Short Update + Short Story

Every time I tell myself I will do an update more than once every few months, it somehow invokes some variation of Murphy’s Law. Oof.

So there’s been more health nonsense that’s transpired, and it kicked me harder than I anticipated it would. It isn’t COVID-19 related, I’m safe from that for the time being and am actually going to set an appointment to be tested for antibodies here in the next week or so after a prolonged illness in December into mid-January that mimicked the symptoms almost exactly. I have a follow up appointment in June to make sure things are doing what they’re supposed to and there’s no extra risk. Worst case scenario, some fairly major surgery to get the problem organ)s yanked out and dealt with.

As a result, writing has been… next to non-existent and I hate that. Writing is my ‘safe space’ and comfort. It’s where I go to get away from things going on as well as how I process and download. I have fanfiction chapters to write and by God I want to finish a fic for once. Like any unused muscle, I just need to get back into the swing of things.

My D&D campaign has been going rather well, thankfully, and we’re closing in on our one year anniversary. Some people who may read this are in my campaign. If so? You’re in for a surprise. 🙂

But, thanks to quarantine, I’ve had some time to rest and get some of the health nonsense back under control. I’m feeling more like myself instead of some existential dread and tea filled mess. I rediscovered an old thing I’d written and, instead of hating and deleting it, I gave it a bit of polish so I could post it here + my writing tumblr.

This short story is called “Store Bought Heroes”.  Please enjoy!

Stay well and here’s hoping I don’t take another few months between updates again!

– K.A. Crittenden

Happy New Year + Updates

One of these days, I will be able to write an update post once per week as I’ve intended to since starting this blog. This is not that day and has not been since October when I posted this initially.

Oh well, Happy belated 2020!

NaNoWriMo 2019

Uh oh, folks,

It’s that time of year again. The tea is stockpiled, the snackening will commence, and there is a nice patch of floor and blanket with my name on it I dub “The Despair Place” for when I can’t write and need to dramatically angst about it as if I were Lord Byron.

In short, I am about as prepared as can be for National Novel Writing Month.

Inktober

Hello, everyone!

I’ve decided I’m going to use the month of October to participate in Inktober! Writing is a form of ink, in the end, after all and why not make good use of it to exercise the good ol’ brain muscle and create a strict schedule before National Novel Writing Month?

In all likelihood, I’ll be placing them up on my writeblr on Tumblr and potentially, if they end up fanfiction related, on Fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own. I’ve been happily writing for Fire Emblem: Three Houses as of late and want to keep riding that inspiration for as long as I can!

Speaking of, I’ve finished two of the four routes on Three Houses: Golden Deer and Blue Lions! Just finished the latter today and ouch! Those are some pretty intense feelings those two routes inspired. I appreciate the characters in this series and find them some of the most realistic and well written in the games I’ve played thus far!

The rest of this year is definitely going to be used for exploring, practicing, and breaking out of my comfort zones writing wise. I’ve also decided the first step in doing that is writing the popular “One Blanket in a Blizzard” fanfiction trope that was around while I was a wee little fandom baby in the 2000s. I love the wide range of scenarios, personalities, and situations you can use while holding those two key things (and what it usually results in ;P) as mandatory to include in the fic.

What are you going to be working on for National Novel Writing Month? Are you participating in Inktober? Let me know!

Brief Updates and Future Projects

Good Morning everyone!

Been about a month and a half since last update, life gets a little busy and a lot has happened in my personal life. A new job position I’m thrilled to bits about, some sad news, and some happier times as well.

I’ve admittedly been completely absorbed in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The characters and story are some of the best yet, in my humblest of opinions and I’ve actually broken my original writing only streak to work on some fanfiction. I’ll be gearing up for some fun collections and consider fanfiction to be an excellent exercise in exploring character dynamics, personalities, and different scenarios that can only help me improve and grow as a writer myself.

On a fanfiction note, I don’t believe in removing/deleting older works– flawed and problematic and awful as they may be. As we grow and change as people (or should be growing and changing, rather), so do we as writers. We learn better grammar and spelling. We choose to ignore the fact that commas and semi-colons need to be protected at all costs and not thrown under the bus. We’re better educated about the world and complex topics around us and how to/not to handle them.

We know and understand what is and is not okay in the ‘real world’/outside of fiction. For some of my more graphic/problematic works nowadays, I’ve begun adding author’s notes/chapter notes/etc in the beginning that works pretty much as the 1990s and early to mid-2000s disclaimers just to be on the safe side, however.

As stated, it’s a precautionary measure on my part but one I feel might help some of the divide/miscommunication between writer and reader base I’ve seen as of late. It’s pretty much a “I, the Author, hereby declare I acknowledge and know the acts/words/behaviors in this story aren’t okay or acceptable and am attempting to write on the subjects with the care and gravity they deserve while also weaving a story to be read and do not condone or believe the actions/words/etc are anywhere near acceptable.”

It shouldn’t be necessary to state such a thing, but in today’s climate… you have to be on the safe side and safety comes first.

I have a spiritual/almost direct sequel to my upcoming short story “The Answer” slowly taking shape in my brain starring Barron’s fiery younger sister and her beloved. We’ll see where that goes! I also have some ideas percolating regarding a new full length novel as well as a short story that takes place prior to the events of it.

I’ve also been attempting to be a little more active on Twitter and Tumblr lately, still pretty spotty but it’s a bit difficult to get into the habit of being social/throwing it all out there while you’re a more cards-to-the-chest personality. Let me know what sorts of things are interesting to post about/that I should talk about!

That’s about all I have for now. You can find me as Kireon on Archive of Our Own, Kiraeon on Fanfiction.Net, Kireon on Tumblr for my ‘personal’ blog full of shitposting and MyEmpireOfSalt for my writing tumblr aka my ‘writeblr’.

 

Project Vanilla Title Reveal and Updates

I really need to do better than once per month updates. Life happens, but even a brief snippet of, “Hello, still alive and writing!” should be a thing. I think it’s a bit late for new year’s goals, but hey, family tradition is ‘better late than never!’.

Completion

Good Afternoon, everyone,

I’ve done it; Project Vanilla is complete!

The Importance of Representation in Fiction

Good Morning, Everyone,

I hope you’re all doing well. It’s officially 2 weeks since my surgery and things are absolutely amazing. (A lot of catch up and rebuilding of strength and stamina, but we are getting there!) The surgery was a success on multiple levels and I need to remember to bring my surgeon and his team coffee or gift cards to show my appreciation for what they have done for me.

Project Vanilla is approaching its end. I can see it in the distance and have my editor lined up and waiting in the wings. I am excited for and dreading the opening of the document to see his recommendations. (Dear Editor, please be kind. Don’t savage me too badly, I’m already humble enough as is!)

Imposter Syndrome

I’ve been having one hell of a time combating this over the last couple weeks.

Side note: Apologies for the skipped week; I went out of town and out of wi-fi range for Easter weekend. The weather was beautiful and so was the place we held our dinner/brunch!

Imposter Syndrome, for those unaware, is a psychological phenomenon where you feel all of your accomplishments, successes, and abilities/skills are faked/inadequate and you’re afraid that people will find out you’re one gigantic fraud.

From multiple professional and successful authors and creative types, I know this is common. I know this is common especially when you’re stressing about being “good enough” or if you’re even “worth” the effort you’re trying to pour into the project. Most of the aforementioned creative types I mentioned above have also pointed out the moment you start panicking about being a fake/fraud/hack is the moment something in your brain knows you’re on to something pretty good. This, as you can probably guess, kicks off the Imposter Syndrome even harder than before.

You go around fretting and working yourself up because of the “what-ifs” and obsessively pouring over your unfinished project in hopes you can perfect it in one shot.

You lose your drive to do the thing in the first place from that fear and that incessant need for perfection.

In short? It’s exhausting and sometimes you have to tell yourself, “That’s enough; you’re banned from writing/doing this thing you know you need to until you chill the eff out.”

So, I did. I took a break. A longer one than I’d anticipated, but I did take a break. I brought my laptop with me hoping I could write on the journey to and from Easter weekend (spoiler alert: It did not work. One does not simply write when one gets carsick and also have 50+ pounds of border collie using you like a mattress.)  and potentially during quiet moments before and after everyone went to bed.

That didn’t happen, but I did have a lovely visit with family and some quality time with a hammock and a book on my Kindle. (Rereading Michelle Sagara’s Chronicles of Elantra series. I can’t help it, I just love her work and she kicked my urge to write into high gear the last time. )

Now, I’m at my favorite tea shop, music blasting in my ears, and probably a little more caffeinated than I need to be.

I’ve written about 2.6k words since I got here a few hours ago. (My rule is to buy a drink/pot of tea every 1.5 hours I plan on being here so I don’t hog space and also contribute to the work scene. Thank you, tea crew!) This is pretty slow pacing for me but, on the other hand, it’s also a pace I can maintain. I’ve gotten past a difficult scene I was struggling with and have launched into the second big conflict in Project Vanilla‘s protagonist’s life. He’s not having a great time right now and it’s going to get worse here real quick.

Family is a strong theme in this story; be it the family you’re born into or the one you create via marriage or through the passage of time. My protagonist’s main struggle is due family; he’s being forced to choose between the one he’s worked hard to create and runs right into his estranged (via his own actions/decisions he’s made) family he was born into in the process of making this decision.

Nothing like running into your little sister after 8 years of next to no communication to throw your entire world into whack, am I right?

Regarding my protagonist, I’m actually enjoying writing a flawed character. Barron is his name and he’s pretty self-aware as a character and it shows when he reflects on events that have brought him to the present point in the story. He’s not happy and he’s really beginning to understand that he hasn’t been happy for a lot longer than he wants to admit. He’s said and done some pretty nasty things to the people around him. He’s tried to get his way using things he knows will hurt the people around him to make them listen/see where he is– and he knows that doesn’t work and he knows it’s the wrong thing to do.

He also feels cornered and like he’s tried everything but those aforementioned underhanded tactics to get people to listen to him.

He regrets it and feels guilty. He points out why it’s a crappy thing to do/say and that he did it even though he damn well knew better. Barron, to my surprise, also doesn’t make excuses for the bad behavior– he does initially and then drops it almost immediately after and admits it. It’s something I hope my readers can connect with/empathize with; we’ve all done something immensely selfish and self-serving in the wrong way to try and get a result we want.

We’ve all experienced that backlash that happens as a result and feel that guilt/regret of our decision.

What happens in Barron’s tale is something no one but Barron will know by the end of it. His choices are his, and like life outside of the fictional world I’m building; there are no guarantees.

Organization is [Not] My Middle Name

I am not the world’s most organized individual.

So when I realized that I needed to have a better organizational system than “save everything to Pinterest/a random folder on my harddrive/reblog and tag it in a way I’ll remember on Tumblr”, I turned to the internet for help and advice. Bullet journals have been a recent interest of mine, and bullet point outlines have served me very well in the past when it comes to structuring my thoughts on a writing project.

I found this incredibly helpful suggestion on Tumblr from a fellow writer/creative type who found themselves in the same boat.  And, being the type who will internally argue each and every pro and con known to mankind until I forget what I’m wanting to try or not try, I decided to take a dive and give it a whirl myself.

This is one of three results: