Calissa

What are you doing/thinking/wondering/making/reading/etc. that you don't normally post about? It has been a while since I have done one of these and I thought it would be a good way to post about non-holiday stuff

Doing: I'm back to swimming after a break of about a month. It wasn't intentional--a few different things were conspiring against me. My shoulder had started playing up again during the break, so I'm glad to be back to it (though I overdid things a little on the first time back).

Watching: On the anime front, I've been watching Sailor Moon Crystal on Crunchyroll. I was never into the original when it aired during my years at high school, but I have become a lot more interested in anime since then.

I am also watching a new anime called Glasslip. It is produced by P.A. Works who turn out the most gorgeous-looking animes and I have enjoyed most of the stuff they have released. This particular show is about the daughter of a family of glass artisans. When she stares into glass she has visions of the future. It is also about the changing relationships between her group of friends in their last year of high school.

On more of a RPG theme, RollPlay have just started up a sci-fi campaign called Swan Song. Utilising the Stars Are Infinite system, the campaign is being run by Adam Koebel. I totally have a new GM crush. He co-wrote the Dungeon World system and his style of game-running clearly speaks of intelligence, passion and long experience.

He and my other major GM crush, Steve Lumpkin, have also just started posting up a segment on GMing they're calling Playing Everyone Else. If you're interested in tabletop RPGs at all--as player or GM--it is well worth checking out.

Thinking: An acquaintance of mine has been getting on my nerves a lot lately. Ze does a lot of complaining about suffering from writer's block but seems to feel that in order to be published, ze needs to write in certain kinds of ways and in certain formats. This single-minded focus on publication seems to press a button of mine. I recently came across this wonderful article from Australian horror writer Peter Ball on why you don't really want to be published--it is simply shorthand for another goal. I'm wondering whether this person's reason for wanting to be published is fundamentally different from mine or whether it is simply our manner of getting there. Or perhaps we have different levels of patience with the process.

Reading: I'm in a weird in-between place with my reading at the moment. I'm slowly making my way through a gardening book put out by the local horticultural society and have been for months. However, I don't have a primary book that I'm reading because I can't decide on what I want to read. My sweetheart has made off with my Kindle in order to read some out-of-print Warhammer books and everything I kind of want to read is on that. Which is ridiculous--I have a zillion print books on Mt TBR, surely I should be able to find something I want to read. If anyone wants to make suggestions, you can check Mt TBR and my 2014 acquisitions list for what I have currently available.

Wondering: A while back, I began studying the AODA Candidate curriculum. I am almost finished--just some loose, time-consuming ends to tie up--but I have been pondering whether this is something I really want to do. While I think their curriculum is great, I'm not sure their philosophy and cosmology is really something that works for me.

Writing: Still going on Heartwood. I originally started writing the story a year or two ago and then shelved it for some unremembered reason. I'd only written two scenes and a bit. When I came back to it this year, I felt it needed rewriting and I bashed my head repeatedly against the first scene, trying different things. I finally got something to work and have been concentrating on getting the words for this new version down on the page without worrying too much about what still needs fixing. I have now caught up to where I was when I first shelved the story and am looking forward to breaking new territory.

Drinking: My mother-almost-in-law recently gifted me with some rose-scented tea that she wasn't fond of. I have zero problem with this because I absolutely adore rose-scented teas.

Earl Grey is generally my default tea (unless it is Twinings which I find way too harsh). I've been drinking much less of it over the last few months but I find myself starting to come back to it.

What are you doing/thinking/wondering/making/reading/etc. that you don't normally post about? It has been a while since I have done one of these and I thought it would be a good way to post about non-holiday stuff

Doing: Mostly just easing back into routine. Yesterday I went swimming for what was the first time in probably a month and surprised myself by being able to swim a full kilometre. Tonight I'm heading off the the monthly meeting of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild where we'll be having a guest talk on firearms. Could be useful for some of that post-apocalyptic stuff.

Watching: I'm making my way through an anime called No Game, No Life. It's about a brother and sister who are prodigiously talented gamers--to the point of being an urban legend. One day, they are transported to a world where all disputes are solved by playing games of all kinds. It's a fascinating setting and the story has a great premise. However, I find the extreme co-dependence of the main characters a bit disturbing and the fan service, while not as overwhelming as in other shows, is tiresome and unnecessary.

Thinking: I've been invited to sit on a guest panel on editing anthologies for the monthly meeting of the Canberra Society of Editors at the end of the month. It is a challenge to consciously articulate a process that has mostly been instinctive for me. I think it will be an interesting event. This won't be the first time I've sat on a panel about editing anthologies, but it will be the first time where the audience is primarily composed of other editors rather than writers. That should have a big impact on the feel of things, since writers are mostly concerned with what they should be doing to get published (or so has been my experience).

Reading: I'm currently reading (among other things) The Vinter's Luck in hopes of finally getting to lynnoconnacht and Memory Scarlett's review of the same. It is a fascinating story but I find I can only read a little bit of it at a time. Fortunately, it is nicely structured for small chunks.

Wondering: The last time I wrote one of these periodic ponderings I was contemplating starting up a poetry practice. That didn't happen. Now I am contemplating starting up a blog connected to my editing website. I wonder whether this is also something that is never actually going to eventuate.

Writing: Currently wrestling with Heartwood. The story just doesn't seem to want to let itself be written. I am determined to press on, regardless.

Drinking: My ritual morning cup of tea is currently oolong, despite oolong being my least favourite tea to drink (not that I hate it, mind). The tea was brought back from Japan for me by my lovely uncle and aunt. It sounds like they will be visiting us again at Christmas.