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Have I mentioned that I’ve started using WordPress’s Blocks editor to write my blog posts after using the classic editor for so long? Well, it’s true. And while I did not care for it at first, I admit I’ve grown to like it. It’s simpler to write posts, simpler to create headings and section breaks, and so on. So yeah, it’s true. I like the Blocks Editor.

Anyway, here’s a brief update on my life and what’s going on, writing-wise and otherwise.

Writing

I talk about this all the time, so this section will be short. I have several projects going on right now:

• Padma, a novel about a medical student who keeps having visions of the end of the world (it’s a lot more complicated than that, but that’s the core). I wrote the first draft for NaNoWriMo back in, uh, 2017, and submitted it to my writers’ group for critique in, uh, 2019. And now I’m revising it, at long last. I plan on finishing this revision by June 30. I have a couple of accountability buddies who’ve been bugging me about this, too, so I think I’ll hit that deadline.
• Witness to the Scourge, a novel essentially about Sacramento and the Fae folk who live here. It’s got history of the city, hints of the tremendous cultural diversity we’ve got going on, and more! I’m currently worldbuilding this one, which means I’m setting up the magic system, the culture of the Fae, and so on. I plan on starting the first draft in July.
• Story of the Week, which I’ve been updating you on as I draw the prompts from the Story Engine deck and its expansions.

I haven’t had any sales or publications yet this year, but that’s to be expected: I have submitted anything either. I decided to put a hiatus on submissions while I write all these stories of the week, so that I would have more words “in the stable”, so to speak. It’s going well so far!

Okay, maybe that wasn’t as brief as I’d planned.

Employment

I can’t really talk about my job all that much, but I can say I am on the lookout for a new one. My resume is up to date, and my LinkedIn account has been updated as well. There’s nothing shocking about this. My boss at the only private sector web-development job I’ve ever had told me it’s always a good idea to have your resume up to date, no matter how much you enjoy your job and how secure it feels. You can see my resume online at Indeed here. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Politics

Ugh.

Health

My asthma has been treating me well! I haven’t had a flare-up this year, although seasonal allergies (this year seems to be a lot worse than years past, and my pulmonologist confirms this observation) have me using my Albuterol inhaler a lot more than usual. Not enough to consider going on oral steroids, though.

Speaking of oral steroids like Prednisone, did you know that prolonged use of oral steroids, like life-long asthmatics are prone to, can cause cataracts in the eyes? My ophthalmlogist told me this at my last eye exam when he noticed some haziness in my left eye. He told me that I could be looking at cataract surgery in about eight years. So that’s a thing.

I still have hypertension and gout, but those are well under control with diet, exercise, and medication, so I don’t worry about those at all, aside from making sure I take my meds regularly. I have recently noticed that the pharmacist will point out the out-of-pocket cost of my meds in addition to the co-pay I shell out. Yay insurance? Of course, I vaguely remember a time when there was no such thing as a co-pay for drugs or visits as long as you had insurance. Of course, that was decades ago. I could go on a rant about the health industry in the US but I won’t.

Media I’m Consuming

Reading: You can always find out what I’m reading by going to my blog and checking out the right-hand column. But here you go anyway: I’m currently reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It’s wonderful, and fascinating. Actually, I’ve been reading this for a couple of months now. It rewards a slow read because the language is so lush and delightful.

I’m also reading Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary. It’s a brief history of Islam, basically, with a focus on how Islam interacts with other civilizations, and it’s fascinating. I’m only on chapter four, but I look forward to getting into it in more depth.

Television: Jennifer and I are mostly watching baking competition shows and Hallmark mystery movies because they’re mostly brainless entertainment. Without Jennifer, I’ve been watching Severance on Apple TV, and it’s been breaking my tiny little brain. I love it.

Music: At the moment, I’m listening to Set Sail for the Golden Age by Antti Martikainen. Heavy metal meets history. It’s a mood album, centered on the Golden Age of Piracy. Because pirates.

But I’m also caught up in listening to the entire discography of Tom Waits, since I own it all now, though not in order. I’m caught up in “Hell Broke Luce” from his album Bad As Me. The video is here:

That’s all I got for now. Be safe, be kind, and have fun.