Dear kind reader,
we’re treading to the end of a year and I don’t know how to feel about. Before I delve into this and other things, please make sure you’re cosy. I hope you’re enjoying your beverage of choice because it’s… frankly a lot which is coming together into this final month of 2024.

Life In Consuming Times

In the passing of this year, my feeling for time has slipped more and more my fingers. It’s like slime, sticky but also not graspable to me and as time passes, it’s become much more of a loose thing. Until a couple days into December, I was still convinced that it was still Autumn and my calendar has been playing tricks on me. My days have been very concise into a few parts – Waking up, breakfast, off to work, get back home and prep food for work, shower, sleep. This has been the very essence of all my months since roughly August. I barely noticed Summer leaving me behind if it was not for the drop of temperatures. But it was mid September when this happened. Afterwards it’s been only Autumn and until I’ve put a book down, my goodbye to one of my favourite seasons, I was not even aware we had Winter. If I could, I’d still be in denial. Somewhere among these threads of time, I must’ve lost pieces of my heart and more fragments of my mind. While my body is moving, everything else is simply lost on me. Honestly, I don’t think I have been this severely tired and hungry for a change to something kinder in a long time. Maybe it has to do with the situation at work because:
The bookshop is buzzing with life, people buying last minute gifts for the holidays. It is filled with noise, lights, smell and this entirety is somewhat overriding my nerves. But it is only for a bit longer and I’ll enjoy my few days off. And I hopefully get to rest and hopefully rearrange one of my bookshelves in that time. The latter part is nothing I actively plan but is somewhat a wish. (I won’t be mad at myself if I don’t do that.)
Despite drowning in responsibilities at times, I’ve better things to talk about:

From The Typewriter

The clock has never stopped ticking away as my fingers press the keys of a… well, far modernised typewriter. Alias my laptop. The real typewriter is still sitting in the attic of my parents‘ place, waiting for me to pick it up.
As you might know or as I tried to let things trickle through between parts, I’m working on another project aside TWaTST. More than the first 10k (roughly 13k by now) words have been typed away in the blink of an eye (roughly 2 months) and somehow it feels not real that so much has been transcribed from my brain into a document. Anyway, I told myself that whenever I get to hit the first ten thousand words, I would share a snippet. Of course, the identity of my characters and much of the context will remain a mystery. For now! I want to slowly reveal bits and bobs as I go. But for now, please enjoy this bit:

A snippet from very far at the start of the adventure. I’ve it somewhat watermarked because it is a WIP and I don’t know if things change.

The working title is “Fear Is A Wretched Thing” and it is coming along pretty nicely so far and – the main characters really push me through things, even when I don’t want to. They embody so many emotions, thoughts and – everything feels very graspable to me, although I know that everything is just a fictional story in a made up world with characters which are somewhat only a paw in a game but also more. It feels like there could be said so much more about the people who only exist in the shadows of the spotlight. I seriously could imagine writing fanfictions or a side story of a few minor characters simply to give them more depth at some point. I can’t say much about it from the current point, just that the story is far from being done. Yet.

The Adventurous Path of A Reader

Although most of my time is spend at my work space, I still keep a book in my rucksack. I have a tendency to be too early for my shift and that spare time, I mostly write or read. (It depends if I carry my laptop or a novel with me.) For now, I am trying to finish a few of the books I have started or think of the once I managed to read to the end. However, I don’t know how far I get with them.

The Underwood Tapes by Amanda DeWitt (e-ARC of Netgalley)

I could gush of this little adventure between Grace and Jake who communicate through tapes in a time bending way while finding pieces and hints of a secret which the town, Hermitage, tries so hard to hide.

It is a beautiful book of friendship which surpasses time, taking healing steps in grief and possibly finding a bit hope in this new and possibly still complicated new chapter of life. In case you ask – Yes, I preordered my copy in hopes to finally annotate it.

Don’t Let The Forest In – C. G. Drews

Maybe I have spoken about it before when I was arc-reading this book. Now, I am rereading and adding my annotations to the pages. And those are plenty!
I just love this tale of boys who have a rotten core where a heart should be, a forest which tries to put an end to you and a truth which hides in the darkest part of your soul.

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

This novel was a perfect way to say my goodbyes to this Autumn as it finally left my porch to greet Winter (even though we were already into December). It still hurts a bit to think that this year is over in a few days. But it is also such a relief to leave some things behind. A fresh start into 2025. Just like for Isobel when she met with Rook, a total different kind of client for a portrait.

Music Keeps Me Occupied In This Craze

Ma Mieulleure Ennemie by Stromae and Pomme

I promise, after finishing Arcane, this song has been one of the many from the entire OST which keeps coming back into my playlist whenever I’m on a go. As it should. It wrenches hearts at the right spots and mends them at the same way. I’ve loved Stromae’s music when I was younger and it is beautiful to just come back to that. I take this as a launching pad to dive into the discography of both artists.

The Yawning Grave by Lord Huron

I have a tendency to return to the songs of this artist whenever I write. Honestly, not one of my WIPs does not feature at least one of his songs in my writing playlists. The Yawning Grave really gives me the vibes which I try to get down in the first Part of the story I’m writing on. So yeah, it’s on repeat a lot.

To The Ends of The World by Lord Huron

Another song by this artist and another song which is pretty much the main theme of the current horror-ish WIP.

Kom Lunkom by Kiiora

In between I like to simply drown the world out in instrumentals which teleport you into a different dream, a different mindset, simply anywhere but here. And this one really makes my internal adventurer happy.

Parting Words and Hopes For The Next Time

The next time we see each other again is in the new year. I hope, dear kind reader, that you’re spending the holidays in a way which feels comfortable to you. And that a good cup of tea or hot chocolate keeps you company.

Merry Christmas and a happy, good start into the new year. See you in 2025.

With Love,

Skylar