Vivienne's Adventures

  So! I did a thing! I have hired a professional editor and on Wednesday, I sent her my book! I'm super exited to have professional eyes on my story, because I've worked on it mostly by myself since I wrote the first version in what, 2011? Time is soup and I can never remember dates. But this story has changed so much! And gotten so much better, and I'm kind of amazed. I'm also really excited! It's getting much closer to being publishable--which is my ultimate goal. This will be a series, and book 2 is next on my project list.  I knew the story needed some help, and I was going to send it to a friend of mine...but then I started rereading it. Oh my heavens. I--it's so bad, you guys! I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I will make this story so much better than it is! To be fair, I have learned so much working on book 1, Hummingbird, and book 2, Ziggy, will most certainly put what I've learned into play, so here we go! Jumping in to another writing obsessio...

  Music is magical, and maybe that's just me, but I love how sometimes a song pops up in your playlist that you were just thinking about, wanting to hear again, or you listen to a song and are instantly transported to another time and place. For example, any time I listen to Kids in the Street by All-American Rejects, I get this image and sensation of being in a dark, blue-tinted place that's comfortably cool. It's kind of a mix between the music video for this song, and the one time I went to their concert. (Man, that was a fun trip!) I love the different mental associations I have with music. It's fun because it's almost like being able to revisit a memory, or a lovely version of deja vu. Then there are the songs that instantly make you bounce in place or rock along, or instantly make you happy, or mellow, or grin from ear to ear. ^_^ What are your favorite songs to listen to on repeat? (Also, please enjoy this pic of me feeling like an exotic bird after my hair d...

  Here's a throwback pic to like, 2015, when I was still doing my radio show, "Tea Time." (Ok, what can I say, I'm mildly obsessed with tea and I like practicing my British accent.) I recently went through some of my 2016 playlists from my show, and Man. I re-discovered so many songs that I love but had forgotten. So I spent...maybe an hour? putting these older favorites into a separate playlist to enjoy again, and it's a little under 15 hours long...It's only 229 songs! Only.  It's so fun to go through a playlist and click on one song, wondering, "What's this one? OH YEAH!" I fell down a musical rabbit hole and time just zipped by as if I didn't have something this afternoon with friends online. ^_^ Some of the lovely songs I rediscovered are: 2 Heads by Coleman Hell, Am I Wrong by Nico & Vinz, Angels by Morandi, Sing by Ed Sheeran, several Coldplay songs, and Word Up by Cameo which never fails to make me giggle. I love these songs! ...

  I have wonderful friends and cousins. Every now and then someone sends me a song recommendation, and it turns into me becoming obsessed with an artist for a while. No-one can take the cake from Poets of the Fall for me, but Twenty One Pilots are right up there on my list. One of my favorite songs from them is Guns For Hands. The music video is a good, but simple one, and I found it rather endearing to just see the two band members of TOP with a white background and blue and red duct tape. (Watch the video, you'll see what I mean.)  But the lyrics are really what get me, the whole idea of struggling to sleep, knowing the world is sad and broken, and feeling like there's nothing to fix it. But then, realizing that if nothing else, there are little things we can do. Reach out to those we know, express yourself with art (whatever that looks like for you) and go outside and connect with people. ^_^

  Here's a throwback pic to when I was a (blonde) DJ at UWave Radio, a local community radio station attached to UW Bothell. Man, that was fun. I was DJ Iris, had a British accent, and played a bunch of fun music for two hours each week. I've made so many playlists on Spotify to organize my shows haha! I think I still have them. Anyway, this week's theme is music, so I'm going to share some of my favorite songs.  First up is Children of the Sun by Poets of the Fall. A friend recommended one of their songs to me, Cradled In Love, and I fell in love with the Finnish band. They're fun to listen to, but Children of the Sun is my ultimate comfort song. Helps when I'm trying to go to sleep, or stressed, or upset, or just bored. I've had it memorized since shortly after it was released ^_^ How about you, what are your favorite songs?

  So! Finishing up a week of dragons, I have a writing project update for you! I had a goal of cutting out 15k from my 100k word doc before I send it to my editor, and I managed to do that! Then I had to figure out what to do next. So, instead of a heavier edit like I'd been doing, I'm doing a lighter edit to finish the manuscript. I'm really enjoying it, and still finding plenty to condense or outright remove.  It feels like trimming a bonsai tree. Don't want to trim too much away, but we still gotta trim it up so it's pretty. :D In the original word doc, I've gotten through about 60,902 words, and chopped it down to 44,142. That means I've removed 16,760 words! That's so many words. Like, how did the manuscript get so long?? But now it'll be better! And once my editor helps me finish polishing it up, this rough gem will be closer to getting published! 

  It's Thursday! Have a cute little (she's not that little) dragon! She likes to hang out on my shoulders and watch things happen. Her name is Gabby, named after one of the fun characters from a book series my mom and I listened to. (It's called NPC's and it's super fun!) Gabby, in the book, is the mayor's daughter, who was routinely kidnapped by goblins, to the point where she became part of their family, and every time they took her away, she learned new things from them. She and three other NPC's in a dnd-like world get thrown into an adventure, taking on stereotypical roles that quickly get changed around.  I like the name Gabby for a dragon partly because of another book series where all dragons had to have a name starting in G. When in doubt, I go that route and find a fun G name. ^_^ I really should wear gabby more often, it's nice to have a little companion on your shoulders. The extra weight is actually comforting. How about you, do you have a d...

  Continuing the theme of "everyone knows Vivi is obsessed with dragons," my cousin got this for me! It currently resides on my desk, the silver version of the purple and green cup my brother (really my sister's brother in law, but brother is easier to say) got me for Christmas! Currently this lovely silver cup has joined my ren faire garb stuff, in anticipation of returning to some kind of normalcy and eventually being able to run around as a pirate in the summer. Its purple twin is a permanent installation on my desk, giving me easy access to my favorite pens.  I was quite amused the other day, realizing just how many dragons I have, in various forms. I won't torment you all with posts about all of them, but there will probably be one or two more. :D I have lots of fun dragons. Oh! And writing update, I have officially hit my goal for the editing project. I managed to get 15k cut from the story, and I got about halfway through the manuscript. Question is...what come...

As pictured above, I have two fragile dragons, named Hudson and Thomas, after the awesome guys who got them for me! The little one, Hudson, was the sweetest surprise one Sunday! He's one of the kiddos at my church, and his mom is a good friend of mine. ^_^ Apparently, they know how much I love dragons, and when Hudson saw the little glass dragons on one of their family adventures, he decided I needed one. Such a sweetie ^_^ The larger dragon was acquired at a renaissance faire, in 2019 I believe. As performers, we do a bunch of shows daily, but we also usually get time to run around and shop. The faire was Huge last year, and one of the booths we passed to return to our pirate encampment was a glass blowing booth, and there were these three cute little dragons. ^_^ Thomas, pirate friend of mine, surprised me with one, and I named it after him! (I like naming all my dragons. When in doubt, name it after the person who got it for me!)

  Happy Monday, All! I've decided to switch things up a bit. For the rest of January, continuing into next month, I'm going to talk about things that I love, things that bring me joy.  First up, Dragons! I have loved dragons since I first learned what they are. I don't actually remember a time where I wasn't obsessed with dragons. I actually have several plushies, a number of figurines, and some glass dragons as well. But more on those later. These two! These two are my favorites. The hot pink dragon is Sylvia, and she's my writing muse. ^_^ I have taken her with me on a number of writing trips and adventures, and I even brought her along on a writing retreat. (If you've never been, it's amazing! I can't wait until we can do another!) She got a cousin last Christmas, who I named Lapis. (Yes, Lapis Lazuli.) Lapis is adorable and seemingly eager to help Sylvia give me all kinds of story ideas. (They're also good at being evil, by giving me so many stor...

  There are times in daily life when it's nice to feel like an adventurer. For me, that's most easily done by taking a hike in the woods, surrounded by nothing but trees, dirt, boulders, and the occasional stream. I love following a path and wondering what's around the bend. I find it so peaceful and exciting! Then there are times when I go and get my hair cut and recolored, and I get excited because it's almost like putting a costume on, sometimes. (Especially when my aunt makes my hair extra fluffy on top.) I decided last march to switch from having ginger hair (colored, not natural) to purple! It was definitely one of those random pandemic decisions, but it turned out really well, and I still like being purple.  Purple hair almost makes me feel like a different person, more Vivienne, less summertime pirate Vela. Eventually, I'll go back to being a ginger, but in the meantime, me and my purple hair are going to take joy in the little things, and take ourselves for...

  The child was supposed to stay awake until 2...this picture was taken at noon when he just slowly drooped over and conked out. I was laughing. He's the cutest little thing! He's so fun to watch, and each day is a joy. Each time I watch him is a new mini adventure, and I adore him.  ^_^ Not a long blog post today, just something cute to cheer us up in the middle of crazy times. Happy Thursday!

  Heavens, I haven't been to the archery range in a while. I miss it! I miss wearing the arm guard (I have a fancy one I bought from a vendor at ren faire), and grounding myself in the repetition of nocking an arrow, pulling back, aiming, and releasing to hear that lovely THWANG sound. Hitting the exact center isn't my top priority, but it sure is nice when it happens! I've learned over the years that consistency is one of the keys of archery. Whatever you're doing, just keep doing the same thing (unless it's a bad habit that messes up your shooting). The one thing I struggle to remember each time is anchoring, or bringing my string hand all the way to my cheek before releasing. Anchoring helps with aiming, and keeping your rhythm consistent. (haha All this to say I miss shooting arrows at targets.)

  Each piece of art either has a story behind it, or it's practice. In this case, this lovely little piece was my way of showing my aunt how much I love her. I knew her favorite Disney characters were Tinkerbell and Snow White, so I put the two together! (This actually glows in the dark, so when you turn the lights off, it shows the poisoned apple) ^_^  My aunt's birthday is near Christmas, so I gifted this separately, after Christmas. She was so delighted she immediately went to show my other aunt. (So glad she liked it!) The best part about art is that it can do so many things. It can express emotions you don't have the words for, it can show your perspective on a topic, it can help you learn new skills, decompress, and be a way to love on people. I'm always learning new things, and developing my art style in new ways and experimenting, and I never want to stop! What about you, how do you art?

  Happy Monday! Hope you all had a pleasant weekend! I did a lot of work on my story last week! If you remember, last time I talked about this, I had gone through 55 pages, but now I'm up to 76 pages, and I've cut out a total of 5,390 words from my manuscript, tightening each page and condensing, and going through to see what really needs to stay or not. 21,354  words has become 15,964, and I hope to get more done this week! ^_^ 

  I can't believe that I've been a DM for less than a year! I ran my first game, a one-shot, at the end of March, then started two campaigns at the end of May. It's been really fun to present my players with the world of Exandria (from Critical Role), and see where they wanna go. I have of course, thrown in my own twists, but it's fun to see the characters evolve as we play.  One thing (of many) I have learned, is that I need to be more challenging with the monsters, since my players are really, really good at killing the ones I've thrown at them. I have all kinds of ideas, however, and I'm excited to see what happens! As a player, I'm also super excited to start a new mini campaign, playing a tiny axolotl. (I'm so excited!!) There are some characters I miss playing, but hopefully I will be able to revisit them. I also get to start a new game, not DnD, but something based off a TV me and several friends Love. ^_^ New games, new characters, new adventures...

  It's really easy for me to zone out while listening to music, but I love music! It's hard sometimes not to let the music and lyrics sweep you away to someone else's imagination. I used to be a DJ for the UW Bothell campus' community radio station, UWave Radio. I had my own two hour show where I'd play British music, contemporary Christian music, and then a little bit of my own favorites and discoveries. It was a lot of fun!  While I don't do that anymore, I still Love music. I love sharing new songs with my friends, and hoarding songs in a playlist that is so long I can't listen through in a day. I know some people are really good at putting together a playlist for a character they play, but that doesn't click the same way for me. (You'd think it would, tho lol.) However, I have started a playlist for this new year. It only has two songs on it, but they both have the feel to them that I want to see in this year.  "Into the Unknown" from F...

  Every year, for Christmas, we have some kind of gift exchange. This most recent Christmas was no exception. It was optional, but those who wanted to participate were encouraged to spend somewhere between $30 to $50 on a gift. I wanted to join in, but I was already kind of broke, so I decided to rebel and make something instead.  I gave myself a lot of Christmas art projects...sadly not all of them are done. But I took a screenshot from an episode of The Mandolorian, and drew it! It was...complex to say the least, but it was fun! I brought it to the Christmas gift exchange, and it was one of the gifts to be opened last in the pile. My aunt opened my present, and thought it was awesome. Then my grandma stole it from her. ^_^ I was honestly tickled because she has never seen The Mandolorian, but she loves the Star Wars online game I got her hooked on.  When I went to visit the next day, my grandma had put my painting up on the wall so that it was nice and visible. I'm glad...

  The picture above is me, or my expression when I realize I've sat and played this video game for five hours straight...haha! One of my friends sent me a game, saying I might like it. I knew that he and several of my friends also Loved the game. So I downloaded it, got it ready, fiddled with it until the audio was working properly, and dove in.  My heavens. (My friend has a good eye for suggesting games that I end up absolutely loving! This is the third time haha) I had a blast playing this game! I ended up finishing the playthrough in about a week, I think. I also made a group chat with the people I knew who loved this game (the game is Dragon Age, by the way), later turning that into a discord server for a place to put helpful links and pictures, and generally have a space to geek out about the game and have an easy place for chatting over voice.  What an awesome end to a year that was so full of all kinds of crap. It's always fun to play a good video game, but it's ev...

I've got my tea, my pink notebook, my purple pen, and it's a new year! First things, first, I am going to be working on my Hummingbird edit. I have given myself three writing projects for the year, to start with, and a few more on the list when these are done...or whatever counts as "done."  Last I left off, I was taking my book, The Death of Hummingbird, and condensing it as much as possible. I went through the original 55 pages of 15,459 words and chopped it down to 11,430, page by page. I even have a little bit of wiggle room, according to the goal I had set. (It's a lot of math and meticulous notes for a writing project.) I am giving my story to an editor at the end of the month (I'm so excited!!), so I'm eager to see how much I can do before then! Here's to lots of caffeine...and lots of words haha!

  We've packed the bag on 2020, and it's a brand new year! (I don't recommend starting the new year by pulling an all nighter just to make sure you're not late in the morning...Not speaking from experience, I don't know what you're talking about. haha) This year, like I mentioned yesterday, I've declared the year of the Kitsune. Some people pick a word or phrase for a new year, like Hope, Joy, Peace, or whatever rings true for them. I did that last year with Phoenix. I wanted a fresh start, and instead everything was on fire....ah well. There were aspects of renewal and rebirth, and fresh life. I got a nephew (the cutest thing ever and my favorite human on this Earth), I started DM'ing my own DnD games, and many other things. However, this year, I chose a phrase.  Into the Unknown! For one thing, the song from the 2nd Frozen movie is always getting stuck in my head, but I mostly chose it because I like the idea of the song. I like the idea of taking a ri...