Oh, and anyone who gets the movie reference can claim a free ebook, if they want one! (don’t comment if you know it, email me so everyone can play, ‘kay?)
[contains links to YouTube and other sites. Can’t guarantee that they’re totally spoiler free but I do my best]
Barath-mae
Movies/TV – Haven’t watched much this month. I’ve been continuing my Malec obsession with Shadowhunters. I still have 10 or so episodes left to watch #saveshadowhunters! (I’m late to the party but it’s worth a shot). Also, I’ve cracked on with catching up with Supernatural. I’ve not seen anything passed S10 Ep5 so if I’m going to be able to watch the last few eps live, I need to hurry. Because obviously I had to start from the beginning. I’ve made it to the end of S6 so I’m doing okay—after I wept my way through the finale of S5, of course.
Reading – I’ve been shockingly bad this month. No published books as such, but a buttload of fanfic. Can def recommend Set Me In Motion by lemonoclefox. The girl can write like nobody’s business so don’t be afraid to check it out. You don’t need to know the fandom to appreciate the story.
Music – Again, I sucked a bit here too. One of my ASD issues is listening/watching the same things repeatedly and avoiding new stuff. Thank gawd for Spotify. While listening to the Wild Alee (Delux Edition) album by Talos for the eight millionth time (it’s so perfect), the algorithm chose a couple of songs to play afterward and I discovered a song by Billie Marten, which I liked! Also one by Hollow Coves. So, I’m going to be diligent and give their stuff a proper listen to in Feb.
Art – Futzing about on Pinterest I came across an artist, Efrain Malo, whose pencil work is effing beautiful. I definitely want to draw like him when I grow up. Check out his Instagram here.
Out and About – Well, the Word Dragon and I took a short trip to Eastbourne at the start of the month, which was marvelous. Mostly we were there for the food but we got to catch up with some friends and have a bit of a breather. Otherwise, our most exotic excursions were to the rec (recreation ground) and to the seafront, which are basically slightly longer walks than we normally do on a weekday. They felt sort of special though as the Word Dragon has just not been up to traveling so far under her own steam for almost a year. In fact, we hadn’t been to the beach since April so she was super excited to play on the pebbles even though she overdid it a bit and spent the following day hobbling about when she wasn’t under a blanket. Bodes well for the summer though!
Learning – I’ve been watching PiXimperfect on YouTube with my breakfast every day. Might seem weird but I make my own book covers and figured it would be sensible to improve my skills. It’s a really good channel and Unmesh is excellent at explain the technicalities in a way that really stays in my head. Although I’ve started dreaming about him saying, “and now we going to apply a curves adjustment layer…” so maybe I should cut back. Worth checking out though if you’re that way inclined.
Barath-sec
Word-count – I think the technical term is ‘pitiful’. To be fair, I did have a lot of editing to do and quite a few side projects to clear up but still 20,805 isn’t great. I’ve written more in a week before. I have high hopes for Feb though…if only because I have a deadline fast approaching.
Adventures in Writing – After some catastrophic technical issues, I did finally manage to get The Legacy published. Not sure if anyone’s noticed it’s out yet but… I think it’s okay. I’ve had some super sweet reviews so that always makes me feel a bit better about everything. I also started writing 72 seasons again with the aim of getting that wrapped up this year. It’s still exclusive to newsletter subscribers but I’m doing a delayed fanfic version for my fandom subscribers too just because sometimes I need to flit between the two modes of writing to keep my momentum going. And no, I’m not telling you where you can find that. Subscribe to the newsletter if you want to read as we go along!
Art – One of my main goals for 2020 is to draw six days a week for an hour and get a medium size picture done in three sessions or a large one completed in a week. I only started last week but so far so good. I can’t post the pics yet as they’re a surprise for someone but keep an eye on my Instagram and they should be some coming soon. If you have any requests, let me know—portraits, animals, erotica, whatever—often deciding what to draw it the hardest part.
Homesteading – I’ve done a lot of batch cooking this month. Also resuming making soya yoghurt once a week as I’ve been super lazy about that over the winter. I did also try out a recipe for Polish potato dumplings which were sooo delicious and basically fried gnocci but reeeally yummy. And even though it’s still very wintery, I’ve started thinking about whether I want to plant some seeds soon too. I’m thinking lettuce and strawberries might be a plan but I’ll need somewhere to put them first. Indoor gardening is not always the easiest.
Other – It’s been a month of all work and no play, super healthy eating (sorta) and kicking ass with my French homework, so there’s not much more to report. hopefully I can come up with some more interesting things to do for the next 11 months.
Goals for Feb
– Get both Super Secret Books finished.
– Keep up with my drawing practice/french lessons/good habits
– Go somewhere fun.
– Spoil my dog rotten on Valentine’s.
