GOODBYE AND GOOD RIDDANCE TO 2020!!! This Year of Suck is over tomorrow! THANK GOD! I’m really praying that 2021 is a better year, though it seems like any year will be better than this crap show. XD
What I Did
This month: I finished upĀ In Darkest Starlight and did some planning for the next draft which I’ll start in January!
This year: I did a major rewrite for the Rose in the Wolf to send to publishers and I drafted In Darkest Starlight!
This month: I actually had a pretty good month. I spent time with friends and family seeing lights, enjoying a Christmas tea, and opening presents with kids, and eating yummy Christmas foods. <3 I also had Japanese BBQ this month for the first time which was a bucket list item!
This year: Like I said before 70% of my year was pretty dang crappy, but I did have some blessed highlights before and after this year went to pot. Back in February, I had my first boyfriend (who is now my ex), I went to my first Chinese New Year Festival, I went to Universal and Disney and had definitely the best time of the year being with some of my dearest friends, I got an adorable kitten named Momo, and I got to go to Yellowstone National Park.
This month: I finished reading the House of Hades by Rick Riordan and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl!
This year: I read 28 books this year! Which is a lot for me. I had a lot more time to read this year than usual. XD
My Top Favorites:
The Ballad of Songbirds and SnakesĀ by Suzanne Collins
MistbornĀ by Brandon Sanderson
The Mark of AthenaĀ by Rick Riordan
Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young
The Queen’s Resistance by Rebecca Ross
This month: I finished the last of my clay projects for the year which I can now reveal because all my friends have them!
This year:Ā
Tibarn (Fire Emblem Heroes) – This was my most complex sculpture. I really pushed myself with the wings and using a plastic rod to simulate flying!
Seteth (Fire Emblem Four Houses) – I love how this little guy turned out! He was my first foray into facial hair haha!
Sam Temple (Gone by Michael Grant) – This one is close to my heart because his books helped me get through this insane year. I love his glowing “Sammy Sun.”
Martha Kwan (OG Character) – I totally surprised my friend with this one! She got so much art commissioned of her characters that I had to make a figure out of one!
Rufus Shinra (Final Fantasy VII) – Since I just finished this game this year, it was appropriate to make this fella for my friend for Christmas!
The Geeky Department
This month: SO. MUCH. SCREAMING ABOUT THE MANDALORIAN! GREEN LIGHTSABERS! AHHHHHHHHHHH!
This year: My Top Favorite Shows of the Year – I just don’t watch a ton of American television (I know weirdo), but these are the four shows I watched this year. XD
1.) The Mandalorian – A little slow at first but it finished with a bang and I LOVED IT!
2.) The Witcher – I didn’t like the level of content, but Geralt is such an awesome character. <3
3.) The Umbrella Academy – I finally got around to watching this and surprisingly Klaus is my fav. I didn’t think a gay drug addict dude who can see the dead would win my heart, but he did and his character arc was just amazing.
4.) Call the Midwife – This is one of my British shows I really like. Women in the sixties being midwives is just super interesting to me. XD And Sister Monica Joan makes the show. Just sayin’.
This month: For some reason, I didn’t even know the second season of Fruits Basket came out until searching for the show to show my friend, and low and behold I found it! AND GASP I can’t wait for the next season! Poor abused babies. <3
This year: My Top Favorite Anime of the Year –
1.) The Promised Neverland – I found this show because I found the soundtrack on Spotify and man I can’t wait for season 2!!!
2.) My Hero Academia – I watched this so much earlier in the year that it’s hard to remember everything, but this show is so great. <3
3.) Fruits Basket – This anime is just so sweet and wholesome and also makes me cry like a baby. I love it so much. <3
4.) Cells at Work! – This anime is the cutest way to learn human molecular biology!
This month: So earlier in the month I tried Hollow Knight and the gameplay was so terrible I couldn’t keep going with it. Neat world-building. Bad mechanics. Now I’m playing The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and it came out 1992 and the mechanics are way better thanĀ Hollow Knight. XD
This year: My Top Favorite Video Games of the Year –
1.) Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Well, I have to say this has been my favorite game of the year since I have been playing it every day since it came out on March 20th. It’s helped me get through this insane year. I’ve been having something to look forward to every day and I could interact with my friends remotely with online play. It’s just an adorable relaxing game. <3
2.) Ori and the Will of the Wisps – This was just a beautiful game and another one that helped me get through the crap show that was March. It’s a great conclusion to the Ori duology and just a wonderful play.
3.) Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition – This was a really spontaneous buy because it was on sale, I texted some friends and asked them if it was good, then I bought it and loved it.
4.) Final Fantasy VII Remake – I didn’t play the original version of this game but I’m so glad I got to play this remake. It’s so good!
5.) Middle Earth: Shadow of War – I love the expansion on Middle Earth lore!
6.) The Witcher III: Wild Hunt – Geralt is just the best. I just wish there was less content. -_-
7.) Final Fantasy X – Great twist, but man the gameplay was rough toward the end. XD
8.) Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – This was a fun game that filled in a gap for the Breath of the Wild storyline!
This month: I sawĀ Hillbilly ElegyĀ which I’ll talk about below!
This year: My Top Favorite Movies of the Year –
1.) Alita: Battle Angel – This came out in 2019, but I saw it earlier this year and it’s by far the best anime movie made.
2.) The Matrix Trilogy – I saw the first movie as a teenager and this year I decided to binge the rest on Netflix and the first movie is solid but the other two just kinda go off the rails.
3.) Hillbilly Elegy – A really great look into modern white poverty. As someone who grew up in an area with a lot of white poverty in rural Georgia, I can attest to the accuracy of this move.
4.) Sonic the Hedgehog – It’s cute. It’s funny. It’s Sonic. XD
What I’m Going to Do
Next Month:
Well, my plan is to start the next draft of In Darkest Starlight. I want to finish it by the end of March, so Iām hoping to get in 25,000-30,000 in January, so a good chunk of words, but not crazy like NaNo. XD
Next Year:
Like I said before I want to finish the second draft by March. Then Iām going to read over the book and do some larger edits then send to betas to read in the spring. Then in the summer Iāll do more precise edits and the fall send it back to betas and do one more round of edits and then Iād like to get it back to my agent by November. Thatās the plan. Weāll see how I do. XD
Next month:
I donāt really have any plans besides financially recovering from Christmas. XD
Next Year:
I feel like Iām not the only one when I say Iām a little nervous about making plans for next year. I donāt want to be devastatingly disappointed if they donāt happen. I want to go to Florida for MegaCon. I want my friends to visit in the spring and Summer and I want to visit Canada and attend Realm Makers. But I donāt know if any of this is going to happen. Iām hoping and praying that 2021 will be much more normal, but I just donāt know. The only guaranteed plans I have is that Iām going into school in June and July.
Next Month: Iām going to finish The Blood of Olympus and hopefully start Dune by Frank Herbert and Whirlwind by Robert Liparulo.
Next Year: My reading goal is 25 books again and some books in that TBRlist are:
- Snow and Rose by Emily Winfield Martin
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
- Howlās Moving Castle by Dianna Wynn Jones
- The Wolf in the Wale by Jordanna Max Brodsky
- Circe by Madeline Miller
- The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
- The Kingdom of Back by Marie Liu
Next Month: I may make a gift for a friend for a late birthday present but Iām not sure yet. XD
Next Year: Sometime early next year Iām going to start an Etsy shop for my clay figures! Itās going to be called Neverfound Figures and Iām going to sell custom order figurines, jewelry, and baubles. Are you a big fan of a book series that doesnāt have any merchandise? Do you want to see your original character as a an adorable chibi-style figurine? Do you want to wear a necklace with a logo from your favorite obscure show? Then check out my shop! Iāll post updates about it soon and Iām planning on making an Instagram page for it. š
Last Month on Wanderer’s Pen …
Book Review and Writing Lessons: Reclaiming Shilo Snow by Mary Weber
So Your Character is Jewish ā¦ Featuring Dara @ notinjersey & Sami Frankel
Writing Lessons from Anime: Cells at Work!
Know the Novel 2020 ā In Darkest Starlight
Coming soon to Wanderer’s Pen …
January 19th – So your Character is From Palestine … Featuring Nafisah Hawa – Despite it being a controversial topic, Iāve been really curious about the Palestinian prospective for some time, so Iām happy to have Nafisah to come on the blog!
January 22nd – Book Review and Writing Lessons: The Drawing of Three by Stephen King – I almost donāt know why I wasted my time writing this review. I just am not a fan of Stephen Kingās writing. XD
January 26th – So Your character is From Iraq … Featuring RJ Zurgany – RJ is going to join us on the blog to talk about her life in Iraq. Itās a tough post to read because of the honesty of living in a war torn country but you donāt want to miss it.
January 29th – Monthly Wanderings: January 2021 – Like this but in a non-sucky year.
Looking back at last yearās End of the Year post Iām like, āOh you sweet summer child.ā Little did you know how lonely youād be in just three months. Little did you know that you would feel extremely depressed for the majority of the year. Little did you know the world would turn upside down. I donāt know what 2021 is going to be. I donāt know what Iām going to think back to the Tori of December 31st, 2020 by this time next year. Am I going to look at 2021 with fondness or disappointment? One thing I know for sure is this year Iām going to set goals I know I can control. I can control how many words I write, how I do in school, and how I conduct myself as a person around others. Everything else is up to God to decide, which is tough for me to admit since I like to have everything just perfect. He has to take control because I canāt control if the borders open or if I ever get my second job back. And sometimes itās a relief to just say, āGod, you do it because I sure canāt.ā So no matter what happens in 2021 remember that God is in control. Happy New Year, you guys.
