Hello again Fellow Adventurer!
Has this year passed by as quickly for you as well? It seems like yesterday that I wrote my previous newsletter, and yet here I sit, two conferences, lots of articles, and even some fiction later and I’m only now writing about it!
I have to add that my creativity seemed to have taken a nosedive earlier this year and became so bad that I basically had no energy (nevermind creative mojo) left for any of my own projects. Which sucked a whole lot, let’s be honest. I think the only thing that kept me sane is living in Bag End!
But, before I ramble even more, let me get started on how my creativity came back…
SASMARS 2022 and The Return of Creativity
At the beginning of September, I attended this year’s Southern African Society for Medieval and Renaissance Study’s conference (where I also gave a paper). Now, I don’t know whether it was the conversations or the surroundings (see the photos below), but the conference served to rekindle my creativity.
So, after having struggled for months to get my creativity flowing again, I sat down and wrote a microfiction story called “The Tree Remembers”. It was published by Paragraph Planet, yay!
Microfiction: “The Tree Remembers”
The tree remembers. From the acorn bursting with life, pushing through the grass towards the sun, to the blood in the fields, the bombs, the trenches, the force of fire wrenching the wood apart. The stunted tree remembers. The first rain after the sodden, fever-ridden, and gore-drenched trenches were closed. The farewells to comrades fallen. The tree feels. The wind through the new leaves, the rippling of grass and red poppies at its feet.
Oodles of articles – non-fiction and creative non-fiction
Quite a number of my articles (with my byline) have been published over the past few months. Most of them were written for The Companion, but the article “The Embroidered Dress of Willard Asylum” also appeared in PieceWork Magazine. It’s a very niche publication but has become one of my all-time favourite mags. So, seeing my work in the magazine was awesome!
Here are the links to the articles!
The Embroidered Dress of Willard Asylum, published in the Fall 2022 issue(!) of PieceWork Magazine.
Stargate: Teal’c, Tretonin, and My Chronic Illness Journey, published on The Companion website. (I should probably put a trigger warning here as it contains lots of talk about medication, mental illness and mentions suicide.)
Stargate: Atlantis in Myth: From Ancient History to Stargate’s Lost City, published on The Companion website.
Stargate: Merlin and the Holy Grail: The Medieval Myth Behind the SG-1 Storyline, published on The Companion website.
The X-Files: “El Mundo Gira”: Chupacabra and Fortean Weather in Folklore: published on The Companion website.
Stargate: “One False Step”: Mycelium Networks, Plant Consciousness, and a Warning to Mankind, published on The Companion website.
The X-Files: “Ice” in Reality: Scientific Secrets Beneath the Permafrost, published on The Companion website.
At SASMARS, I was also gifted a great little book about silkworms and silk in England: The silkewormes, and their flies: liuely described in verse, by T.M. a countrie farmar, and an apprentice in physicke. For the great benefit and enriching of England . Written by Thomas Moffett and originally published in 1599, it was released in as an academic text some years ago. The book is basically begging me to write something about it for PieceWork. Now I must just finish reading it!
Quick Writing Update: Where the Stars Used to Sing
Although all the stories for Where the Stars Used to Sing has been written already, my editor and I had a brainwave to change it into one huge story by linking them all more fully and with a specific character. This means that I am now busy rearranging the stories and outlining and adding bits and pieces here and there.
This means that Stars will only be published next year, I’m afraid. But I do think the changes are more than worth it!
Quick Writing Update: The Ruon Chronicles
Seeing as how I’m still busy with Stars, I do not have much news about The Ruon Chronicles besides noting that I am busy with The Ultimate Book Series Outline. I hope to bring you more worldbuilding and bits of the story soon, however.
Final thoughts
As the year rushes closer and closer to its end, I’m really taking a good hard look at my routine (or what’s left of it thanks to the rolling blackouts). I’m not just planning for 2023, but am also looking at ways in which I can live a healthier, more creative (and working on my own fiction and projects), and more balanced life.
I seem to be on the way to getting my writing (including the writing of the newsletter) back to a stage where I’m writing or creating at least a little every day – something that is extremely important for my mental wellbeing. Unfortunately, it’s also the first thing I seem to forget to do when I’m under a lot of stress. I need to work on that as well…
With love,
Carin
Ps. What do you think I should call the tree outside my bedroom window?