Does anyone else feel change in the air? I always get so motivated around September. Last autumn I took a flower arranging course and this year I want to try committing to posting more long-form stuff on here for my friends to read. This is the first update. Enjoy!
August is usually my least favourite month–I hate the heat and the aimlessness–but I have to say that this August was nice. Josh went to the Eisteddfod at the start of the month, and I had Emma A. to stay with me, which was very fun. We were productive, and ate a lot, and tried on some sofas too. During this week I also had the misfortune of finding a very rotten egg (pictured). The smell of this egg almost tainted the whole of August, but luckily it didn’t.
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Josh, who not only received his award at the Eisteddfod, but who also performed in a Queer Cabaret at Elysium this month. He delivered an amazingly funny skit with our friend, Mercury. Well done to all performers, it was a wonderful night ⚡️
CREATIVE
I’m still chugging away on Book #1 (working title The Fae Archives). By the end of July I had finished editing my second draft on paper, had transferred all my edits and notes to the computer, and had made a log of everything that I needed to change. My goal for August was to finish making all the necessary changes to the third draft… but I think that was ambitious. I’m chugging away on it though, and definitely know I can finish this by the end of September, so I can send it out to some beta readers. I’m happy with the changes I’ve made, and the manuscript is looking in good shape (to my untrained eye). Word count is currently at 91k, which means I’ve added nearly 20,000 words since the second draft!
I also wrote and submitted a short story (Heavenly Influence) to Folding Rock magazine this month, so fingers crossed for that (pitch: Patrick Bateman is a TikTok influencer). I have another short story idea brewing (working title: Wirebound) that I’ll hopefully write this month.
I also wrote a poem this month, which I haven’t done in a while. It’s a reflection on grief entitled and it’s shaped like you. Not sure what I’m going to do with that one yet, so I’ll keep it under wraps for now.
FOOD
August was YUM! Notable highlights include school cake (beat 400g butter & sugar; add 400g eggs & self-raising flour & tsp vanilla & 1/2 tsp almond extract; bake in a traybake tin @ 180C for ~45 min; make icing and top with sprinkles), homemade Thai food, and lots of bread.
WORK
I’ve been freelancing since June, so about three months now. I’m still getting into the routine of not having a contracted job.
Josh and I launched the beta version of our current project: Linci! It’s a word association game in Welsh that we’ve been working on with my colleagues Tess Fitzpatrick and Steve Morris. I previously worked with Tess and Steve for a year on a contract at Swansea University where I helped create the Mental Lexicon website, among other things. It’s been lovely to work with them again to create a fun original game. Josh has worked really hard and I’ve even learned some programming too.
HOUSE
The house has been changing this month…
We got a new table (kindly donated by my mum), which is much nicer than our old one and EXTENDS! More room for games!
We’ve been updating the nook… Long gone is the horrible blue it was painted when I first moved in. Check the before and after!
BOOKS
II unfortunately DNF’d a lot of books this month but I have also read some gooduns:
I’ll be turning my mind to more horror and cosy books moving forward. As always, open to recs!
ALBUM OF THE MONTH
Addison Rae’s very solid debut pop album, Addison. Fun, fresh production and good vocals. My favourite track is In the Rain, followed by Headphones On.
Honourable mention to The Beaches’ new album, No Hard Feelings, which came out at the end of August and will, I suspect, be September’s AOTM…
EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH
WHAT DID I BREAK THIS MONTH?
LOOKING AHEAD
This month I’ll be starting to garden in my parents’ house. They have a big veggie patch and a polytunnel which I’m going to help out with. I’m treating it like an allotment and I haven’t done something like that before, so I’m excited to learn!
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