Hello kind reader,

please make sure that your seat is comfortable and you got your cup filled something gentle like tea. Because if I thought 2024 was a ride, this month’s putting us – in all kind of sense – through it, too. Anyway, let’s begin:

The Messy Road of a Life Being Lived

If I had to describe how most of February has felt to me, I’d say it is a bit of a wobbly walk through a garden which had been freshly rained on. The ground is muddy and eating your shoes while the petrichor is alluding you to a tiny bit of hope. But I am clenching onto this small thing, this hope, with both hands because it is just the beginning of the year. It is not the end of the world. (I hope.)
Other than that, my hope for the coming parts of this year is: Breathing. For my chest to feel at least not as tight as it currently does.
Nonetheless, my best friend and I found us inside a small theatre to watch Swan Lake as a ballet performance. It was the first time for me to watch ballet in person and it was great. I seriously enjoyed it.
It’s one of my smaller joys for now. Otherwise, the three of us still find time together and just let go. As in of stress, as in we just listen to music of a playlist we share which gets jumbled with different songs from time to time, depending on what we listen to a lot over time. And in March, I look forward to us finding time to just go out and have a meal as the little chaotic group we are (which is in company with two of our other wonderful people we somewhat adopted into our little circle. c: )

Constant Clicking of Typewriters and Ink Stuck Between My Nail

Fear Is A Wretched Thing is at the cusp of reaching the 30k word count. However, I have not touched it in a tiny bit, although that was less of a choice and more caused by the stress gnawing on my brain from my day job.
Nonetheless, I am extremely proud for having still managed a bit. In this case, it is the narrative style which I have changed. To the beginning of writing this WIP, it was a first person narration. But I switched to a third person to get depth but also some distance at the same time. For the next draft of this story, I’m very aware that I will add more introspective parts, more flash backs perchance and a bit more of bone to the backstory of my main characters. Sometimes it feels like I miss a bit but the state of the first draft is not even near to be properly edited. Which is fine! That’s a first draft is for – to tell yourself this utter mess of a story and to later form it into a graspable narrative. And I just look forward to continue working on this. Whenever my mind and characters will let me.

What I’ve Read Under January’s and February’s Roof:

If I have to be honest, I’m a bit afraid that I hit a reading slump. It’s always the beginning of the year, where I excel in my reading amount and somewhat speed while to the later parts, I significantly drop down in that. But this is a bit of a constant fear that my passion for reading slows down. And maybe it is also the reason why I’m a bit at fault for putting stress on my own shoulders. Having a slight fear of running out of time is not one of my greatest characteristics, I suppose. Anyway – this gets a bit too deep. Let’s just take a look at what’s been on this and last month’s reading menu:

January

-The Shepherd King’s Duology (One Dark Window & Two Twisted Crowns) by Rachel Gillig

-The Tea Dragon Society (vol. 1) by K. O’Neil

-The Haunting Between Us by Paul Michael Winters (e-ARC via Netgalley)

-Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald

-Veil vol. 1 & 2 by Kotteri (e-ARC via Netgalley)

-The Library of Shadows by Rachel Moore

-The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones

February

-A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

-Cruel Is The Light by Sophie Clark

-Thunder and Daisy by Mercedes Paradiso

-Dominate Me by Eve Healy

Anyways, I’m still trying to figure out what I want to start March with because my bookish cart is still filled with interesting books, which I want to get around this year but also finish after having put them off for a bit. Maybe it is time to bring back my TBR jar. It definitely would be happy to help. What do you think?

Well, I guess our cups did get empty over this lovely conversation. And the place here seems to be closing soon. At least for today. How about we find each other here again next month?
Whatever it will be like, I hope it’s going to be gentle.

With love,

Skylar