status status report report
Howdy! A few smol updates.
As a USAn, regarding recent political results, I don’t have anything to add that much smarter people haven’t already said. Instead, I offer you a catten pic.
FAQ: Foxily Asked Questions
What are you working on?
Still hard at work on CROWNWORLD (book 3 of the Moonstorm trilogy) despite health challenges. (My chest X-ray came back clear, at least, but my poor husband had to show me how to use the inhaler!)
I’ll be blunt: MOONSTORM (book 1) has sold poorly. Obviously I hoped the book would do well, but with any book there’s a risk factor that the book won’t, and when a book or series has a higher advance, there are associated career risks. I was aware of this going in. I can weather this because I am the person who doesn’t just have contingency plans, my contingency plans have contingency plans.
It’s not that I’m glad—far from it!—but more that this is a possibility I had planned for. With this information, I can narrow down my options for the future (pivot back into adult sf/f, pivot into thrillers, some other possibilities I’m not prepared to discuss yet). In a sense, because I am fortunate enough to have some financial cushion (savings plus the support of a husband with a day job), even failure is an opportunity to fall forward and explore something new.
I’m the weirdo who was looking at career planning and the business of writing in middle school. My research was extremely janky and dubiously useful (I was often relying on books written before I was born, plus publishing was continuing to shift as an industry!) but in my defense, I was twelve. :)
In the meantime, I’m having fun with CROWNWORLD. I’m still excited about putting these characters through the wringer on their way to the conclusion, and terrible realizations, and big space explosions! :)
If The Machineries of Empire series were turned into a live action show, who would you cast?
Ahahahaha I wish. :) In zillionaire fantasyland? My thoughts at the moment are Gemma Chan for Cheris, Will Smith for Jedao, Manny Jacinto for Mikodez, Jeff Ward for Kujen.
How’s the M.A. going?
Terrific, thank you! (For those new: I’m a part-time student at ThinkSpace Education for an M.A. in Professional Media Composition, or film/TV/videogame scoring.) It’s a little intimidating in that I don’t have a formal/professional background in music or sound, but the program is amazing and everyone is so supportive. I eked out a Merit on my first formative so wish me luck on the actual summative! (Formative = “practice,” counts 0% toward your mark in the course but gives you a chance to try new things and gauge your progress; summative = the real thing, counts 100% so the pressure is on!)
What are you reading lately?
In real life, a ton of musicology and/or orchestration books for my M.A. :) Besides that, I ran to pick up James S. A. Corey’s novella Livesuit the second I heard of it. It follows a squad of human soldiers, combat-enhanced by the titular livesuits, in fighting off an alien empire. I have been promised body horror and/or horrifying combat and I am HERE for it.
At the opposite end, my husband and friend V are all “Who are you and what have you done with Yoon??” because I’m hooked on the webtoon I’ve Become a True Villainess, which is an absolute delight. I’ve enjoyed webtoons before but always wandered off after two or three episodes, and I’m on Episode 38. The heroine is vaulted into the life of the villainess of a fantasy novel (isekai / portal fantasy trope central!) and is, of course, attempting, to survive her villainess doom, except things rapidly go off the rails. The male romantic lead is amazing, the heroine is great, and the art is so pretty!
What are you listening to lately?
Various tracks from Vivinos’ YouTube animated MV/short series Alien Stage. I adore these, but all the content notes for murder, suicide, and gladiatorial music fights of younger humans enslaved by aliens. Brutal and beautiful.
What’s a game you’re playing lately?
Thanks to a friend, I have been playing Slay the Princess on the Steam Deck. Like Doki Doki Literature Club and Hatoful Boyfriend, this should not be one’s first visual novel. It’s terrific stylized horror in a pencil-sketch style artistically, and does extremely cool things narratively. I adore the sound design and music. I’m a gigantic wimp when it comes to horror (especially in visual media) and this was fine for me, but ‘ware the content notes.
I also finally started Hades (not Hades 2, the first one)! I’d tried this on the PC and had zero luck acclimating to the controls, but the joystick makes movement much more intuitive for me on the Steam Deck. I’m currently learning NOT to dash into spike traps and enemy attacks. ;)
Who’s an artist you’re enjoying lately?
Amelia Leonards! Beautiful, haunting, myth-inspired illustrations, including foxes.
What are you watching lately?
My husband and I are, predictably, inhaling Arcane: League of Legends S2 as it releases. S1 was some of the most perfect storytelling and character work I’ve ever seen on TV. It can get pretty brutal, though.
On the opposite end of the scale, I’ve also started watching Due South for the first time. I am assured the show springs a surprise on the viewer around 1.10 and am desperately trying to guess what it is. Everyone grows wings? Turns into a mer? Is secretly a werewolf? ??? I guess I’ll find out!
And finally, one more catten pic. :)
Yours in calendrical heresy,
YHL