1.) I’m going to win NaNoWriMo gloriously and finally get my high fantasy novel Starbloods rewritten.
2.) Outside life is job hunting (Ug why? #adultlife), eating until I pop unashamedly on Thanksgiving food, and wearing boots in cool weather while enjoying the bright fall colors.
3.) I’m going to finish Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Beyond the Gateway by Bryan Davis then start Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross.
4.) I’m hoping to draw at least one of my characters from my Starbloods series.
5.) I have lots more posts on the way for Geekdom House, Geeks Under Grace, and the Fangirl Initiative!
Last Month on Stori Tori’s Blog …
This month’s books:
A Book Review of A Time to Rise by Nadine Brandes
A Book Review A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
This month’s writing tips:
Why a Writer Should Travel: Quell Your Fears and Embrace Inspiration
So Your Character Has Synesthesia … Featuring Liz @ Out of Coffee Out of Mind
So Your Character is From China … Featuring Alyssa @ The Devil Orders Takeout & Shania Grace Yu Siu
So Your Character is From Slovakia … Featuring Simona @ Girl with Cloudy Head
So Your Character Has These Various Injuries …
Writing Lessons from Movies: The Jungle Book (1967) versus The Jungle Book (2016)
My stories stuff:
Beautiful Books 2016 ~ Introduce Your Novel: Starbloods
Six-Question Character Challenge: The Villains of Starbloods
Interview with Silanoc (Starbloods)!
Coming Soon to Stori Tori’s Blog …
November 8 – A Book Review of Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas – So enjoyed this book! I can’t wait to share my thoughts with you guys.
November 11 – Questions for Vanmoriel (Starbloods)! – I’m calling for questions for the most vile villain I’ve ever created. *gulp*
November 12 – So Your is From Belgium … Featuring Bieke @ Quite the Novel Idea – Have you thought of writing a character from Belgium? Do you need some inspiration for a story world? This is a post to check out!
November 15 – 9 Non-Character-Related Obstacles to Make Your Characters’ Lives Harder with Avatar: The Last Airbender – Need some methods to get your characters moving in the plot? These could help!
November 18 – Beautiful Books – I’m not sure what the questions have in store, but I’m excited to find out!
November 19 – Writing Lessons from Movies: the Incredibles – Love this film and I rewatched it recently, so I just had to do a writing lessons post on it.
November 22 – A Book Review of Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling – FINALLY got around to reading this book!
November 25 – Interview with Vanmoriel (Starbloods) – The interview for my most vile villain I’ve ever invented. *bigger gulp*
November 26 – What Being an Editor for A Website Has Taught Me – I’ve been an editor for Geeks Under Grace for two years now, so I thought it would be cool to do a post about how this has grown me.
November 29 – Monthly Summary: November 2016 – One of these, but for November. I’m moving Monthly Summaries to the last saturday or the month or the last Tuesday of the month depending on which day is closer to the end of the month.
Elsewhere …
The Science of Storytelling: Guest Post by Olivia Hofer @ The Story Scientist
Escaping the Shame Storm by Tracey Dyck @ Adventure Awaits
The Truth about Fairytales by Emily @ The Incandescent Life
Over all, October was a good month. I loved spending time with people I care about so much and experiencing things I hadn’t before. Here’s a to a good November!