Hello, Darklings!
Wow. Spring already (in the Northern Hemisphere; happy autumn to those below the equator!).
Most of you know that I am not a fan of the sunny months. I live for September and love all things cool and dark, and as of this moment, I’m counting the days until the June Solstice, where my beloved darkness begins to return in tiny sips every night (currently 91 days as of this writing; what? I told you I was counting down!).
I know it’s been a minute since I posted, and there’s a reason for that. I’ve shared the latest happenings with my Pen Pals over on Patreon (they get all the cool stuff first), and as the hardest part is over now, I suppose it’s time to let you all share in the news.
I’ve gone back to school.
It’s a really long story and the details are exclusive to the Pen Pal and above tiers over there, but now I’ve made it through my first term (I started in January), I feel comfortable sharing it with everyone. You see, I wasn’t sure I’d make it through the first few weeks, let alone the whole term (they’re “terms” at some schools, not “semesters”).
Most of you are aware of my chronic condition, and that makes life interesting, so going back to finish my degree with holes in my brain was a questionable choice. I questioned that choice nearly every day of the first month of the term, and as I said above, I really wasn’t sure I’d make it. I didn’t want to say anything on my social media or website until I was sure I could do it and stay with it (and that’s still not a surety; MS is unpredictable like that), and now that Winter Term is over (January – March) and I’ve gotten the hang of using the online platform my school provides, I’m feeling a bit more confident in my ability to stick with it. I’m a part-time student and took one of the hardest (for me) of my degree requirements first (a higher math class) along with another core requirement. Though the final grades haven’t been posted yet, I’m pretty confident that I passed both classes with decent marks.
That’s a huge deal for anyone, let alone an Elder Goth with holes in her brain.
What made me decide to do this?
I am honestly still asking myself that.
I always meant to return to school and finish my degree (I have an Associate’s), but life always happened and it kept getting pushed aside, until one day it just wasn’t important anymore and I went on my merry way. I’ve been toying with the idea of returning to school for several years, and last fall someone posted a link to some article about colleges and universities and I fell into a rabbit hole, and before I knew it, I was filling out an application and requesting transcripts. I figured the worst that could happen was I’d lose the application fee when it was rejected, but that didn’t happen. After all was said and done, I was admitted as a senior (A SENIOR!) to my first choice university as a distance learning student.
And now I have my first term under my belt.
What does that mean for my writing?
Well…nothing, really! I’m still working on things between classes and assignments, and there’s a few things in progress. There’s the first Midnight Tea Shop novel in the works, along with a Silverthorn prequel short (I’m not sure if it will end up as a short story or a novella, but it’s in progress) and Book II of the World of Attrition series. There’s also talk of releasing the Stranger Things series as a box set later in the year, but that’s not a priority at the moment.
There was a Sithmas gift of a Midnight Tea Shop short story over on Payhip, but it’s available through most of the popular platforms now, so if you haven’t read it, here’s the jacket copy:
Irina Kelsey is in trouble.
Prom night has arrived on the Oregon Coast, and her very small business is not prepared for an influx of high school students looking for somewhere to continue the party after the dance is over.
On one hand, she desperately needs the customers.
On the other, she doesn’t serve coffee.
When the girl in the pink dress arrives with her entourage, Irina has to make a choice– serve more than double her shop’s capacity all by herself, or turn everyone away and close early.
Maybe for good.
Teenagers like Earl Grey, right?
I know, it doesn’t sound from the jacket copy like there’s anything paranormal about the story, but you all know me. There’s always something supernatural in my work. Here’s the little blurb I wrote about it ages ago. (I haven’t even put it up on my website yet, because I am also behind on that. Guess we’ll add that to the Spring Break to-do list.)
THE MIDNIGHT TEA SHOP – This one is an absolute vanity project. Regular readers/Darklings/newsletter subscribers already know about this, but if you’re new, this was a project that I was cyberbullied into writing by the enablers over at the Alchemy Red After Hours Saturday Write-In. It’s a paranormal cozy mystery that’s basically a contemporary cast of characters and their doings surrounding a tea shop that’s open past midnight. There’s vampires, hellhounds, mimics (okay ONE mimic), and murder. Also asshole ex-boyfriends and a Karen. There’s a lot of swearing. I have no idea if this project will even get done this year, but if it does, you’ll get to read it.
So…it’s off the ground, I guess. This is what cyberbullying gets you.
That’s it for now, my Darklings! I’ve got loads of stuff to get to before Spring Term starts in ten days. I’ll be doing some promotional things as well, so when those sales go live, I’ll let you know.
I’m definitely taking the summer off.
Until Next Time,
Dina