Y'all are getting all the autumn featured images from me this month, BY THE WAY. Well, and probably some more Halloween themed ones as we get closer to my favorite holiday (though not a holiday in the government's eyes as it is not on the official list, but a holiday all the same as everyone knows it is).
FOCUS: Today my plan was to get the Mage Ruins book synopsis and unnamed book 3 description DONE. And I'm very happy to say I did it, whew.
PROCESS & SUCH: This was my first time writing a synopsis for a book I haven't written yet, which presented with some new challenges that required a lot of backbraining and breaks to let my creativity breathe, as it were. I only did one sprint to kick things off, then let myself draft without the pressure of the timer since I was figuring out the direction I wanted things to go in.
I tend to find I work best as a discovery writer. If I try to outline, my stories end up rather stagnant or boring to myself. So I tried to approach this in the same way I do my first drafts, and just let my thoughts take me where they may. Overall, I think it went well. One of the things I liked about this was the ability to be kind of vague, which leaves room for the fun details when I actually draft.
WATCHING: Yesterday I watched Mārama, a New Zealand gothic horror that came out in 2025. This movie was exceedingly good - it takes a hard look at the brutality of colonialism from a Māori perspective. If you're someone who needs content warnings, I recommend reviewing these before stepping in, but holy shit what a film.
PLAYING: Continuing with my Control Resonant obsession. I just reached an area of the game that took my breath away. I can't believe how complicated and beautiful these maps are. Remedy Games outdid themselves.
READING: Today I started reading THE ERSTWHILE TYLER KYLE by Steve Hugh Westenra (Kobo, Amazon, Barnes&Noble). It's been on my list to check out for awhile, and given that it's available on Kobo Plus I was sold on making this my next pick. Also it's currently on sale!
LINK: Andrea Bartz wrote about her experience attending an AALA event and the heavy promotion of Pangram's AI detection services. I will continue to sound the alarm about these kinds of 'services' creeping into the publishing industry, where they have absolutely no business, in my opinion.
UP NEXT: Tomorrow I will continue to work on MAGE RUINS while I noodle on the actual series name for these books with Maxwell.