Imaginary Word #7
This month has been quite the year!
I haven’t written nearly as much as I would have liked this month - not that’s fit to submit in any case. I have been doing some writing-as-therapy as that’s always been my primary go to when I’m feeling things more than I’d like. And I kind of got sidetracked by some old files.
I am a bit old. I have been writing pretty much my whole life. I did finally part with my box of 3.5 floppies a few years ago, but I’ve been sitting on a bag full of iomega zip disks since the last computer that could run them crashed out - it went down hard and permanently. Everything I tried after that was incompatible. They don’t include the 12 pin ports anymore and when I used the accessory switcher, it didn’t recognize the drivers. I had long ago given up, but I just couldn’t part with the bag of disks. At some point last year, I must have offhandedly said something to my brother. He’s a fixer type. An engineer. For Christmas, he gave me a zip drive with a fancy usb cord. And it worked!
If I could get the file converter programs to work with this file type (I’ve tried them all), I would right now have in my hand the third ever book I wrote. And the fourth. I have the first as I wrote that longhand and no one has the second one as I threw it out (it remains to this day the only book that has ever really scared me). I do have a whole lot of terrible poetry and a ton of short stories. Some of which I might see about fixing up some.
I imagine a lot of people had a bit of time where work, art, creation, just didn’t feel like something we were capable of doing in any real capacity. I may still have half a foot in that box, personally.
A long time ago, I kept myself accountable by sharing my word counts, submission statistics, WIPs, and things of that nature. I may try to get back to that. If for no other reason than to keep holding myself accountable for actual progress.
I did a little poking at The Alchemy of Death but no real work. I did some words on an essay no one will ever read but I really needed to write. But this was definitely a lay low kind of month. Sometimes when the world is all haphazard and topsy turvy and maybe a little bit exploding, taking a break is the best thing you can do.
Crow’s Hollow Corner
There was soap, there was the mass ordering of all the lovely plants and resins for this year’s batches of all the things. I do try to be organized. I have lists. I have all the things I need. I just need to do the things.
I did manage a Shea and Charcoal Tea Tree Soap which should be excellent when it’s all cured up.
I’ve also started the process on a couple kitchen witches and what I hope will be a woodland fairy. I say hope because I know me and sometimes, mid making, plans do change. The first kitchen witch I did was not supposed to be that! Turned out way better than my OG plan anyway. I’m also really looking to do a few more mushroom lights - they are so much fun even if I do tend to maybe singe my fingers.
I would include pictures of the writing part of my life except that it doesn’t really photograph in a very interesting way. Computer screens don’t photograph really well and I don’t use my antique typewriter for work - she’s just for being pretty (she does work though).