Updates! Writing Stuff. Life?

A small update..

A quick update..

(Saw this near my hair stylist, and I cut almost all my hair off…)

Hi there fellow Substackers.

I have been very busy, but I’m happy to say it’s been a lot of creative work. I have decided to write a short story or two to try to publish in Lit magazines. I am halfway through a historical coming-of-age story that I’m really enjoying writing. I am hoping the practice will help me always be ready to work on my novel, which is so close to being finished. I have been re-reading and doing a mini-edit on what I have so far, and I have been doing some exploratory brainstorming on how the book will continue and end.

I made a hard choice for the novel I’m working on to be split into 2 books and a prequel that will come out third. I have been writing this all along thinking it would be a one-and-done, but my word count has gotten quite high and I realized this story and world are too big for one book. I am excited about one day writing the prequel too, because the character it follows is an interesting guy. My original goal of finishing the book was mid-March, but it looks like it might be late March or early April.

As a writer, it is so hard to be patient and not feel like you are running behind, but I need to remind myself that with time comes quality. After all Donna Tartt only published about every ten years and I admire her writing quite a bit, so why not give myself some time as well to finish things correctly? This book is going to need a medium amount of editing, but not as much as I feared a couple of months ago when I was paralyzed and unable to make any progress on any writing projects. I feel good about the bones of the project.

I also submitted a piece to the “Authortube Beltane Anthology”. If you would like to submit I believe you can still submit a piece. I am happy with the piece I did for this collection and it got me out of a terrible writer's block. I’ve heard people say that Writer’s block is not a real thing, but I definitely have phases of inactivity where it feels nearly impossible to write, especially to write anything I consider good.

I’m in fewer classes this semester and no English classes for the first time. I am taking Science and Math. The Math was easy at first, but last week it had some challenging topics, so a lot of my mental energy has been going toward that. I am hoping to finish my Math class early, but we will see. So I’ve been absorbing playlists of leaked Ashnikko tracks, Nine Inch Nails Instrumentals, and classical as well as ambient library noises as I plow through schoolwork.

I’ve also been trying to make time for reading, I’ve read 6 books so far this year, and considering my health, school workload, and family needs I am happy that I’ve been able to have some time to read. I love reading and I think it is an important part of my creative process. I read everything from Booker Prize Winners to Romantasy to Classics and Philosophy and anything else you can think of. I’m not a big “spice” person, but sometimes I read them just to get an idea of what people might like about that book. My opinion is that all books hold some sort of value, ideas are so important. Even poorly written books have something to teach (mostly what NOT to do). I wish I had 9 extra hours to read every day I love it so much. I also wish I had a pocket dimension where I could go and write and no time passes in our reality. I do also hope to release the next part of my Substack novel in the next month, it just needs a little more editing.

Finally, I’ve been setting up a filming set-up to make some journal flip-throughs for YouTube. I have some older journals I thought it would be fun to film, as well as my last completed Hobonichi day-free from June-December 31st, 2024. So while this is different content than other things on my YT channel, I think it's fun so hopefully that is coming soon, but I’m trying to find the best film situation still. I did a test run and everything was fine, except the book was not centered and it annoyed me, so I know it will annoy other people watching it.

Also hoorah for February, my birthday is on Friday and I plan on getting a small cake from my favorite bakery and also celebrating Valentines of course because my blood is tainted with too much love.

My husband usually gets me a surprise something or other, and I am hoping to get my favorite candy (other than KitKats and Strawberry Japanese Chocolate) which are those little Brach’s candy hearts with messages. The past few years they have been hard to find. Sometimes they have another brand of them, but they taste more like Smarties which makes me want to vomit. Another year, like wow.

I am hoping to have more updates with my next substack, I just wanted to write and explain that I am still alive, just hunkering down a little. I hope this wasn’t too dull to read?

I’ve got some secret projects in the works, hopefully, more to talk about next time.

Have a great day/month/holiday

Aisling