Second Sundays - May 2023

Happy Second Sunday!

The heat of the summer is already pretty much upon us in the southern desert ☀️🔥 so soon it's going to be time to spend most days hunkered down indoors in the cool air conditioning. But I have plenty to keep me occupied this month, so let's get to the details!

This was the final word count I reached at the end of the April Camp NaNoWriMo challenge. Definitely shy of the 15,000 words I was going for, but April turned out to be a far busier month than expected with lots of extra hours at the day job and lots of much-needed trips out of town. But I'm still proud of this progress! The count as of writing this newsletter is 8,758 words, which puts Dragonstone draft 2 at about 10% complete.

Most importantly, a new chapter is up on Wattpad, so you can go see what Maera and Aerin have been up to!

Because I was so busy, it took me basically the entire month of April to read The Wheel of Time Book One: The Eye of the World. This book is definitely Tolkien-esque in that it is a walking story - a group of characters going on a long walk through various lands and encountering a plethora of characters along the way, heading toward a specific destination. Because of this the book is a slow burn, but I appreciated the slow pace after blowing through so many shorter and faster-paced stories this year.

Some of my favorite pieces of this story are the descriptions of the non-human creatures and characters and the obvious and intentional nods to Tolkien that Jordan made. (The first one I caught was when a character made a comment about "taking the long way round." I see you Gimli. 😉) I also appreciated the multiple viewpoints on certain characters, such as not everyone seeing wolves as evil and not everyone seeing Aes Sedai with reverence. I do wish there had been more of the non-human world-building, especially for the Ogiers. I am so intrigued by those characters that every time Loial was in a scene I just wanted more. That is entirely a personal preference though. Hopefully my craving will be satisfied the further I go into the series. 🤗

It only took me about 2 days to read this book and only because I had to work one of those days. Tress of the Emerald Sea is easily tied with The Magician's Daughter for my favorite book of the year so far. They are similar in their "light" fantasy approach, by which I mean the story itself feels and reads lighter - with a faster pace and lots of lighthearted whimsy, than, say, The Wheel of Time, which I would call "heavy" fantasy due to its slower pace and darker tone. The narrator's humor is snarky a bit like the peanut gallery in the best way, which is made even better by the small and more than slightly crazy role they play in the story. (Seriously, the character is basically insane for the majority of the book and fills a comedic role similar to Jack Sparrow. They would definitely be friends.)

The world-building and storyline are whimsical and fun in a way that reminds me of Neil Gaiman's Stardust. Tress, the heroine, is an ordinary, innocent, genuine, and very likable character with a love for teacups and the duke's son. It reads like a reverse "damsel in distress" story, there's even a dragon, but with a wholesome spin and characters I just can't get enough of. I also love all the easter eggs and references to other things in the wider universe of the books that Sanderson writes. Even though I've only read one other (Elantris) I picked up on the hints and know who and what to look for as I read other books set in the Cosmere. This is a book I would definitely re-read again and again!

One of the days while I was deep in the writer side of the social media rabbit hole, I came across a mention of a website that takes the NaNoWriMo word count reward system to a whole new level.

4 the words is basically like a Dungeons & Dragons game and a writing software made a baby, and it is magical. Instead of just earning badges for reaching word count goals and writing streaks, this website has you going on quests, defeating monsters, and leveling up your character. It is subscription based, but after the 30-day free trial, it only costs $4 per month. I have a hankering to try it 👀 but I'll probably save that experiment for the July Camp NaNoWriMo. I'll let you know then!

This is always a busy month in the art world. In addition to May the 4th (Be With You) and Revenge of the 5th, it is also the month of the MerMay art challenge when artists all over the world commit to drawing a mermaid-themed artwork every day.

Thanks to the suggestion of a coworker, this time I actually planned ahead and was able to participate in May the 4th this year! Meet my interpretation of the mythosaur of Mandalore from The Mandalorian TV series:

I'm also participating in MerMay to a degree, but I've tweaked the challenge to mean any artwork that is water/ocean themed. 🌊 (So the mythosaur technically counts as my first drawing!) It's been a hot minute since I've done any "serious" drawing, so I've decided to take it slow and easy by revamping some siren creature artwork I did for MerMay a few years ago.

These original three drawings were an experiment with colored pencils, and the new versions will all be drawn digitally, though the rendering part I'm debating if I want to do digitally or with watercolors, or both! We shall see. 👀