While writing this, I'm at an indoor playground for my daughter's birthday party. A parent's hell, if you ask me, what with all the noise and the kids and the noise... But she's happy, so I'm happy, and in the end, that's what counts. Looking back at January, it's safe to say it's been quite the month. I made a decision that will impact my future, and that of my family, in quite a significant way, but it's one that hopefully, ultimately, will be better for all of us.
What am I currently working on?
Unfortunately (fortunately?), I'm still working on my 4th book, but I am finally making progress and getting towards the end of the story. I just passed the 100.000 words, quite the milestone if you ask me, and pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. If I can keep this pace, I might be able to finish somewhere in February. To be honest, I am looking forward to it. Not because I don't enjoy writing it, but because I've been working on it for so long that I want it to be finished and get it out in the world.
What am I watching?
I'm one of those people who's watching a million things at once, mostly because like my reading, I watch something based on my mood. Aside from the Blacklist, which my husband and I watch together, we also started on 'The last of us', and I've started watching 'This is us' and 'Vox Machina'.
The Last of Us was one of those games that I watched my husband play because of its graphics and the storyline. To be fair, I mostly watched the cinematics in between, so I don't know the full story, but I enjoyed it well enough to agree to watch it with my husband. The idea that we could turn into zombies because of a funghus... terrifying. Thankfully, a friend of mine, a microbiologist, assured me we're quite okay, although he did go into detail as to what this funghus is capable of in the real world. The inside of a mushroom makes me queasy. Imagine what the sight of these things does!
One of my reading buddies recommended 'This is Us'. Sometimes, I just feel like something that isn't fast-paced and action-packed, but rather something cozy and wholesome. This is Us ticks all those boxes. It's a slice-of-life kind of story, and it's what I watch when I want my brain to be able to turn off.
And then there is Vox Machina. I fell in love with this story when my cousin and a friend both recommended the graphic novel. As a former LARPer and some sort of DnDer, I figured I had to give it a try. And boy, did it draw me in. The idea that this is based on actual DnD sessions... amazing! The characters are fun, sarcastic, badass, and some actually have a decent amount of emotions to make them relatable in some way. The graphic novel was great. But the show... wow! It's action-packed, and there's a lot of gore... but, more please! (which reminds me I still have to watch this week's episodes).
What am I reading?
At the start of January, I had my first ever real life bookclub meeting. And at the end of January, I had the second one. We discussed 'The Atlas Six' by Olivie Blake, and wow, did it blow me away. It's not a fast book; it's wordy, actually, and it sometimes made me wonder if I understood the English language at all. It's also not very plot-driven; character-driven mostly, but there's a certain intrigue to it that kept me flipping page after page. Which is why one of the books that I'm currently reading is:
It starts about a month after the events of 'The Atlas Six'. I'm not as far in as I would have liked to be, but life's been a bit hectic the past week, so I didn't have a lot of time to read. I am curious to find out how certain events from book 1 will unfold in this one.
For the book club, we decided to read 'The Lies of Locke Lamora'. I think I've had this book on my shelves for at least two years, and I picked it up a couple of times to read it (because I heard such great stories), but I somehow couldn't quite get into it. To be fair, I still don't. But here's the thing. On the one side, I find it massively intriguing, and maybe it's just the layout and format that puts me off. It's been a while since I read proper epic fantasy. Maybe it's because so far, it's been a lot of worldbuilding and character introductions and not much else. I'll let you know at the end of February what I thought.
I had the first book of this series, Three Mages and a Margarita, on my kindle for a while, and I decided to start on it last weekend. I finished it the same night. It was a light read, fun, witty; exactly what I needed in between the heavy stuff. So, I decided to get book 2 on my kindle as well. Something tells me I'll finish this one before the other two...
What am I playing?
So, I've never been much of a gamer, especially not a console gamer despite the wish to be one (but not having the patience to learn the controls properly), so I used to watch my husband play all the fantastic games. One I loved watching was 'Horizon Zero Dawn'. There's something about that game that drew me in, but I never tried playing it on the PS5 because I know what I'm like when I cannot figure out the controls. So when I got my new laptop, I also got 'Horizon Zero Dawn'. Well, let me tell you, I got lost throughout January (possibly a reason why I still haven't finished writing my book), but the storyline people, wow. I loved every part of it. The gameplay, the characters, the quests, the possibilities. Mind you, I played story mode so it wasn't that hard, but that's probably why I enjoyed it so much. I, a non-gamer could enjoy a game without the stress of dying all the time because I'm just not that good at it. I already finished the main storyline, and now I am focusing on my writing again, but I will get back to grinding when I have some time again.
Up next on the Blog
March News & Updates
Thank you
For all your support. It means a lot to me.
Love,
Kara