NaNoWriMo came and went. I got to about 25k words before I ran out of time. To be honest, it was probably the hardest NaNoWriMo I've ever participated in, mostly because I didn't feel motivated. I have a good outline and the story is good but for whatever reason, every day writing was just a chore. It wasn't enjoyable. I kept pushing through because I still wanted to get the story written. In the end, outside circumstances coupled with lack of motivation doomed the effort.

I was planning on posting a new chapter every week for The Departure Protocol. I have about 12 chapters, after all. With one a week, it'd take three months to post them all. But, I've changed my mind. To be honest, I need a bit of a break. I'll be removing the chapters that have been posted, changing them to draft and I may take down the story completely until I can complete it. I don't want to put the pressure on myself to write, not right now. If I keep posting chapters, that pressure will be there. Instead, I want to take my time and maybe even complete the story before I post it.I also several other stories in various stages of editing. Intervention still needs plenty of revision and I need to incorporate the feedback I've received for Hive Island and do some edits there as well. In other words, there's plenty to do. I'll be using December for some of that.

But, I'm also going to dive back into my art. In 2019, I did a lot of drawing and painting, activities that ended up taking a back seat this year as I worked on the Wattys and then NaNoWriMo. These last few months, my interest in this has been reignited as I have explored watercolor and gouache more. In fact, my whole family has been bitten by the painting bug, often spending hours every weekend painting together. Art on my own has always been great, doing it with my family is even better. It's also very relaxing, which is what I need at the moment.

Anyway, I've got some projects planned that I'll post as I get around to them. I may even create a story just with art. Below is a painting using gouache from this weekend.

For a bit of relaxation, I also intend to do a bit more gaming these next few months. I've been a gamer since my teen years and I've decided to ignore the PS5 and Xbox X for now. Instead I'll be focusing on cloud gaming. Stadia is the future if you ask me, and you can start playing for free. No need to pay $500 and you still get next-gen quality gaming. If that's of interest to you in the next few months, you can find me as TechieInAK on there as well.

I also intend to do a bit more reading. I've neglected this part and as much as I like writing, any writer also needs to read.

What about my writing? Well, it's not going anywhere, it's just slowing down a bit the next couple of months. But, that doesn't mean I'm going anywhere. I'll still be around so keep an eye open.