OOF

It has been MONTHS since I updated – my bad!! I started a new job literally the day after my last post haha.

School went well, I got all A’s in all of my classes both semesters. And I applied for a low-residency MFA and got in! I had to defer the start date to next summer for health reasons, but I am looking forward to it!

I’ve been writing – not as much as I wish I was, but an amount! I’m still looking to self-publish a second collection of short stories this coming fall, we’ll see how it goes. I also have a couple of novel WIPs I’m working on, I haven’t decided yet if I want to try to get those published traditionally at all or if I just want to keep self-publishing my work.

I’ve also been working on some cool art-related projects, I’m excited to see some of them come to fruition. One of my projects is a series of patterns for POD clothing, bags, and accessories, I’m just trying to figure out what’s the best option to host and produce this stuff now that I’ve done the fun part.

I started a “The Dark Tower” themed walking challenge this month! I’m calling it the “Walk To The Dark Tower” challenge, I’m hoping other Tower Junkies start picking it up too just for funsies. I spent several months plotting out a route to take Roland Deschain from the last moments of his childhood in Gilead to the Dark Tower at the center of the multiverse, and depending on how you want the story to go it’s either around 15,000 total miles or up to 23,000+ miles long. It’ll take several years to complete, especially for people with jobs or other things they do, but hey, it took Roland literally thousands of years to do it so we can be smug about it, hehe.

• I last drank: strawberry kiwi gatorade zero…
• I last ate: pistachios… I’ve become a pistachio enjoyer
• I haven’t read any books lately… I need to change that…
• I haven’t watched any TV or movies lately…
• I last played: Fallout New Vegas my beloved…
• I am currently listening to: They Might Be Giants

Special Episodes: NANOWRIMO 2022 Day 3

Big day ahead of me tomorrow… let’s see if I can keep this momentum up!

• Today’s wordcount: 1676
• Total wordcount: 5626
• Story title: The Circus
• Story status: in progress
• Writing music: I’ve been relistening to a lot of Gorillaz today for some reason…

Special Episodes: NANOWRIMO 2022

This year’s project is: two to five short stories, maybe more, for the upcoming short story collection! I already have those other four stories finished up and two that are “started but not finished because the vibes were off,” but as previously mentioned there’s a total of 21 stories I want to write for this one.

• Today’s wordcount: 2116
• Total wordcount: 2116
• Story title: The Circus
• Story status: in progress
• Writing music: none, I forgot!!

In Today’s Episode of the Sharo Show…

Well, we got pretty lucky with this hurricane! Minor roof damage, power only gone for about 4 days, some extra yard cleanup but nothing major. I did NOT get all my goal writing done for September but to be totally fair, I did have other things to fret about. I am hoping to get a nice big chunk of writing and art done this week, though! We’ll see if I can manage it around doing two weeks’ worth of school stuff in the next few days. I did manage to finish draft 1 of the Bermuda Triangle/Golden Age of Pirates story, which just needs a little bit of research before I can call it finished, and got a big chunk of some other stories worked on. And I’ve started a little mini art challenge for myself on my socials, and if I get it through all 31 days I’ll post the results here, heh.

Hurricanes are so weird to me because on the one hand, yeah, growing up smack dab in the middle of Central Florida means that every single major hurricane I’ve personally experienced was relatively pleasant, and on the other hand every time a storm hits it just absolutely devastates people on the coasts. The smell of the wind-driven rain is so much greener and cleaner than the smell of rain that’s been soaking up all the poisonous shit that gathers over the cities and interstates, and it cools everything down in a way that feels more like fall to me than any other time of year. I grew up in a house without air conditioning, so hurricanes were one of the few times it was like… tolerable to be awake in the daytime. And a huge chunk of my best memories take place during the wide stretch of time that goes from “the bands are just starting to hit us” and “it’s already mostly gone.” I used to be terrified of hurricanes in a body horror way – I was a bit young to have done the reading I did about hurricanes that sent hay through oak trees and sandblasted the living flesh off human bones – but mostly I feel like they’re just this sort of… crotchety older aunt who comes here sometimes. Makes a mess when she visits but generally lovable. I can’t imagine how terrifying it would be to have to face a hurricane on the water, or on the coast itself.

Well, that’s enough waxing poetic or whatever… things are pretty much normal in my neck of the woods now, and school is starting back up tomorrow. I have two exams, a paper, and five assignments due this week – the exams are both set for Thursday – so I’d better tuck myself into my little bed.

• I last drank: mug of swiss miss. tis the season!
• I last ate: some of those Mother’s Frosted Animal Crackers with the wee rainbow sprinkles
• I am reading: Koshersoul by Michael W Twitty!
• I last watched: Reservation Dos season 2 finale! got me WEEPING let me tell you!!!!!
• I haven’t played any games lately…
• I am currently listening to: Old Gods of Appalachia!

In Today’s Episode of the Sharo Show…

Well!! Hurricane Ian is supposedly on his way over here. I will be working on the camping story, the not-pirates story, and hopefully the swamp aliens story, which has Hurricane Andrew in it. I am thinking about drawing up my cenobitesona this week, too. Classes were cancelled Wednesday and Thursday and there’s not REALLY a whole huge hell of a lot for me to do in the meantime. Sigh.

Well, hopefully I will get all of my Goal Writing done before the 1st. I might be starting a new part time job soon, though I don’t believe it will slow my writing TOO much. I might extend my timeframe for finishing the Grimweaver Mythos collection by a month if it does, I suppose. It’s too early to tell, I suppose!

Speaking of writing projects, I have a bunch of like……… research materials and notes and whatnot and I keep thinking I’d like to make a brief podcast about Florida’s haunted ass history, mostly to explain the actual literal historical connections to the places and events I reference in some of these stories. I don’t have THE most soothing, radio-ready voice though, lol. We will see.

Not much to report on besides the usual homework + family stuff+ housework ensemble, I guess. I mostly just hope I don’t lose power. I’m not where the worst of the storm will be hitting, though, and I’m inland enough that even when storms hit pretty directly they USUALLY get settled down to a Cat1 or TS by the time they get me. (Well… except 2004… but that year was a doozy.)

I think I need to do something about making my mailing list bigger/more attractive and I definitely need to make some updates to my art website. I guess we will see if I end up having the time/energy to do that though.

• I last drank: a can of coke zero
• I last ate: some steak and fettucine alfredo. it’s the rao’s sauce, i like it, my first time trying this one.
• I am reading: Koshersoul by Michael W Twitty!
• I last watched: Only Murders In The Building season 2 finale! WOWOWOW
• I haven’t played any games lately…
• I am currently listening to: Old Gods of Appalachia!

A DELAYED Episode of the Sharo Show…

This was a wild week! My dog’s surgery took about three hours longer than it was supposed to (she’s completely fine, very frisky lovey puppy) and then I came down with something ghastly and chesty (but not COVID, thank goodness!) I’ve been staying home from school and feeling miserable all week, but I’m finally upright enough to write and post today.

Unnnnnnnfortunately there’s… not VERY much to report. I did finish both Blue Whale Story and Devil Hog Story over the last week or so! That’s just under 5000 words for the next collection, heh heh heh. I’m very fond of these two stories. I’m still working on Glamping Cabin In The Woods, and I’m debating starting either the Hurricane Andrew story, the Fort Myers Internet Harassment story, or maybe the Pirates story >:3c

I’m trying to catch up with TV, and am hoping to feel better soon. I’m doing well in my classes – all A’s – but I have an economic case study research paper due this week on top of my normal assignments, so I’m not really getting much drawing or writing done until I get all that done. I would like to get a little more into the spooky mood though, maybe with some shows? I’ve watched all the _boisvert videos recently with son worm, and I’m thinking about maybe looking into hellier or possibly some older found footage movies? I will take suggestions in the comments!

• I last drank: Twinings ultra spice chai with hazelnut creamer
• I am eating: a Korean chicken stew that has daikon and carrots in it…
• I am reading: Koshersoul by Michael W Twitty!
• I last watched: Only Murders In The Building S2E7!
• I haven’t played any games lately…
• I am currently listening to: Old Gods of Appalachia!

In Today’s Episode of the Sharo Show…

Another busy week and busy weekend! You’d think that I’d get a day off sometime, but no, heheh.

A few fun notes: I’ve now got 13 new story ideas written down and notated, some with research already begun. My personal goals for the next short story collection are:

1. At least 15 completely new stories, perhaps as many as 20 new stories… (!!)
2. Written, edited, and formatted as the next ebook before December 15th…
3. That all flesh out and contribute to the shared mythos/universe they all take place in…
4. …and that I have fun with every one of them.

So far I’m on the right track, I think! I’m excited about the new stories (ghosts! evil houses! monster hogs! pirates! zombies!) and now that I know how to do what I want to do with self publishing, it should be faster and easier to do it! I want to get as many story ideas written down before I head to Halloween Horror Nights this weekend, though, and I’m still blustering my way through three college classes this semester, too. (Currently: All A’s, and I want to KEEP IT THAT WAY…)

One thing that’s a bit of a bummer, it looks like my dog’s surgery has to be rescheduled, since it… was scheduled for today, and even though I checked with them over the phone 3 times that they were indeed open for Labor Day and got a confirmation text as recently as this past Saturday that it would be happening today… guess who was closed for Labor Day? Which… okay, lmao. I’m just saying, if I could sell a couple thousand copies of this book I could afford the fancy expensive vet down the street who wouldn’t run me around re: my appointments. Sigh. She’s okay, though, it’s not like urgent-urgent. She’s a very good dog.

Today was an email day, so just as a reminder, my email list is usually twice a month + the rare announcement that might happen once every 3-6 weeks, so I won’t be clogging up people’s inboxes. I think in perhaps 3-5 months I will create an archive of my emails for newer visitors, possibly if I end up adding a bunch more subscribers in a short amount of time. We’ll see!

• I am drinking: mug of twinings chai ultra spice… after 11pm…
• I last ate: home-made brookie
• I am reading: Koshersoul by Michael W Twitty!
• I last watched: the last couple episodes of Reservation Dogs!
• I haven’t played any games lately…
• I am currently listening to: Old Gods of Appalachia!

In Today’s Episode of the Sharo Show…

TODAY’S MY BIRTHDAY >:3 AND BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN IS OUT, WHICH I DID POST THE OTHER DAY, BUT STILL, I’M VERY EXCITED!

I have been having a decent chunk of homework every night this week so I haven’t been able to do VERY much other than get this book out there + homework + normal household things the past few days, but I’m hoping the more used to things I become, the easier it will be to power through things. Especially since next week my dog’s having surgery AND I’ll be going to HHN with Son Worm :3

I’m not quite ready to sit down and start updating the website with the relevant links BUT I’m going to link the various ways to purchase Born Under A Bad Sign here. (I’m still waiting for the approval from Google Books, but it should be soonish? It’s been a few days since I tried to set it up…) And of course I have my notebooks and pens ready for my note-taking/prep for the next short story collection. 🙂

Oh! I got my first Amazon review today, which was very fun to read >:3c I just like seeing what other people think and finding out which bits stuck out to them, lol. I’m hoping to at SOME point have the book in the Top 100 for Horror Short Stories so I can screencap it and send it to anybody who ever doubted me in a gloating manner, hahahaha.

Anyhoot, here’s the links:

To find “Born Under A Bad Sign” on Kindle: click here to be taken to the Amazon page!

To find “Born Under A Bad Sign” on Smashwords: click here to be taken to the Smashwords page!

To find “Born Under A Bad Sign” on itch.io: click here to be taken to the itch page!

• I am drinking: mug of twinings chai ultra spice
• I last ate: hersheys cookies n cream bar
• I am reading: Koshersoul by Michael W Twitty!
• I haven’t watched anything lately…
• I haven’t played any games lately…
• I am currently listening to: Old Gods of Appalachia!

ON THIS WEEK’S SPECIAL EPISODE…

Sorry I missed the Monday post, I was very busy with the combination of my first week back at school and THE BOOK IS LIVE, JUST AS AN FYI, IT’S ALIVE ON MULTIPLE!!! PLATFORMS!! AS OF 2AM MY TIME (aka when I was asleep, heh) BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN CAN BE PURCHASED AS EITHER AN EPUB OR A PDF!!!!!!!

I’m SO excited about this, OH my god. I mean also yes school is important and good, too, I’m busting my ass to get good grades bc I’m paying for everything out of pocket, and I’m learning a lot. It’s just a two semester certificate – I’m taking a total of 6 classes, three this semester and three next semester – and my wildest hope CURRENTLY is that I will sell enough copies of this book to pay off the credit card I’m using to pay for tuition and books, weh lmao. But hey!!! Maybe I’ll sell a thousand c- [looks at note re: how much textbooks cost for just one semester] – maybe I’ll sell 1500 copies! heheh.

I’m going to go a little nuts over on social media about this, just as soon as I finish going a little nuts via my email newsletter. After that… well, after that I have homework due this weekend BUT!!! I’m already jotting down notes for the next set of short stories, I’m aiming to have a MUCH longer book next time – though probably not illustrated, that was a killer to format because things kept not doing what I wanted them to do.

I haven’t been reading or watching anything for the last 10 days other than homework and formatting tips, but as this is my birthday weekend (well… Monday’s my birthday so it’s a four day weekend in my HEART…) I will endeavor to enjoy a few things in between working and flogging the book. 😛

Oh! Also, my book is available as an .EPUB from Kindle or Smashwords, and as a .PDF from itch.io! I’ll link those below:

To find “Born Under A Bad Sign” on Kindle: click here to be taken to the Amazon page!

To find “Born Under A Bad Sign” on Smashwords: click here to be taken to the Smashwords page!

To find “Born Under A Bad Sign” on itch.io: click here to be taken to the itch page!

Alright!!!!!! I’ll be updating the “where to find my work” page on here a little later today!!!

In Today’s Episode of the Sharo Show…

Another week gone, another week closer to the book-birth (?) of Born Under A Bad Sign. Everything’s clipping along, despite the many… many setbacks… but it’s fine! Everything is fine. I am not losing my mind to the pit of madness. :3

I actually had a chance to read a book AND watch a movie this week! The movie was Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, as per my blog review earlier today. The book was Florida by Lauren Groff! I tweeted a little bit about the book, but I think it must be stressed that I went into it with ONE singular expectation: that the book itself would reflect a love of the state, per the association when it was mentioned in an interview at The Bitter Southerner. I had no idea if it was a novel or nonfiction or what. And it turned out to be a collection of short stories! I did like it overall, even though I did feel like the stories mostly reflected… well… not exactly a love of Florida. The POV characters give off a sort of… white liberal anxiety aura, and generally seem ashamed/resentful of the state and its associations, and generally seem reluctant to be associated with it. It’s a good collection in general, it’s just not what I thought it would be. That’s fine, though! I can’t say if I’d read it again anytime soon, but that’s mostly because it’s not QUITE up my alley.

Today was a mailing list day, so if you’re somehow reading this without having signed up for my mailing list…………………….. I wish you would! Except I got my own email flagged in my account as spam, so I’m not even sure how many people (out of my……five subscribers) are even seeing it when my emails hit. Still, other than the automated welcome-in email, this is only the second total email I’ve sent out to my list, so I still have time to figure it out. I might want to look into setting up some sort of email archive if I start getting a lot of subscribers after I put the book out.

I’m a little wiped after the weekend – it was my mom’s birthday on Saturday, so there was a LOT of associated toddler childcare. My classes start one week from today, so I’m possibly going to get very busy as the semester goes on. It’s very important to me that I get this book published and set up before my birthday at the end of the month so I can say I did it by the arbitrary-ish deadline I set for myself back in March. I’ll be heading to Halloween Horror Nights in the second week of September, though, and that’ll be very fun and a fun thing to write about! And my copy of KOSHERSOUL by Michael Twitty came in finally, so I’ll get to cozy up to it this week as I get a chance!

• I am drinking: a can of coke zero… even though it’s very late…
• I last ate: green Thai curry chicken… yum
• I last read: Florida by Lauren Groff!
• I recently watched: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark!
• I haven’t played any games lately…
• I am currently listening to: Visions by Guilhem Desq!