Heidi was accustomed to working with all sorts of pumpkins. Big ones, small ones, green ones, warty ones, spotted ones. She’d never worked with an angry pumpkin though.
Until now.
The angry pumpkin was picked by one of her many assistants who managed the pumpkin-picking.
“Just look at its face,” he exclaimed. “This one barely needs any carving.”
Heidi went to check out the pumpkin in question herself. She agreed it did have quite the unusual countenance, and perhaps a faint air of malice. Filled with potential, certainly. It was hard to tell with pumpkins pre-carving sometimes. Only after the carving would they come to life, embrace the fire within and lose the earthly trappings of guts and seed. She wouldn’t really know the personality until she had carving tools in hand and the pumpkin on her work bench.
Welcome to the Catalyst Hijinks in Progress Newsletter (Chip’n).
I have a favor to ask! Would you help me out? I’m on the hunt for new playlist recommendations. Grungy, tranquil, inspired, absolutely hyped, you name it, if you have a playlist that gives you feels please send the link my way or comment it!
I’m so excited for the next two months because I’ll spend March warming up for April’s Camp NaNoWriMo, then drafting the second half of the last book in the HOOD trilogy in April! I have been looking forward to this moment for years, ever since I realized this story was a trilogy. The End is around the corner, which is such an exhilarating feeling.
What about edits to Book 1 of HOOD, you ask? Well, the other great news this month is I passed my GIAC GCLD cybersecurity certification, which means my free time is available for writing once again! For everyone interested, of course I’ll be writing a blog post about my experience taking the amazing SANS 488 training and studying for the GIAC GCLD certification soon, stay tuned.
I am over the moon to increase my writing time exponentially the rest of the year.
I had a breakthrough revising Chater 6! My NaNo-warmup goal for March is to write 20,000 words. In October my NaNo-Warmup goal was high and I ended up only writing 5,000 words, my low goal is to beat that. I’ll keep you posted!
Reading 📚 I started reading a ton more books in Jan and Feb that are only now getting finished. Coming up next below:
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff – My favorite book so far in 2024! Think Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods meets The Last of Us, if written by Rupi Kaur. I wouldn’t believe you if you described a book to me this way, but then I’d want to read it immediately. I have never read a more beautifully written edge-of-my-seat horror story.
Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson – Speaking of horror! I guess I am taking a turn for the horror side of fantasy lately. This book is awesome and wins an award for one of the most gruesome fantasies I’ve ever read.
House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas – On the other end of the fantasy spectrum, there is Sarah J Maas. Though, this one is also taking a darker turn! Maybe that’s a mood for 2024.
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros - Fantasy
Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them by Antonio Padilla – Science nonfiction
Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs – Fantasy
Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett – Fantasy
Watching 🎆 The Lost Boys to experience “Peak 80s” and wow it sure was peak 80s.
Listening 🎶 Please send me any awesome playlists that give you feels! I have been listening to the fabulous TEXAS HOLD ‘EM and my old fave “Fantasy Board Gaming” playlist.
Wishing you a lucky leap day!
She/Her
Fantasy Writer | Cybersecurity Consultant | Provider of Cat Treats | Blount Scholar
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