Hi! My first post on Substack.
A little about me and what I do.
Hi, there friend. This is my very first Substack post, so I figure I will introduce myself and talk a little about what I do, and what I intend to do with this Substack.
First, the basic stuff is kind of dull but I want to talk about the things I do! Future posts will not be as long or self-focused as this one, (hopefully) I plan on keeping it light, but I’ll discuss what I want to do with this Substack after I talk about who I am.
(Not a great or super current photo but I’m not super photogenic this was the best I could find)
My name is Aisling (Pronounced ASh-ling) (she/her/they/them) and I live in the Midwest with my family. I’m an Aquarius. I’m a cat lover, I own four cats at the moment, three black boys (Ivan 21, Loki 13, Mozart 6) and one tuxedo girl (Lillian “Lily-Belle” Gish, 12) I love animals very much and I would live on a large animal rescue if I had the funds. I love Mexican food and I have traveled all over the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Asia. I hope to add Europe to that list someday, but I also really want to take another trip to Japan again, so only time will tell! I am married to the greatest human being ever, and I am pretty introverted but I have a close group of friends I really care for deeply. I don’t really believe in things like personality tests but I take them all the time anyway because it's fun and a way to break the ice…(Yes I am that awkward in person.) I am an INTP and Enneagram type 5. I attended college for programming and later switched my major completely and went to art school, where I studied Fine Art and Creative Writing. I still have a deep love for technology in general and have even played with the idea of going back to computer programming.
I consider myself a “creative” I guess, even though I’m not that fond of labeling myself in this way, I guess it’s the closest to what I see myself as. I am a writer before all else, I have loved writing since I was very young, and my favorite thing I remember from school was writing and English class and going to the Library. I started writing “books” at age four. I wrote my first “novel” when I was twelve years old, now granted it probably wasn’t very good, but I really enjoyed the process and I began to write poetry seriously at age 14. Yes said poetry was pure cringe, (My own mother telling me at the time, “You are such a good writer, why can’t you ever write anything “happy” ?”) but I need to mention this before we go any further, I embrace my own cringe…so if that's not something you can deal with, maybe you should go now (laughs nervously…) I began to write novels seriously at 17-18 but I was always too afraid to take the next steps to get my work published, which is a decision I am not happy with but, c’est la vie, and I’m trying to do my best to release my work now. I wrote on and off during my twenties and now I am trying to do it more seriously. I do several types of writing these days, the first being writing novels. I currently have about five projects going, one closer than the rest to completion, and I know some people are looking forward to it, but I’m still editing, this story is important to me and I need it to be right. I write in many genres including, including Sci-Fi, dystopian, fantasy, YA drama, and horror, but my favorite is probably alternate universe sci-fi.
I also write poetry and I have released two books of poems and shorter stories. Sugar High Angels in 2021, and Spectral Heart in 2022. Both are available where most books are sold, and I also have links to them here on Substack. I would describe my poetry as surreal, dreamy, and full of allegories. I have a very keen interest in fairytales and children’s stories as well as dreams and oddities. My favorite poet is William Blake and I also admire him as an illustrator because my favorite media to use in art is watercolor. I am still working on poems all the time, but I will not be releasing a book this year like I did the previous two years. I also love modern poets such as Henry Dumas and Paige Lewis, but I also have many friends who are very talented poets themselves.
MY BOOKS:
I also write and produce my own music under the name “Frost Flowers”. I have one and a half albums out right now, I say a half because my first album kind of is scraps and versions of songs not in their final states, due to an unfortunate hard drive crash. My second album “OtherPlace” is complete and released but I might remaster it someday, I was still learning about production when I made it in early 2022. I recommend listening to the album on YouTube because the tracks are all together and in order, and the album is meant to be listened to in this way. Music for me is just for fun and a way to relax, I would really call it more of a hobby. I make mostly electronic music, although, in my latest songs, I have been playing and recording physical instruments like the guitar, xylophone, and some other cheap instruments I own. My husband jokingly describes my music as “Haunted house Playstation 2 music.” and honestly, it's the best description I can really think of. Most of my music is instrumentals and can be quite abstract, but I try to make soundtracks of not-yet-existing movies and video games I imagine in my head. I really enjoy being experimental while creating sounds, and I am really into finding samples in real life, or making my own sample “instruments”. The other day I literally sampled a humidifier. I don’t think my music is something everyone will like, but I really enjoy creating it. I’m not a professional musician, but I am learning more every day. I am about halfway through an album called “Weird Machine” right now, and I’m quite proud because I am adding in more structure and vocals, which I was previously a little afraid of doing! So yes…music is fun.
I make YouTube videos as well, and I just started my channel in March 2023. Right now the channel is mostly videos in my series, “Mutant Memories” where I am talking about my personal experiences reading comics set in the “X-Men” universe. The first project I am doing in this series is a complete re-read and commentary of volume one of The New Mutants. I have been having a great time doing this, but eventually, I will be making more videos about Marvel Comics, so if you like that sort of thing, come join me! I also make videos about random stuff sometimes, like movies and anime, and I even have a fun chat with my friends on the channel. I will be having some other interesting guests on soon to talk comics with me as well in the coming months! (Already have three confirmed guests) I want to do more video essays, but it is a matter of having literally zero time right now.
I also make art but this has been more of a hobby to me recently. This seems crazy to me because for so long that is how I was defined, as an artist. I love art and I enjoy making it, but honestly, I don’t like it as much as writing. I actually only started drawing because I wanted to make physical images that went with the stories I was writing. So every so often I might release some art too. My favorite things to do nowadays are watercolor and digital paintings and drawings. But in the past, I’ve done almost any type of art you can think of, from making weird jewelry to puppets to large abstract paintings and printmaking. I hope that when I have more time I can pick these things back up again, but my time is very limited nowadays with family stuff and writing. Also, I found I was getting angry and frustrated while trying to make art in the past year, so I’ve put it on the back burner. I also used to be a pretty prolific and paid photographer, but not so much anymore, even though I still love cameras and would kill to have a darkroom. If you want to see my art or some of my photography it is on my main homepage in the “art” section. I will warn you I make messy and flawed art but I’ve just accepted this is who I am. I haven’t done much art in the past six months. BUT I am still a huge fan of art of all sorts. I love abstract, modern, classical, 3-D, 2-D it doesn’t matter. I am really into a lot of indie artists, and if you want to see who I am digging at the moment, I post a lot of indie and larger artists to my stories on my Instagram (@Cherubimandcats) and I have an archive of most of those posts there too.
My other hobbies and interests include reading, watching films and video essays, video games, and astronomy, and I’m trying my hand at building basic electronics in the coming months. I keep trying to be a gardener because I love plants, but my gardens tell the tale of that not going super well this year. I also enjoy baking sweets, especially weird flower-flavored things that most people don’t care for, but oh well, more for me! 🙂 So yeah, I’m into a lot of things, I have a lot of work I do, and I have all the hobbies one can manage! I promise not to information dump this heavily in the future if I can control myself. Phew! Now onto the purpose of this substack:
This Substack is going to be kind of a catch-all for the things that don’t fit anywhere else but I still think they are worth sharing. I have some essays, fiction, and poetry I want to share here from time to time. I am even flirting with the idea of releasing one of my novels which is based on a specific fanfiction to this platform. Because it is what it is, I don’t think I can ever release it anywhere else and it wouldn’t ever be behind a paywall. I also might release some original fanfiction to this Substack if I am feeling brave. But there will definitely be writing on this Stack for you to read.
I’m also going to release songs I don’t know what to do with, and other artsy projects. From time to time I will probably talk about my other main projects and how they are proceeding but for the most part, I will have the most detailed project updates on my blog on my main homepage. I also come across many books (especially Sci-Fi hence the name of this Substack <3 ) and writings I wish to share with others and I plan to talk about them here. I also go through phases of being an intense cinephile, and I want to talk about films I really love, or maybe don’t so much love. I also want to write about tech and astronomy news a little. I also want to use this as a place to hype up other people's projects I find interesting, or my friend's things I think people should check out. There are a lot of things I want to pass on to others and I think this might be a good place to do so. Another topic I like to talk about is learning to work or be creative while being chronically ill or just under the weather, without adhering to the “toxic productivity” mindset.
I plan on trying to get something out to everyone at least once a month, but this also depends on how well I am feeling and how life shakes out. Again like I said at the beginning I am thinking these won’t normally be so long, but again, we will see how it goes. So if this cluster of things sounds interesting, feel free to follow along! Hope you are doing well, and I’m sending luck your way.
-Aisling