#AND i do need to buckle down on my short story collection!!!! deadline is some time in the winter so i wanna give myself time lol

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

LOOOL I FORGOT THAT I STARTED REFERRING TO THE FOSTERED SQUAD AS "LONAN ET AL." IN MY SEVENTH VIRTUE NOTES

[maguayans]

AYE’S YEAR OF WRITING

Hi, Hello! I hope you’re doing well and having a great day/night. This is my entry for our little writer activity. The year had been a mesh and mess of many things. But reading and writing and being here made it better. But I have to admit, I struggled with the writing part.

Buckle up.

GENERAL WORD COUNT: 67, 870

Red Complex. A take on the Legend of the Red Strings of Fate and the idea/mythology of soulmates. | Of course, I’ll have to start with this one. I have to be honest, I almost dropped this. As in, stop writing it, forget it ever existed, and move on. It had been more than a year since I posted this on the orange app and I’m kind of bummed that I only managed to write a few chapters. But it turned out, it was just a bad writing week. And I was exhausted and sleep-deprived. 

On a more positive note, I concluded Part I of the story—12 Chapters (including the Prologue and an Interlude.) The path to the Epilogue is clear. More or less. However, I still think it’s a mess, but you know, it’s my mess. 

Don’t Fall Asleep. An attempt to rationalize nightmares, sleep paralysis, and dark apparitions. | I rewrote this one thrice. The third time was more to my liking so I continued from there. Progress was slow but I like how it’s going so far. It’s fun too. I really like writing paranormal scenes inspired by my own experiences. :)

The Morose Cat. A take on The Myth of the Cat God. | When I’m not writing for Red Complex or Don’t Fall Asleep, I shift to this little Cat WIP. I’m excited to share more next year. I’ve been collecting more cat videos and references. Sometimes I read articles and cat facts—it’s less fun than watching videos, I admit, but I have to. Hahaha. Also, I started looking into cute café menus that would fit Happy Paws Café in the story. It’s not important to the narrative, but a fun worldbuilding detail.

Once, I posted about how DFA and TMC are somewhat on a word count race. Don’t Fall Asleep won. 

Don’t Listen. A Don’t Fall Asleep spin-off novella. | I introduced this once. I even posted main character introductions, but I bailed. If you haven’t seen it, that’s good. I wrote a whole chapter but I’m still contemplating if I should continue or not.

Maharlika. The organization tasked to keep the peace and order between humans and the otherworldly are about to face its ruin; featuring lower Philippine Mythology. | The urge to write was too strong to ignore so I end up with more than a thousand words. I really love the opening scene, it makes me feel like I’m just stating a fact due to the real-life reference.

In connection to this WIP and the series, I also managed to share five worldbuilding posts. And, uh, explored more of its universe by…making more stories unrelated to the main series. :)

February Shorts. A short story collection based on the February Prompts List by creativepromptsforwriting. | It’s not posted anywhere at the moment because I took it down. While it felt satisfying during February, it needed revision. The concepts were really cool though, so I hope to repost it some other time.

Dark Corners. A short horror story collection. This was my July Camp NaNoWriMo Project. | I reached my 5k word count goal, but I never opened the file after that. :)

A Glade of Lights.  A short story submitted for Writersnet April Event; featuring Philippine Mythology. | I managed to post before the deadline. I’m pretty proud of this one.

Fair Waters. A short story about a mermaid princess. | I had the idea after taking a nap. I might have dreamt it, not sure. :)

Like I said, writing had been a (fun) struggle but I feel contented that I reached that general word count. It’s more than what I wrote last year, I think. In short, I’ve been productive. *pops confetti*

Although for some time, it felt like I didn’t make any progress at all. I realized that maybe it’s because I go through long writing streaks and take longer breaks right after. It would take me weeks or months before I get in the mood or be inspired to continue writing. Tried to force it a few times—I know I shouldn’t—and regretted it.

The huge gap between my writing sessions made me feel like I didn’t do anything at all. I’d like to change that next year.

WORKS IN PROGRESS: +12

It’s a curse, I tell you. At times when I’m not in the mood to write for any of my main WIPs and I’m mostly doing nothing else, an idea would pop up and I end up plotting and drafting and worldbuilding; looking up names, photo inspirations, reading old books, and more. 

The new additions are heavily influenced by Philippine folklore and mythology, some expanding the world of Elementalia, others completely unrelated. Here are some of my favorites:

Adarna (or White Talons). A retelling of the classic Filipino epic corrido, Ibong Adarna. This retelling follows three main characters (or four.) It’s going to be fun and dark. And more about the bird.

Sticks and Giant Bones. MC is a descendant of a special squad of Maharlika, chosen by the gods to battle against evil witches back in the day. Their ancient title might be useless now, but MC continues to be vigilant and diligent with her training. She believes the witches are coming back. Inexplicable recurring earthquakes confirm her suspicions. I dare to incorporate a martial art I know nothing about and one of my favorite folk stories in this little WIP. 

Light and Shadows. A very ambitious duology (or a standalone.) Light and Darkness Juxtaposition. Good and Evil. Shamans and Witches. Should they follow their fate? Or make their own destiny? Will love truly conquer? Stay tuned, my notes are everywhere with this one—three notebooks with no markers. :)

Got a long list of works in progress, they tell you I’m insane.

WORLDBUILDING

What about worldbuilding, you ask? Well, I just really love it. When I started writing years ago, I didn’t care for it. I merely write following a concept and a plot. But since I got here, then read about it, I just fell in love with it. The worldbuilding for Elementalia Chronicles, especially.

If you’ve seen me rambling about Engkantos and Aswangs and Tikbalangs and floating balls of fire, witches and shamans, you might be familiar with Elementalia Diaries. Some time ago, I requested content from books on Philippine Mythology and Folklore. When I started reading and taking notes, I shared some fun good finds here. I still have a long way to go, but I enjoyed it very much. I even immersed myself too much I forgot to do school works at one point. Hahaha.

My only intention was to create the world of the series, but in the end, I made a few more WIPs. As I said, it’s a curse.

WRITER ACTIVITIES

Chazzawrites Challenge and the Underwing Challenge. I’m not sure if the community had done similar activities in the past but we should definitely do it more. I enjoyed them very much. Kudos to chazzawrites and jaxwolffwrites for organizing them. You guys are awesome for doing so.<3

It was a good opportunity to talk about my stories. I was elated to find out other writers found them interesting too. I also met most of my mutuals through the activities and got to read their WIPs as well.

Here are links to my posts: Chazzawrites Challenge | Underwing Challenge

Of course, there are also tag games. I don’t post much when I get tagged, but do continue to tag me if you’d like. I like reading them. And I visit some writeblrs included in the taglist. :D

BOOKS & READING

While reading provides entertainment and wondrous escapism, it is also a tool for me to widen my vocabulary and learn more about writing through the artistry of other writers. English isn’t my first language so it’s very important.

I’ve read fifteen books this year. That’s not a lot compared to avid readers out there, but I have a very valid reason: Books are expensive and while there’s the e-book alternative, I just refuse to do that—unless the books are only available in that format. Also, I must smell the book before reading it (or when I want to); hold it in my hand, look at the pretty cover. It’s a routine I do not intend to diminish. Ever.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorites.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I also started reading English classics, I’ve only read two shorts but it’s a start.

INITIAL PLANS FOR 2022

This list feels and sounds unattainable because school will definitely take most of my time next semester. But I’d like to— 

Resume chapter updates for Red Complex. Like I mentioned, I finished Part I—big yeay!—I could finally update regularly…for about four chapters.

Reintroduce Don’t Fall Asleep. Yes. For the third time. I’ve been thinking about it and revised the synopsis I already posted. I might also start posting full chapters.

Reintroduce Maharlika. I posted the first introduction when I was still setting up, but I revised it some time ago and it’s better. Excited to post it.

Introduce The Morose Cat.

Rewrite Drei.

Outline Where the Poet Went to Die.

Map out Adarna and Light and Shadow’s worldbuilding.

Visit my Filipino WIPS. They’re already collecting dusts somewhere.

Read more books.

Thank you so much for reading! Enjoy the rest of the holidays and stay safe. Let’s hope to have a better year next. And more writing and reading and writeblr-ing. Hahaha.

If you have more time to spare, visit #ayearofwriting and see what other writers have been up to this year.

[ishouldreadthat]

It’s time for one of the most pointless yet enjoyable posts for me — my monthly TBR!  This was meant to go up on the 1st of December, but due to technical difficulties and laziness…well, it didn’t.  Because of this, there are a couple of books on this TBR that I’ve already read.  You’ll have to wait for tomorrow’s wrap up to find out what those are!

So, I’m terrible at sticking to a TBR because I tend to be a mood reader, but these posts help me figure out what the heck I need to read each month.  From review copies to library books, I do have a deadline on some of my reads.  And of course it’s December, therefore I will need to wrap up my year!

  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I am hoping to hit my stretch goal of 100 books this year.  I’m currently lingering at 92 (93 if you count a very long audiobook, I’m not sure I will choose to count that though).  My goal for December is to smash out the last few books to reach my goal.

  Because I’m such a terrible TBR reader, I like to pick out a ton of books I want to read and hope that I manage to read at least a portion of them.  This month I have 25 books to choose from — 25!!  The reason for this is that, as I mentioned already, it’s the end of the year.  January review copies have been piling up, books are being borrowed for the holiday season, and everything that I’ve wanted to read in 2017 but haven’t managed yet has been gathering dust.  Now, I’m not Wonder Woman (no matter how badly I want to be) so I don’t expect to actually read all 25 books.  My goal is to hit that 100-book goal.

This has fallen over twice so far.

Review Copies and Proofs

  Strange Weather by Joe Hill

Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu

The Fandom by Anna Day

I am Thunder by Muhammad Khan

Minority Report by Philip K. Dick

Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

A fair few of these have rolled over from previous months.  Also, a fair few of them release in January so I have my work cut out for me.  I think I’m most looking forward to The Girl it the Tower and Batman: Nightwalker (although I’d like to read Wonder Woman first, so that’s temporarily on hold).  I’m seriously looking foward to Minority Report, which is a collection of short stories by Philip K. Dick.  You guys know how I feel about him by now.

  Borrowed Books

Asked for a book recommendation, ended up with this stack.  I love my family ❤

  The Lewis Man by Peter May

Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farejeon

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Mortal Causes by Ian Rankin

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

By Gaslight by Steven Price

These are all books I borrowed from my mum when I was home for Thanksgiving (thanks Mum!).  I loved Murder on the Orient Express and wanted more Agatha Christie and crime fiction in general.  Mystery in White is a Christmas-themed murder mystery (I absolutely love the idea of Christmas murder books.  It seems so weirdly appropriate). I’ve never read a Christmas themed book before and I’m looking forward to this one!

Also high on the agenda are The Mysterious Affair at Styles and And Then There Were None.  More more more Agatha Christie, please.  I’m also really looking forward to The Lewis Man, which is the second book in an incredibly dark series bases on the isle of Lewis in Scotland.  I read the first book, The Black House, last year and loved it.

  Library Books

  Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nichols

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

After all the idiots yelling on Twitter about how libraries are useless, I’ve decided to support them more.  My local library system is pretty good, and I grabbed/reserved these books (and more!) the last time I was there.  The Murder of Roger Ackroyd came highly recommended by my mum (the Queen of Crime Fiction), and it’s one of my current reads.

  Personal Copies

  The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov

Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Foundation’s Edge by Isaac Asimov

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson

Flow, My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick

Ubik by Philip K. Dick

A Shiver of Snow and Sky by Lisa Ludecke

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

These are all books I own that have been gathering dust on my shelves.  I own so many books that I’d love to read and am really going to buckle down and get to these.  You can see loads of Asimov, my favourite classic sci-fi author.  You’ll also spot more PKD here, as well as Wonder Woman, which I must read before I get to Batman (I know I don’t need to do this story-wise, but I need to read things in chronological order).

  Current Reads

  The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

Strange Weather by Joe Hill

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

I’ve already started tackling this ridiculous TBR.  How many will I read this month?  Who knows.  Will I actually stick to this?  Probably not!  I would like to polish off my 100 books in 2017 though, so I’m aiming to read seven books this month.  I managed to read seven books last month, so I think this is an achievable goal!

  What do you plan to read this month?  Have you read any of these books?  Are they in your TBR?  Do you like holiday-themed books?  Let me know!

My towering TBR for the end of the year. How will I read all of this? #bookbloggers It’s time for one of the most pointless yet enjoyable posts for me -- my monthly TBR…