Year End: Moving House

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All told, the hardest part of moving to a new place was getting Cali into one of the carriers.

Finding a new place we liked? Actually kind of enjoyable. Our agent was super helpful and easy to work with. Banking? A bit chaotic with a few frustrating delays and dead-ends, but it got done eventually. Paperwork? There was certainly a hell of a lot of it, but in time all the t’s were crossed and i’s were dotted, and I made it a point to save every homeowner copy and pdf sent our way for future reference. Waiting for moving day? We planned it out so there was a bit of an overlap, so we had access to our new place while still emptying out the old one, and moved several things ahead of time to make it easier. Packing? Thankfully we prepared at least a good few months ahead of time, slowly boxing everything up. I must have made seven visits to the local Goodwill to donate the stuff we no longer wanted, each trip with six or more boxes of stuff. Setting up a mover? Easy-peasy, and the team I hired did an excellent and extremely quick job. Updating all the mailing addresses? Easy, though of course we’d forgotten a few post-move as is normal. Even the unpacking was quicker than expected, considering how detailed we’d been in packing in the first place. Certain items went straight down to the garage storage, while others went into specific rooms. All told, everything went as smooth as we’d hoped it would with minimal issue.

As for the cats, Jules didn’t fight too much. She got a bit cranky but she kind of understood what was happening, considering various pieces of furniture were suddenly disappearing along with the curious mountains of boxes they’d been climbing all over the previous month or two. She might be the more vocal of the two any other time, but she’s also very quiet when things get tense or confusing.

Cali, on the other hand? She turned into a full-on chaos goblin. It took three of us to get a hold of her, wrap her in a towel, deposit her in the cat carrier while she flailed and clawed, then zip it up before she could jump out for the fourth time. Our friend C was laughing the entire time, it was so comical. And Cali was not happy and made sure I knew about her displeasure until I took them both over and set them loose in the office for a day or two until everything settled and we put more boxes away.

All told, it only took them maybe a day or two to get used to the new place, and they love it here. More windows, more things to explore, more birds outside to watch, and even a stairway to run up and down. And they love skittering and drifting across the floor instead of digging into carpet. Life is good for our two silly cats.

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On a more personal note, it feels good to start fresh on that ‘clean slate’ level. I’m still feeling my way around figuring out what habits and processes I’d like to return to and which ones I’d like to change, but for the most part it’s been a lot easier than before, when I still had my creative past all around me. I hadn’t realized how much of an issue that had been, given our minimal storage space in the last two places we’d lived in. Back in my Belfry days, I could store a lot of my old stuff in filing cabinets or in the boiler room, but over the last several years I only had plastic bins and IKEA storage boxes that had to be shoved under the bed or in the deep recesses of what little closet space we had. In our new place, those bins and boxes are on the lower shelves of a unit I set up in the garage. Well out of the way but still easy to access if necessary. [I suppose I should eventually spend some time getting all of it in a better order, but there’s no rush right now. Maybe in the new year.]

This, in a roundabout way, has helped me focus more on the mental and emotional clarity I’d been working on over the last few years. There are still a few bumps in the road here and there, but I’m doing pretty well right now considering. I’m realizing that there are still a few self-built obstacles to work through, but those are much easier to face these days. Perhaps it comes with age that I’ve learned not to be so emotionally reactive to it all. I’ve learned what to work on and what to let go. I’ve learned when to keep fighting and when to move on.

It’s true, moving house did assist somewhat in all of that, partly because I’d chosen the ‘clean slate’ route. It inspired me to remain on top of it all and not get overly distracted. It offered more clarity going forward, making my path easier to navigate. Older thoughts and ideas cast aside, paving the way for new ones to form without all the clutter.

Sure, this might be another one of my patented year-end Best Laid Plans rambles, but I’d like to think that despite that happening, I have a much better chance of seeing it through than in the past. And I’d like to think that’s something worth looking forward to.

Year End: Moving Office

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I suppose I could start this entry with an exasperated how the hells is it December already??, but really, I’m not that surprised at all. It’s been a busy year all around.

One of the biggest changes of 2025 was our moving to our new home, and one we own rather than rent at that. To be honest, I’m still trying to wrap my head around that. There’s a sense of permanence going on that I am very much not used to. Aside from my family’s house, every other place I’ve lived in has always been a rented apartment, so it’s taking time for me to accept that we’re allowed to make changes (or not!) if we so choose. I am also greatly amused at how many quarters I can amass over time now that we own our own washer/dryer unit, and how much room our shared office has now that most of my old writings and whatnot are down in our garage storage.

Speaking of a shared office, I’m glad I chose to take the ‘clean slate’ option when we moved everything in, because Spare Oom was getting a mite bit crowded with our mutual book collection and all my writing-related stuff. I was also feeling a bit boxed in by the strict schedule I’d placed upon myself. While the whiteboard calendar had long been a source of inspiration to keep me going, it had also turned into a bit of a chain around my ankle. It all had started feeling like an assignment rather than a a craft that I enjoyed.

So when I got everything plugged in and turned on at the New Digs, I gave myself a fresh start. I didn’t do any blogging, journaling or daily words for a couple of months, instead focusing on the most important projects, Theadia and the Trilogy Remaster. I took my time deciding what decorations to put up, as I didn’t want another collage of stickers and silly things poking holes in the pristine white walls. I didn’t even update my notebook calendar with any notes like I normally would. I merely wanted to reset my priorities and find a bit of clarity.

And now here we are months later. The remastered A Division of Souls is out in the wild, Theadia is back up and running, and I’m even back to blogging and daily words. I only journal occasionally these days, as I don’t feel the need to make it a daily thing at the moment. I feel less disconnected from the world as well, considering the office’s windows overlook the street we live on, and I’m not as far away from A as I used to be. And of course we have both cat trees in here, so Juli and Cali are frequent visitors and distractors!

More to come…

Back to reading

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It’s been a few years since I stopped adding books to my GoodReads list or creating a reading goal there. The main reason I’d backed away was because I’d just been too distracted by my writing projects, specifically the part of my revision process wherein I reread (and reread and reread) what I have. While that works really well for me, it started creeping into my general reading habits to the point where I just…stopped reading new things for a while. I returned to a lot of comfort reading and stayed there.

I’ve been thinking of starting it up again this year, however, now that I have the time and the inclination — not to mention that the major events of 2025 (mainly our moving house) are finally in the past tense. I’m itching to read new things again and digging through my bedside TBR pile with gusto. It’s not just to get through these books, but because I’m ready to find some new inspiration and influence for my future writing projects! I’ve got to feed the beast every now and again, and it’s been too long to be honest.

As always I tend to be a bit choosy. I haven’t been into dark fantasy in ages, and I’ve never been a fan of dystopia or grimdark. On the other hand, I find myself enjoying magical realism and modern fantasy based on cultural mythos, and I of course do love the occasional hopepunk story. It doesn’t always have to be light reading, as I also love a good doorstopper that keeps me hooked the entire time. And it’s been awhile since I’ve read a good laugh-out-loud romcom. I’m up for almost anything lately.

I’m curious to see what new titles will show up in the new year!

Chilling

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Image from Laid Back Camp

That is, feeling a bit cold lately. This is around the time of year when the temperature starts to dip in the Bay Area. Not quite the freezing cold of the Northeast that I grew up with, of course, but just enough where I need the extra layers and the knitted fingerless gloves. Just enough that we have to turn the heater on for a while.

This always reminds me of those days during the Belfry Years when I’d head down to the basement in the dead of winter to work on the Bridgetown Trilogy. I’d put on extra socks and aim the space heater directly towards the underside of the desk to keep my feet warm. I’d have a heavy shirt and a sweatshirt on. I was pretty stubborn about it because the only other place in the house to work was upstairs in the computer nook which was kind of uncomfortable as it was a raised area with only a stool to sit on.

Come to think of it, this is going to be our first winter at the New Digs, so I’m curious as to how cold it’ll get. Thankfully ours is a newly renovated place with central heating and no leaky windows, so at least it won’t be drafty, but I can already tell that it’s going to be just a wee bit chilly nonetheless. We’ve already had a few rainy days come through, and although it can get windy (our street is east-west and is a natural wind tunnel for coastal breezes coming off the Pacific Ocean), it remains warmish inside.

I suppose as long as I stay wrapped up and perhaps nursing a hot tea, I should be okay here in the new writing area!

Still here, just feeling loopy

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I’ve been doing 5:30am opens all week while the head bookkeeper is out, and I’m so not used to it. Thankfully I’ve been very particular about balancing my energy levels and sleep patterns, so I’m not so much exhausted as just using my brain just a bit too much. Who knew that Q4 retail could use up so many mental spoons? Heh.

Still, I’m managing to slowly slog through the parts of Theadia that I’m working on. It’s taking forever, but I’m bound and determined to get this dang thing out one way or another!

Let the holidays commence

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Image from The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity

It’s halfway through November (already??), which means that Q4 and the Holiday Season is pretty much in full swing. The managers have already started putting up the decorations and set up endcaps for holiday cooking and baking. The flow of customers is slowly starting to rise after the doldrums of late Q3. The turkeys are taking up space in the coolers, and specialty items are showing up all over. The only thing missing is the Christmas music, but that’ll come soon enough.

Our decorations are still stored away for the most part, although we did finally purchase some new ones for our new home the other day. Due to overly curious cats we no longer have a Christmas tree, and instead have various decorations we can hang or set up on top of the dvd shelves. I’ll need to start my Christmas shopping pretty soon. And I’ve already bought tickets for SF Ballet’s Nutcracker — a show we’ve gone to nearly every year we’ve lived here — and I do expect to download at least one or two holiday albums when they drop.

Will this mean more of the usual year-end contemplation showing up here? Of course! Heh.

Meanwhile, this also means that I’ll be trying to squeeze in as much writing time as I can during it all. Somehow I always manage to pull it off, and that’s all I can ask for.

Fly-by: brb, being lazy

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I’ll cop to it: I took a few lazy days off this week and hardly got anything done other than the daily words and some house errands. Sure, I feel a little guilty about it, but it’s not often that I allow myself to have absolutely zero on my To-Do list. I sometimes have to remind myself that I need to do this now and again as part of the recharge process.

See you again on Monday!

I’ll be honest…

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I think one of the biggest things I’m nervous about with Theadia is not the dog fights, nor is it the physics of flight (both air and space) or even the science of how wormholes work. I’m playing as fast and loose with them as most other writers do. As long as there’s a consistent logic to it, and as long as I keep it within reason, then we’re golden.

It’s the fact that I could never get my head around the correct use of military rank.

Yes, silly, I know, especially since I have all the internet and multiple genre novels at my fingertips if I want to use them as guidelines. And considering some of my older relatives (including my dad) were in the armed forces for a time, you’d think I’d have had some kind of understanding about it. I just never quite got around to it.

I suppose before I release this out into the world I should have at least one talk with someone knowledgeable about it to some degree, at least to say “okay, here are the characters, are these the correct ranks I have for them, or should they be something different?” Put it this way: I have these characters doing exactly what I want them to; it’s not their jobs I’d need to fix, then, but whatever rank or title they have. I’m basing this story’s Space Force on a rather helpful and legitimate list I found online, so I can at least make an educated guess.

As long as I get it right before publication!

Seven or eight things

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One of the hardest parts of wanting to keep a daily habit of writing at 750Words (especially after a long hiatus) is trying to come up with something to write about in the first place. Some days I’m just fine and the ideas come easy to me, but other days I tend to overthink it and get nowhere. I’m also still trying to get out of the habit of using the site to write personal things that really should be offline in my moleskine notebook.

Something I’ve recently come up with to get around that temporary writer’s block is what I’ve been calling “Seven Or Eight Things”. Instead of trying to think of something I could stretch to roughly eight hundred words, I’ll split it up: I’ll write about seven or eight things for a hundred words. There’s no planned subject, I just let the words take me somewhere for a brief time.

Surprisingly, it’s been working even better than I’d expected! Over the last couple of days I’ve been talking about writing plans, thoughts on an album I happen to be listening to at that moment, or working through a creative problem I’m having. A few personal things still pop in, but those entries are actually in the minority this time out, and that’s perfect for what I’m trying to do here. Most of the time it’s something that pops into my head at that particular moment, so it could be anything!

Mind you, this is not a plan set in stone. It’s merely a process I’m trying out where I’m able to approach the daily words easier, but without the added stress of forcing myself to think of something to write about. If anything, it’s a reminder that I shouldn’t be so hard on myself when it comes to creativity. Leave the hyperfocus to the projects that need it; this is merely the warm-up exercise and stretch that I need beforehand.

Filling in the gaps

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I am now at the point in Theadia where I have to visit all the WRITE THIS LATER gaps and…well, write them. Thankfully, I planned ahead of time during this last reread/revision, where I wrote out a paragraph or two of each plot point I need to hit for these scenes and chapters. Also thankfully, most of them are scenes featuring a not-quite-secondary, not-quite-primary character, which means I can focus mostly on the action. As you can guess, I wasn’t entirely sure at first how to approach him as he’s not the kind of character I usually write, and that’s mainly why I skipped them. One, so I won’t lose focus on the rest of the novel, and two, by the time I come back to these scenes, I’ll have a better idea of who he is and why he does what he does.

So why am I putting them there in the first place? Well, if I truly felt that I could get away with not putting them in, I probably would have shoehorned a variant version of the scene (or the information it’s relaying) elsewhere and via a more important character, but I don’t feel that’s the case here. This is a character that isn’t part of the tight-knit main character circle, but they do have a very important link with at least three of them that I think strengthens the story’s logic and flow. He’s an insider that helps the mains achieve their goals without actually abandoning his link to his status within the ranks. He’s gruff and cranky but he’s also extremely intelligent and supportive.

I’ll be honest, using the WRITE THIS LATER gap style of writing novels is still a rather recent change in my writing process. I always write in chronological order from start to finish, and I’m always worried that if I skip scenes too often, the multiple interwoven plot threads running through my head will unravel. This changed when I wrote Diwa & Kaffi, however, when during one of the rereads I realized I’d forgotten to add a key scene that would make the logic and flow work even better.

I still use the style quite infrequently, but these days I’m not as nervous about it. As long as I use it for the right reasons and not out of any sense of laziness or ‘just don’t wanna’ avoidance!