November 2022 Doings!

Hello all! December is here, which means CHRISTMAS — but that is not the point of this post. The point of this post is November's doings. And last month was, in fact, pretty busy and pretty productive, especially on the writing front. So, let's get to it!

Writing!

• Good news! Through a Shattered Glass is formatted and will be ready to send off for ARCs and my author proof copy (which I'll use to do one of two final proofreads) this weekend! That doesn't mean that ARC readers will receive their copies this weekend, as it's typically Kendra who handles those . . . but it does mean a better chance they'll be out soon.
• On a related note: have you preordered yet? Requested an ARC or joined the release tour? Added it to your Goodreads TBR? We're almost to release week, and it's very exciting!
• In some additional good news, Bastian Dennel, PI #4 is also coming along, still at a nice slow-and-steady pace. Is it where I hoped it would be at this point in the year? No. But I'm about 20 chapters in, and the pieces are starting to come together for the characters, and I'm figuring out ways to make the story better than originally planned, so we're all good.
• And in still more good news, I finally figured out how to manage something in my D&D campaign that I'd been uncertain of for quite some time. And we're almost done with combat-heavy sessions for a bit, thank goodness. I like planning them, but they are not my favorite sessions to run.

Reading!

• The biggest reading event of the month happened at the start of the month: the end of Dracula Daily on November 6. It was a very good ending, but I was also so sad that it was over! I was quite attached to the whole cast by the end, and I enjoyed receiving my semi-daily updates from them in my inbox. At some point, I'll read the book in the traditional fashion, but I do think this was the best way to experience it. (I was also amused to realize that Bram Stoker is just as allergic to falling action as I am, if not more so.)
• Aside from finishing Dracula, I finished rereading the League of Princes series, which was fun. I also continued my Goldstone Wood reread with Starflower and Dragonwitch. And I have to say, I had forgotten just how good Dragonwitch is. Or I didn't appreciate it as much when I first read it. Something. It's so good. And Alistair is such an underrated character. Dear goodness.
• My two new reads this month were Dana Illwind and Growing Shadows by Arthur Daigle and Relapsed by H.L. Burke. Both were quite good. I enjoyed the Dana Illwind stories in the Fellowship of Fantasy anthologies, and the book was more of the same. I'll have to get my hands on the sequel sometime. And Relapsed was a prequel to the Supervillain Rehabilitation Project series, so it was fun to see Fade when he was younger and going through the program the first time.

Watching!

• November and December tend to be the months in which I watch the most movies and shows, and this year looks like it'll follow that pattern.
• I finished Over the Garden Wall towards the start of the month. I thought it was a good show overall, one I'll probably rewatch if I have time. It is, of course, a story about brotherhood, and a story about stories, and a story about not being destroyed by despair, all of which I can appreciate. I think the fact that I'd seen so much analysis and meta-analysis and so forth before watching it meant I enjoyed it more, since I was able to watch for and pick up on themes that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. Of course, I also liked that it was . . . y'know. It's a silly, slightly spooky show meant to be enjoyable for all ages and aimed a lot at kids.
• Skipping to the end of the month, we have Christmas movies! I fully admit that I'm a bit weird and picky with what Christmas movies I like (and dislike), but there are some that I generally want to watch ever year. We squeezed in two movies while my sister was home for Thanksgiving: Shop Around the Corner (which is not explicitly a Christmas movie, but does take place at Christmas, so . . . it counts) and The Lemon-Drop Kid (which is one of my favorites). I was hoping we'd get to watch White Christmas then, but oh well.
• Other than that, I ended up rewatching some of the early Fairy Tail episodes midway through the month (because I was too tired for new stuff and also sometimes I miss the characters — by which I mostly mean that I miss Erza). I had forgotten how long the power sequences are at the start of the show, so that was an adjustment. And I was also a bit amused to realize that the characters start doing their whole "defeat the villains the the power of friendship by befriending at least one villain" so early. I had forgotten that, but it does explain why I like the show so much.
• One last movie I almost forgot — I ended up with an unoccupied evening around the start of the month and rewatched Where Eagles Dare with my family. It's a good movie, and it's much better when you've seen it once before and therefore have an easier time telling people apart.

Life!

• I FINISHED MY SCARF.
• That was, obviously, not the most important thing that happened this month . . . but it is a thing that happened and was quite exciting. I also learned how to do a Russian yarn join when my yarn broke in the middle of a row, so that was cool.
• In terms of big events: my birthday was midway through the month, so that was fun. One of my coworkers made me cheesecake, and my mom made an utterly delicious caramel apple cheesecake pie.
• And, of course, we had Thanksgiving! My sister was able to come home for the weekend with one of her friends, thankfully. I've missed her quite a lot. Sadly, we didn't get to play Sentinels, but it was still good to see her. As per the usual, our Bible study had Thanksgiving together. It was a smaller group than we typically have, but still fun. I made rolls (non-sourdough), and my family also brought pie and sweet potato casserole.
• And in accordance with tradition, we put up the Christmas tree and decorated the day after Thanksgiving! I've been working on Christmas-related stuff pretty much all month at work, so I was READY for the season to start, if for no other reason than so I can finally listen to Christmas music.
• Speaking of work, it's been every bit as busy as I expected, but it's been generally good. Christmas and Advent is my favorite season to design for because the colors are just so lovely — deep blues and rich reds and bright golds and forest greens and snowy whites, my beloveds! And motifs of candles and stars and shimmering lights and occasionally snowflakes — it's lovely, ok? It makes me very happy.
• And . . . yeah. I think that about covers everything. It was a busy month, but not an eventful month.

December Plans

• CHRISTMAS.
• Also, THROUGH A SHATTERED GLASS RELEASE MONTH!
• Um, yeah. That pretty much sums it up. I will be spending most of the month, both at work and at home, gearing up for one or both of those and also praying for good weather around Christmas so my grandpa can come down and visit.
• I'd also like to finish Bastian Dennel, PI #4 by the end of the year, but given that December is usually really busy . . . we'll see. I'll do my best, but I'm also not holding my breath.
• And, of course, Christmas season means crafting, though not on the scale that I've done the last couple years. My biggest gift crafts are already finished and wrapped, so from here it'll just be one or two small, hopefully quick things. I do still need to figure out what I'm getting some people, though that's not exactly unexpected.

How was your November? Any exciting plans for December? Are you ready for the holidays? What season's colors are your favorites? What's your favorite Christmas movie? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!