April 24, 2020

Author Check-In: Quarantine Edition

Hey, friends. How you all doing? Been a hot minute since I last wrote here. I was planning to resume a somewhat regular blogging schedule in the February/March window, but, well… *gestures vaguely at the world*

Anyway, wanted to pop in and offer you what scant few updates I can.

1) First up! So far, I am well, and managing okay in lockdown, and I hope you all are, too. My mental health is a bit up-and-down, but I imagine that’s true for most people these day, so, can’t really complain. Trying to remember that I could have things so much worse. Please keep social distancing and following current safety precautions. This is not the time to be careless and apathetic. (I mean, is it ever? But especially now.)

2) Because of all that, it is proving a struggle to work on my books, not gonna lie. I keep trying things, in an effort to build back some semblance of routine. Some of it works better than others. Despite everything, somehow I am still making progress? Slowly, but I will take whatever I can get right now.

3) I took this photo of Nova recently and it’s quickly become one of my new favorites, and yes, that totally counts as a valid update:

4) I’ve also been in a pretty bad reading slump during all this (I still have not read the library book that got trapped with me when they shut down about 6 weeks ago, despite the fact that I was really anticipating it), but I have been enjoying some truly wonderful, random entertainments that help keep my spirits up and my mind off the situation at hand. Such as:

Playing The Sims more hardcore than I have in years, in part thanks to the influence of…
Lilsimie and Vixella’s YouTube channels, which are a complete and utter delight if you like The Sims at all.
A bunch of my favorite TV shows: The Bold Type, What We Do In the Shadows, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Galavant (you can never rewatch Galavant too many times), Superstore, Lucifer, and Batwoman, off the top of my head.
Picard was also a fun ride that managed to balance nostalgia with modern storytelling pretty well—except for one episode that I won’t talk about that made me super-mad, but I can’t stay upset if they’re going in the direction it certainly looks like they’ll be going with Seven of Nine in season 2, omg please don’t disappoint me, you bastards.
Disney+, yes, I finally broke down and subscribed. No, I have not gotten around to The Mandalorian yet. First up, I needed to balm my weary heart with a million nostalgic, feel-good movies (and, in total honesty, a few modern feel-good movies—Zootopia saves my life more often than I should probably admit), and then I swiftly moved on to an all-important rewatch of the MCU, because obviously. It’s been literal years since I’ve seen some of these movies, and it needed to be done.

And that’s it for me. What about the rest of you? Are staying safe, staying entertained? Are you one of the lucky ones who can lose themselves in their creative work in times of stress, or are you, like me, struggling to find the mental space necessary to build anything of value? If you’ve been chilling and watching movies/playing games, please feel free to drop me some recs in the comments (and yes, I already know I should buy Animal Crossing, but I don’t have a Switch and right now that’s impossible to find, dammit). Be well, all. Be kind.