- Work trip out to the US Affiliated Pacific Islands
- Lots of work travel
- Quick visits to local conventions festivals (Momocon, Japan Fest)
- Trip to NYC for Distant Worlds!
- Trip to Norway/Sweden (documented on closed instagram)
- More Work trips
- Several weekend trips to see family
- More Work trips
I really have not had time to give proper thought to extracurriculars other than travel. I feel like perhaps some decisionmaking on what to do about them has been really delayed which I suppose is an answer unto itself.
Putting many things on pause
Shop/Merchandise: The Etsy shop is closed until I feel like opening it. There’s a strong possibility that remaining inventory will be incorporated into either local sales and/or giveaways.
I have not had the inclination to draw anything except for things that serve my needs (i.e., DnD or quick meme sketches), and have had no interest in drawing anything for FFXIV. As much as I enjoyed the latest Dawntrail expansion, I would say that my feelings on this game have really finally settled down after almost 10 years of playing :). Plus, I’m aware of how big and huge the indie Artist Alley/online fangoods market is and I don’t feel like I have anything I want to add to that space. I started off creating to fill a space — and the space is pretty healthy with tons of people out there making things.
There’s the practical reality of also knowing I don’t have the space to keep storing things as well as buying supplies/containers for making new product. I’ve closed the shop for now and now have time back which I’m using to just rest.
Social Media:
- Twitter I’m largely checking in on specific people I follow and looking at the latest “fires” in fandom and noping out of there. You can DM me there, but I no longer keep up with anything delivered that way except for 2-3 people’s shops (which I actively have notices on for). Thank goodness people either post in Discord or have newsletters for alerting of major things.
- Bluesky: Still there
- Instagram: My public account is quiet and I’ve been posting travel and food pics on a private one.
- Youtube and Twitch:
This is one of the things I really enjoy as long as I don’t have to keep ‘updating.’
I have been doing small videos and streams here and there, trying to decide if this will continue in its somewhat unstructured format or if I’ll be doing more random creating. I did buy another webcam but am still ironing out driver issues (I HATE YOU LOGITECH). I still have to decide if I”m going to replace another desktop microphone (I HATE YOU LOGITECH FOR RUINING YETI).
The book
I’ve written two or three treatments on the ending of “The Queen of Swans” which either way dictate I begin writing an outline for the continuation into the universe.
But I’m full aware I can’t make this ending stick unless I have decided on the nature of that continuation. I am leaning towards short chapter books/novellas for that since the world I made is a fairy-tale mishmash/multiverse. But… to sit down and write and plot requires…
LESS TRAVEL.
I’ve been trying to really use travel and ‘research’ to see if I have the drive and spark to create. Sometimes that is driven by consuming more media and storytelling. I’ve really enjoyed watching limited series Korean fantasy dramas as well as reading Korean webcomics. I know I can create something but the issue is if I really have enough time to work without distraction. We will see. I have some personal time coming up end of this year and hope I can just hunker down and focus on reading and writing.
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The Swann Lodge 