October has come and gone, and thus it’s time for another monthly State of the Soul. I have a lot to cover today, so let’s get to it!
First things first, writing. The biggest piece of writing news I have is the Between You, Me, and the Moonlit Sea Backerkit campaign is LIVE right now as part of the Book Bazaar! If you haven’t preordered BYMMS yet and you want to get in on it, now is the time! Print books, ebooks, merch, and more are all available! Please visit the Backerkit to learn more.
I’ve worked so hard on BYMMS — am still working hard on it — so it would mean a lot to me if you’d look into it and pledge if you’re interested in reading it. This campaign is vital to getting it finished, as part of the proceeds go to paying my editor.
October was also the final month of the Science Fantasy Jam, so I took a little break from BYMMS to get out a few chapters of my SciFanJam project, Pierce the Sky. I released early editions of the first three chapters for free as a teaser. You can pick them up on Itchio, or find them in the ‘Free Chapters’ collection here on Patreon. Keep in mind, these are early editions and are subject to change as I continue to work on the story.
I love PTS so much and am so excited to return to it next year, once BYMMS is finished. Please look forward to it!
On the 22nd (my birthday!) I released an illustrated short story called “The Wolf Who Caught the Phoenix.” DarkChibiShadow provided the art, I took care of the writing. It’s a sweet story about a trans prince and his most loyal knight. You can find out more about it on Itchio, and purchase it for $2.99. This project was done for Transhet Jam #2, so be sure to check out the other projects in that jam while you’re there!
Now for some life news: as mentioned, my birthday was this month. I have a long history of getting very depressed around my birthday for Complicated Aging Reasons, so for the last several years I have done my best to mitigate that by setting up fun plans and events during my birth month. This year I was able to do some really cool stuff that made me happy. Most notably, I was finally able to get a tattoo I’ve been saving for and planning since January. You might remember seeing this art on my social media at the beginning of the year:
Well, on Halloween, I finally got the first 2/3rds of this tattoo done.
In November I’ll go back for shading and some coloring on the flowers. I ended up getting it on my calf because, due to the details, it wouldn’t fit anywhere else I wanted it. That’s okay, though. I’m just happy to finally have it. ♥ This is probably the last large tattoo I’ll be getting — aside from a cover-up I’m doing at… some point.
But! That wasn’t the only tattoo I got! I was able to get a second, smaller one as well. I finally got something for Pokemon, which has been a lifelong love of mine. I plan to get something else Pokemon-related later, but for now I stayed small and got a Lunar Wing (Lunar Feather in later gens) on my arm, beside my Final Fantasy XI tattoo.
I feel so fortunate to have been able to get both these done for my birthday. Tattoos are a form of self-love for me, a way to make me like my body when I so, so often dislike it, so to be able to grace it with some new art makes me very happy.
And that covers October! November is going to be a busy month. I’m working hard on BYMMS once again and doing what I can for the Backerkit campaign. Remember, it ends on November 19th, so be sure to check it out before then if you’re interested in it! And be sure to check out what else the Book Bazaar has to offer!
Now then, it’s time for me to get back to work. Until next time. ♥