I emerge to offer quick doodles (see below) and passable life advice. It's been a while since I've updated the blog, and for that I'm sorry, but I can happily say book two is well underway. While writing these past few months (and doing not much else) I realized - as I often do upon escaping my little office, having become a creature of the night with only my caffeine problem to keep me company - that life still exists outside of the written word. It took my friends dragging me out, and I'm utterly grateful to them for persevering past my homebody tendencies. I don't know if I'm the only one who needs to hear this, but you can't stop my latest revelation. So here goes: writing is only a slice on the pie chart of what it takes to craft your novel. Finding the inspiration to write, now that's the real crux of writing. Whether that means going out with friends, traveling, revisiting your favourite stories, or whatever it takes to get your fix, writing is about more than just putting pen to paper. So let your characters live through the ink, but let yourself live as well, however you see fit to do so, and the life - the inspiration - in you will show in what you write.
​
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, here's a speedy sketch from book two of the Anelisha Knight trilogy. Spoilers without context aren't really spoilers, right?

The book is out! What else can I say?
​
​www.amazon.com/Anelisha-Knight-Yarns-Gods-Book/dp/1896794270/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=the+yarns+of+gods&qid=1557855170&s=gateway&sr=8-6-spell

The Yarns of Gods comes out tomorrow, May 14th, on Amazon!! It's been a long journey, but so worthwhile, and finally, I get to share it with all of you!

We've come so far... just two more days.​

Time flies! So much so, I missed yesterday's daily reminder that The Yarns of Gods comes out on Tuesday! Can you believe it? Me, the notorious sufferer of poor time management, missed a chance to promote myself. For shame. But I'm back on track today and hyped as ever! Do you feel it? The shortening hours and speeding days as Anelisha Knight gets closer and closer to the public eye? Being a metaphor, I doubt it's a tangible thing, but damn if it isn't exciting.

Just the daily reminder this time, no existential ponderings or anything like that. Not that I'm not feeling existential at every turn, but I gotta say, each day that brings us closer to the The Yarns of Gods being published just seems to bring new joys into my life. Weird, I know. I had expected to be a blubbering mess of emotions by now, but my optimism seems to be having the opposite effect. Hey, I'll take what I can get.

How can six days simultaneously feel like too short a span of time, rushing at me like white water rapids, but also too long a wait?​ Riddle me that. And now, looking back at the month of April Doodles, I'm amazed it went by in a flash, even though in the thick of it, I felt every minute I dedicated to this small side-project. Funny, how these things go. But nothing's as fleeting as it looks through the warped lens of memory, I guess.

This week-long countdown brings you closer to an urban fantasy, character-driven story, and brings me closer to my dream. I'll clarify a little bit, though. The idea of a "dream" hasn't always resounded with me, because real life isn't exactly geared toward one specific goal without regard for any of life's other big deals. And, when it comes to writing the stories and characters I love, to wrap it up and label it a "dream" is on equal grounds with identifying an orange by the peel. It's the taste of the orange that makes it so appealing. Stamping "dream attained" on The Yarns of Gods only once it's published doesn't measure to all the delightful and strange emotions I'm feeling now, nor the obsession with writing I've been living since I was young. I can't imagine myself without a book on the go.  Whether the stories are published or not, I doubt I'll ever stop writing. At this point, it isn't so much a dream as it is my identity. And now, only seven days remain until I can finally share this part of my identity with the rest of the world.

The book will launch on May 14th (8 days!!) and I'm buzzing with the energy of a thousand suns in anticipation. Too hype? No such thing. Not when it comes to The Yarns of Gods!

A little more than a doodle for today, to mark the end of April Doodles.