It’s July, which means we’re somehow already halfway through 2025. Does time go by fast when the year is insanity? Something to ponder. Let’s get into it!
The last couple months have, admittedly, escaped me.
The day job has been a bit stressful with several people leaving over the course of two months. This, sadly, included my (only) other purchasing colleague, who had moved here to Canada from Brasil two years ago. Unfortunately, immigration got real expensive and lengthy real fast, and he and his family have now moved to Dublin, of all places! I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit envious, but he’s doing well and I’m glad to know that. This week, I feel like I’m finally catching up to my workload. Normality, whatever that looks like, is on the horizon!
In some health news – since last summer, I’ve been experiencing sudden and random food poison symptoms (for lack of a better way to describe it) after eating. It’s impossible to know when it will happen: I could have dinner and be fine, then have the exact same leftovers the following day and be ill. And the migraines that sometimes follow are murderous. My doctor had me do ultrasounds and blood work, and they all came back clean and negative for anything that could be causing it, which just leaves changing my diet up and getting outside more. Best outcome I could’ve asked for, really. I’m very glad I don’t have to get more blood work done, I pass out so easily 😂
Last Sunday, we had a 4″ cast iron pipe burst in our living room – our first home shenanigans! We were very lucky, all the water pooled into a low point in our floor so we didn’t lose anything furniture, possessions, electronics, nothing. And bless the wall that it burst in held around 3′-4′ of water, because it wasn’t bubbling or sagging at all. If it hadn’t started to leak out from underneath the wall itself, we’d never have known. The plumbing and restoration humans have been amazing, coming out to our place on a Sunday so quickly. We’ve had dehumidifiers running since last weekend, and they were finally removed on Monday. Now we wait for the drywall repairs, and then we’ll need to start pricing out a new floor.
I’m going to spend this summer doing more art than writing, focusing on mostly digital. I haven’t done much art since before we moved, for a number of reason (stress and motivation are constantly at war), but with I received a tablet as a gift from a very dear friend of mine that I’ve finally begun to use, now is as good a time as any.
First and foremost: I’m very pleased to share that the paperback for From the Throat of the Eldest Daughter is now live on Amazon! It’s the first time I’ve used colour and margin positioning correctly, and I’m very happy with how it’s turned out. It’s on the smaller side (around 30-40 pages), making it a lovely quick read.
If you purchase, please make sure to leave a review! ❤
My progress on Women of the Eternal in the recent weeks has been stunted, what with work and the news being what it is. I’ve drafted up to chapter ten, with a couple organic changes for both plot and character development cropping up. WOTE didn’t start out very heavy on the romance, it was more meant to be a narrative of loss, grief, and learning to overcome it. That narrative is still there, but now there’s much more exploration of relationships and the varying types that exist. I’d like to think that the story has been growing alongside with me, and looking back on the first drafts of WOTE, I’d say we’ve both come along way.
In between slogging through WOTE and publishing the above, I’ve been plugging away at some fanfiction that I treat as writing practice, guilty pleasure, and hobby. You can find the first installment, Living Tarot, right here. I’ll be posting slowly here as they come to fruition, as well as on my AO3 account. I believe there is value in writing fanfiction as a writer specifically. It gives you an established playground for you to flex your creative muscles on, as well as learning how to plot out timelines, build and develop characters, and twist worlds to your needs while sticking to a guideline.
I’m also working on revitalizing the Plutorium, an art and merch shop that I’ve been toying with on and off for a couple years. mostly focusing on stickers, notebooks, and simple apparel designs. It’s main themes surround writing and witchcraft with terrible humour, while being dedicated to the deities I work closely with, but I’ve not promoted it at all and I don’t want it to languish in the dust forever. So keep an eyeball out for news on that in the future!
Audio Delights
Because I require music for everything from chores to just existing (the joys of ADHD), my tastes have been a bit all over the board, but I’ve been intently listening to 一分不值的誓言- 最后一页足够爱 by DJ.Au, Fantastic Baby by BIGBANG, Dynamite by Prof, Ghosttown, and 4ÆM by Grimes.
READING PLEASURES
I am woefully under-read right now. I have plenty to read, but no motivation to read anything :’). I will make it a goal to try and read something before my next newsletter.
MAGIC MUSINGS
My witch well has also be fairly empty lately. Between watching the news and struggling to stay afloat at work, my energy has been redirected to keeping up with daily chores and motions. In an effort to spark joy in myself again, I’ll be trying out Artfight this year, keeping it small and as least stressed as possible.
Thank you for reaching the end of this letter; I hope you stay safe, sane, and feral this summer.
the baleful primal 
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