tiffanyshearn

Soccer, Heatwaves, and Editor’s Block

I will keep this week’s post short as we are going through a heatwave in the Puget Sound area right now. To help our AC out a bit, I am trying to keep as many electronics turned off as possible. We are supposed to hit record temps today and tomorrow. This will likely be the hottest we have ever reached here on record.

Even with the heat, I managed to go to two soccer games in Seattle this week with the Sounders back in action after the international break. We stayed hydrated and braved the heat to watch the Sounders win four of six points between the two games. It is exciting to spend time in Seattle again and support local businesses before spending the time in the stands with our fellow supporters.

My niece toughed out a COVID test to make sure she was eligible to join Grandpa and me for the game!

These things are not helping my editor’s block. As far as my book goes, I’m working through the final major edit before it will go to a copy editor and back out to betas. Even before these convenient – but probably not helpful – distractions, I was slogging through it rather ponderously. I have more distractions in store for this week, but I should make some progress in between. If I don’t make progress in that time, I’m promising myself I will dedicate time on the fifth of July to knock out a couple of chapters at least. Maybe that will shake off the dust and regain momentum.

Stay cool out there!

Back to the Table Top RPG

Happy Father’s Day all! Today’s post is all about my Dungeons & Dragons game earlier this week. It was great to get back together with friends this week to play D&D again. We have not been together as a group since the lockdowns ramped up early last summer. There were reunion hugs all around.

We did not jump straight back into the Mad Mage campaign. Instead, we treated this session as a reboot to become reacquainted with the PCs and the campaign so far. Some of my players are newer to the game than others, so the time set aside to read PC abilities and ask questions was helpful.

We also talked about PC motivations. Treating Mad Mage like a straight dungeon crawl creates a rather boring game, so I’m looking to put some of the story’s drive onto my players by knowing and playing to PC motivations. To help that along, we talked about how to apply their motivations in the game setting.

The bulk of the session was filled with mock encounters to get players back in the rhythm of actually playing their characters. I had the players provide some scenarios I could prepare ahead of time and randomized them.

They first encountered a carrion crawler nest with a gleaming gold helm upon the skull of a skeleton within. The rogue snuck forward in preparation for the tiefling casting darkness over the enormous worms, but she needed to move forward to do so. She crept a short distance into the room, then promptly turned around and shouted back at the rest of the party.

“Is this far enough?” Anakis asked them loudly.

This stealth check did not succeed, and the combat was on. While this distraction took place, Ashe the rogue sprinted forward, grabbed the helm, and rushed back to safety with it in hand.

The final battle of the evening was against some ankheg. Ashe and his player were feeling a little snarky at this point, and it did not end up working as well for him this time.

“I taste the dirt.” He says sarcastically.

“Roll me a con saving throw.”

“I roll a…”

“Poisoned.”

“13. You didn’t even wait for the number.”

*Evil grin. *

He also tried to move away from one of the ankheg, and I rolled a critical on the opportunity attack. That allowed me to do a fair amount of damage and disrupt his plans. He has a slippery character, so it was fun for me to catch him for once.

We get back to the campaign on our monthly cycle in July, so it will be fun to see how they continue to tackle the first level. I’m sure I will have more stories of cleverness and mishaps!

Murder Mystery – Cat Edition

I walked into my living room to see Little Cat’s feet flopping out from under the blanket covering the footrest. My first reaction? Big Cat needs to learn how to hide the bodies better. I naturally took a picture for evidence and went hunting for the perpetrator.

After endless seconds of searching, I found him cleverly hiding in a place no one would think to look. He glared out at me from the Cat Cave, and I backed off to avoid the killer’s claws and fangs. Accepting my retreat, he promptly went back to his post-murder napping.

“I am unamused.” – Big Cat

Do not fear cat-loving friends. Little Cat’s feet twitched chasing mice in her cat-dreams moments ago, and Big Cat’s frighteningly large claws only come out when he is playing with toys. They are still healthy and begrudgingly getting along as we approach Little Cat’s first birthday later in the summer.

In other news around the house, I decided to spend money on an electronic notebook. I have wanted one for some time now. It is frustrating to have writing notes for book ideas scattered around in different paper notebooks and different places around the house. I have trouble finding some of them again, so I wanted something I could easily write in, save, file, and sort.

I went with the reMarkable 2. It has a 30-day free trial, so I figured I was not risking too much if I hated it. No, I did not do a lot of research on all the options available. I did look at reviews and feedback on this one, so I did half the research for my decision-making purpose. So far, I like it. The ballpoint pen option is my favorite style, and the stylus feels pretty natural.

I have not tried the convert to text feature yet. I like it looking like notes, so that might be a situational feature for me. This week we FINALLY have our D&D reboot, so I might get to try connecting it to a screen in that session to share drawings. (I will probably be sharing how the reboot goes next weekend!) Preliminarily it looks good for keeping it, but I will let you know if it angers me and ends up getting sent back.

Hidden Memory Status Update

A brief status update today on my path to publication!

I wrote previously on my findings on alpha readers, and Hidden Memory (book 1) has been out with my expanded alpha reader list for more of this initial feedback. My work of late has been on filling out some of the gaps in book 2 of the series. I finished my run at it this week and will be moving back to addressing the new feedback on Hidden Memory.

Before I jump into this round of editing, I am researching some of the administrative/business work. Some of this was speaking with an accountant about how the taxes would work and if I would need a new LLC for selling my books and doing state taxes. While I am still debating on the LLC part, I will need to do business under my name and pay B&O taxes. Based on the thresholds, I think I will only have to file those taxes annually. Unless all of you spread the word so thoroughly Hidden Memory hits the top of the charts right out of the gate. Crazier things have happened.

The publication checklist I received through some friends gives me a lot to think about for action items to complete soon. I have been focusing on frontmatter and backmatter. This work has been reading example acknowledgments and about the author sections in preparation for writing mine with the names on my acknowledgment list. This location also has good information on copyright pages that I have found useful for the frontmatter.

Feedback from a couple of alpha readers indicates a map would be helpful, so I am looking into a simplified version of the Inkarnate map I maintain for my use during writing to include at the front of the book. It will need a note about a cartographically challenged author and distances being more accurate as written than drawn. At least it will be directionally accurate. I also enjoy maps in books I read. The final map will need experimentation on how it translates into the e-book, but I have some time to verify.

One decision I am debating is the second format to target for publication. Do I look at turning the e-book into a physical book or an audiobook? Both have their merits, and over time I will likely get to both, but I think I only want to tackle one at a time. If you have any preferences or thoughts on this question, I would love to know what those are and your reasoning.

Gratitude

I usually try to post each weekend, so this one is a day late. While I could pretend I was saving this topic for Memorial Day, I was honestly taking a couple of lazy days and did not sit in front of a computer long enough to write it yesterday.

During your celebrations today, I hope you can take a moment to express gratitude for those who gave their lives to protect the freedom of others. Though our world and our country are not perfect, we have the freedom to – each of us independently and together – strive to continue making this a better place today and for future generations.

Did you know? Each year on Memorial Day a national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time.
Memorial Day – History.com

Last year I was working through some confidence and self-esteem issues. It is a constant battle for me but was especially difficult at that time for a few reasons. The counselor I worked with at the time recommended Brené Brown’s material to me. Brené Brown is a psychological researcher who has done a fair portion of her work around vulnerability and gratitude.

In her video Call to Courage, she mentions discussing gratitude with people who have experienced tragedy, like a holocaust survivor, and how she felt guilty for her own complaints because of what they went through in comparison. The response was that people with normal lives – who had the privilege of NOT experiencing such tragedy – showing gratitude for that normalcy was the best thing they could do.

“…practice gratitude to honor what’s ordinary about our lives, because that is what’s truly extraordinary.”
Brené Brown

Gratitude is not guilt. It is not boasting. It is thankfulness for what you have in your life and in this moment. Thank you for stopping by and taking the time with me to recognize the sacrifices others have made and their contributions to our lives.