Permission to fail

In 2011, I set myself some rather hefty goals. I achieved every single one of them. It was a hard push towards the end of the year to get everything done, but I did it! And it felt good. This year, I decided that if I could do all that stuff in 2011, I could sure do a similar amount in 2012. But this year I've found that, all too often, life has got in the way.

I'm still achieving some things, I suppose, but I'm behind in most of my goals, and it's going to take quite some effort to catch up. I know I can do it, but I've also realised this year that if I fail at some things, it's not the end of the world. I suppose I've given myself permission to fail, here and there. I have failed, here and there - like with NaNoEdMo, dismail failure there. I don't really want to take that too far, though...'cause who wants to feel okay with becoming a slacker?

Perhaps instead of working on my goals,
I'll just stare at this photo for a while...
Ahhh, Australian winter!

So far in 2012, I've accomplished the following:

• Preliminary read through/edit of FIRE
• Write 50k for BuNoWriMo 2012
• Finish off NaNo 2011 novel #1 (DANNA)

But I still have to do the following:

• Finish off NaNo 2011 novel #2 (VICTORIOUS)
• Win NaNo 2012
• Rewrite DAPHNE from scratch (I am thinking I'll probably use November to do this one)
• Revise all Chrysalis stories (I'm only up to #11...yikes!)

Amongst other miscellaneous things (photo sorting, blog posting, song writing, etc.).

But what am I doing instead? Working on my rewrite of SUNDOWN. It's fun, it's exhilarating, I love it. I guess I should give myself permission to do what I love, instead of what I said at the end of 2011 I would do. Right? But I'm one of those weirdos who really wants to do what she said she'd do, even if it's a little bit akin to watching grass grow.

How's this year shaping up for you so far?

New Year's Eve and writing goals!

Photo ©  Konstantin Chagin

I shall be drinking both those glasses of champagne this evening (or at least, glasses of champagne that look similar)! It's New Year's Eve and that's reason enough to celebrate! (not that I need much excuse for champagne...and yes, I did go through a phase when I hated the stuff, but I've done a 180 since then!) But I have another reason to celebrate.

I achieved all my writing/revising/etc. goals for 2011!!

I have put up a page for 2012's goals, so we'll see how I go with those. I will have a period of about four weeks in March/April when I'll be overseas, so I will be taking that into account. But for now I am basking in my achievements for this year. Instead of rehashing them, I will just point you to the 2011 goals page.

Have an awesome New Year's Eve, and I'll see you in 2012!!!

Keeping up with the bloggers I lurve

So, lately (say, in the last few months? Possibly longer?) I've given up on Reader. That is, Google Reader, which for a while there I used to keep track of all the blogs I'd followed (hundreds of blogs, let me tell you). I kept having to mark everyone as read 'cause I'd get in there and there'd be 500 unread posts, or 700, or the dread 1000+ (I don't WANT to know how many there really are). So I've given up. And now I'm relying on my blog roll to keep me in touch with the blogs I like to read. As well as reciprocating for comments I get on my blog.

But I keep stumbling across writers I've lost track of, and haven't yet got around to adding to my blogroll. If I used to comment on your blog a fair bit, then dropped off the face of the earth, only to recently resurface, now you know why. If I still haven't resurfaced, it's 'cause I haven't added your blog to my roll yet. That sounds funny..."your blog to my roll." Anyway, if I've forgotten you, please let me know. Oh, and a note to anyone who's followed my blog but doesn't have a link to theirs in their Blogger profile...maybe add a link so I can find you? AND I still hate the word 'blog'. For such a hater, I've used it a lot in this post!

Now, since I'm here, I might as well do a really quick rundown on my writing/revising status: 1) NAUSICAA revision started, but progressing slowly; 2) this week's Chrysalis story not yet started; 3) I can't remember the third thing I'm meant to be doing. Oh wait, I think I'm doing it right now - writing in this blog.

How do you keep up with the blogs you love to read?

49 short stories

I caught up on those Chrysalis stories! Now I'm just three short stories away from having written 52 short stories in a year (one per week), and from truly earning that sparkly button! Last time I did a Chrysalis stats update, I had written 40 stories. Now I've written 49. Some are finished, some are not. Some are utter crap, and some are not. They're certainly all rough drafts, to go with all the other 'rough draft' material I've written this year. And you know what that means, right? Editing in my future. But not yet. Ohhhh no, not yet.

To be honest, I'm looking forward to Chrysalis being over. I know my fellow participants will understand wholeheartedly. My co-hosts Jenn, Winter and I haven't actually finalised any plans for next year yet, but I do have something planned myself, regardless of what others will be doing. I do hope to have some fellow participants, but I know firsthand what a huge commitment it is, so I won't blame my fellows if they're desperate for a rest.

Here I am, talking like we're finished. We aren't. But we're not far off. Only three weeks, three prompts, and three stories to go. Craaaazy! Just for the record, Scrivener tells me I've written 106,360 words so far. But I'll leave the in-depth reflection on stats and so on for once we're actually done.

My to-do list

Technically, this is my to-do list right now (without counting this year's goals which are still being worked on):

Rough Drafts

1. Complete rough draft of DANNA
2. Complete rough draft of VICTORIOUS
3. Complete rough draft of CARNIVAL
4. Complete rough draft of TURKEY BOURKE
5. Complete rough draft of JUST ANOTHER DAY IN THE OFFICE
6. Complete rough draft of RAGEWATER book 1
7. Complete rough draft of SOMANA

Second Drafts

1. Complete Draft #2 of FIRE
2. Complete Draft #2 of DAPHNE, weaving in more of Carly's story
3. Complete Draft #2 of SQUEAKY
4. Complete Draft #2 of EXCISION (oh my. This one is a huuuuge undertaking. Will basically need a rewrite)

Other

1. Finish any unfinished stories from The Chrysalis Experiment 2011 (which would be the majority of them)
2. Get all caught up on reading the Catrina Chronicles
3. Read all the eBooks by my blogging friends that I have waiting for me (and the print books by them too).
4. Read any Chrysalis stories by my fellow organisers that I have not yet read!

I think that's all?! Except for all the other stories/novels I'm not mentioning in the list above, and "all that other stuff", like NaNo 2012, BuNoWriMo, writing in the blog, reading books in general and writing music (which will more than likely relate to Chrysalis 2012 for me next year). And whatever else I'm forgetting.

In the immortal words of Bill and Ted, "The clock's tickin', dude."

December goals

I've really enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to write anything for NaNo yesterday. Nor do I have to write anything today...or this month. Well, for NaNo at least. I also don't have to write in this blog every day, or every other day. I do, however, still have some goals to achieve by the end of the year.

8. Write 52 short stories, one per week, for the Chrysalis Experiment

9. Write at least once a week in writing blog

12. Complete a preliminary read-through/edit of NAUSICAA (NaNo '10 novel) - as of March 6, opening chapter has been worked on/critiqued

Of those, writing in this blog is definitely the easiest. As for the others...I have fallen slightly behind in Chrysalis, partly because we are missing prompt #46, and partly because I haven't written this week's story. But I'm not too concerned about achieving this one. Writing 1k a week seems like absolute peanuts after what I just went through with NaNo. Even writing 1k a day would be comparative peanuts.

As for the read-through of NAUSICAA...I think I can do it. I don't need to actually do any serious editing. It's just a read-through and some note-taking on what will need editing later. That's how I'm choosing to interpret my own words up there, anyway. I have to say, though, that while 2011 is not yet over, I've been thinking about my to-do list for 2012 for a long while now. The Goals page is under construction. I shall unveil it probably on Dec 31st, or January 1, or somewhere around then.

But let's forget next year... What are your goals for December?

Hobblin' across the NaNo finito line

OH. my. GOSH. It's over. I am about to start crying with gratitude. Almost, but not quite. Instead I'll just heave another sigh of relief (or twenty...) and report that my final word count for both novels is 100,827. That is a Scrivener (for Mac, if it matters) word count. I just validated my novel on the NaNo site and the word count there is...100,018. WOW. That's uncomfortably close to less than 100k. Maybe I should tack on a few more words, just to create some kind of buffer? haha. No, I'm not that desperate.

But anyway, to break it down a bit more, here are the word counts as they stand (keeping in mind that neither is finished):

DANNA: 50,606

VICTORIOUS: 50,221

Now I'm going to go and stare at a wall. A very big wall. For a very long time. Or, well, the next hour or so before it's bedtime. If it wasn't a school night, I'd be having another glass of wine. Then again, maybe I will anyway.

On iTunes, a Dream Theater song is playing. "The Count of Tuscany". It runs to 19:16 minutes. I do believe this is my first listen.

National Novel Writing Month...day 1

Day 1 of NaNoWriMo is done for me and I've written 2,148 words. Not what I was aiming for, but not too bad either. My actual aim is to write double the usual required amount, since, you know, I'm writing 2 novels this time. Last year I was averaging 5k a day for the first 6 days or something. I can do it...I think I'm just taking more care this time than I did last time.

I have been guilty already of deleting sentences, paragraphs, etc., so I can rewrite them. My usual style is to just write, consequences be damned (consequences being "oh my gosh that sentence SUUUCCCKKKED!"). But I've suffered a fair bit of trouble in revisions lately because of that WTF-ever attitude, and so maybe I'm trying to reduce what pain I must suffer with these novels in future revisions. I can't let it hamper my chances of achieving my NaNo goal, though! That is the bottom line.

NoJoMo also starts today: November Journalling Month. And while this isn't a journal, per se, I've opted to do NoJoMo here anyway. Just for the heck of it. Why not make things even more crazy 'round here?! And speaking of crazy, I have another Chrysalis story to write. Prompt forty-four, folks!! We're so near the end I can taste it! But what a busy month this will be.

P.S. This month we will see 11/11/11, and at 11:11am (and pm for that matter) we will see 11:11 on 11/11/11. What can I say, I get a kick out of this stuff!

Presenting...

My completed paper edit transfer to Scrivener thingy! FYI, I tend to use the words 'thingy' and 'thingies' a lot. In my universe, they are words. Anyway, the edits are done and I'm ready to send the novel off to my beta-reader. Wheee, I have a beta-reader! I also have one more goal to cross off my list! Now I can turn my attention to NaNoWriMo and the two novels I'll be writing during November! There was a discussion on the NaNo forums about last-minute projects people are trying to get done before November 1st. This was mine. I do have a Chrysalis story to finish, which technically was due yesterday...or maybe even on Friday. I can't remember if it was my turn to post the Friday feature or not. Either way, I'll get that one done tonight, and then tomorrow NaNo begins!

What about you? Do you have any last-minute projects to finish before November? What about end-of-year tasks?

"My Weakness" by Moby

At present, I'm up to page 165 of my paper edit transfer. At this stage I feel like I am probably not doing the best I could do with implementing the edits. I mean, I should probably read over the whole thing instead of just focusing on the parts I had noted during the paper edit. But I feel good about the rearrangements I've been doing along the way, and how many words I've cut out. The wordcount is currently under 95k, which means I have already met my wordcount goal. However, there's potential for adding some words in these last few chapters, so I'll see how it all turns out I guess.

My face is swollen today. My aunty was telling me that when she had a similar procedure done on her face (but on her nose, not forehead), it took a couple of days after the surgery for the swelling to really start. I was confused when my face began to puff up, because I thought I had got away with hardly any swelling! Now I know I was wrong about that. But I'm not in any pain, so that part is fine.

Right now I am listening to "My Weakness" by Moby. Now when I hear this song, I think of that X-FILES episode. But I loved the song even before hearing it on that show. It's a gorgeous song, and if you haven't heard it, you should!

What I'm reading

This is what I'm reading at the moment, thanks to a colleague who lent it to me at least a year ago (probably more like two...). I've put it off time and time again, but finally I'm getting stuck in. Because, as that colleague of mine told me, "You've got to read at least one Jackie Collins novel in your life."

This, my friends, is the one.

What are you reading?

NaBloWriMo day...23

I could share more graphic pictures of my battle scar, but I wouldn't want to scare anyone! Oh, and for the record, that isn't a scar - it's a wound which will scar, at least a little. But I'm not worried about a white Harry Potter scar on my forehead. Or Zorro, as the man put it. I just want the sutures out so I can start healing properly!

Meanwhile, my wordcount during revisions is really shrinking. Right now I'm at 95,736. If you recall, my goal wordcount was 95k!! So I'm nearly there. I can well imagine going under it, which means I may have some breathing space for improving on descriptions in various places. I'm up to page 134 out of 188, so I'm making good progress. But enough about that.

I want to mention an experience I had a few days back, after locking myself out of a particularly important building (the one I live in). I had to call on my secret ninja powers of breaking and entering (luckily I didn't have to break anything in order to enter)... I even had to walk myself backwards up a wall while hanging off a window sill! Work colleagues suggested I might look into a job with ASIO, or one as a stunt double in action movies. Nah, I think I'll just stick with superhero librarianship and writing on the side, thanks. Still, it was fun to think about for a moment.

Zombie Trisha

Can you see it? I know, it's tiny! But I was searching Google for an appropriate zombie picture and I couldn't find any.

Now I guess you're wondering why I needed a zombie pic. Basically I was looking for something that would do my current appearance justice. I finally had my skin cancer removed and now I have a rather misshapen forehead. It really looked like I had little aliens growing in there. Not that the lumps were moving - no, they were perfectly dormant - but still, the description fit.

I'm not in much pain, just a little discomfort, and my lovely man stocked me up with white whine and chocolate (and leftover Thai food...mmmmm!), so I am all set. My mum is coming over at some point to wash the blood out of my hair. And then on Monday it's back to work, unless I decide I'm too ugly to be seen in public.

Meanwhile, today I am working on revisions. Currently I'm up to page 115 of 188. And I just realised I haven't paid any attention whatsoever to the Chrysalis prompt for this week. So I guess I better get a story written somewhere in the next few days.

What are you up to this weekend?

My NaNoWriMo past...and future

I thought I'd rehash my NaNo past, as well as briefly mention the future! A little research has shown me that I've done the following:

2002: ANJIE DAYS

2003: SOMANA

2007: SQUEAKY MCLEAN

2008: TURKEY BOURKE

2009: SUNDOWN

2010: NAUSICAA

In 2011, I'm writing two novels, so to the above list I will be adding:

2011: DANNA/VICTORIOUS

Because I am determined that I will win this year as well! Maybe I won't actually finish both novels. Maybe I'll finish one and not the other! Maybe both will be 'complete' (I'm doubtful of this). Either way, I will write 50k on each novel. At the very least, I will write 50k altogether. The major challenge will not be writing a total of 100k. Rather it will be attempting to finish both novels.

I've participated in NaNoWriMo during other years, but either unofficially, or unsuccessfully. So I'm not listing those here. One of the unsuccessful years was me attempting to continue with the previous year's story. I wrote a bit on it, but not 50k. One year I didn't participate at all, and another I participated unofficially.

So there you go. It's on record now, for all to see! But now it's your turn!

What's your NaNo history?

Meet Laura, my first EVARRR beta-reader!

Recently I mentioned that I found myself a beta-reader at last. That was actually one of my goals for 2011, so YAY! Anyway, my lovely beta's name is Laura and she has agreed to answer a few questions (read: be interrogated by the crazy librarian cat lady) so you (and I!) can get to know her better! Without further ado, I present...Laura!

1. What do you write, and what do you read? Do they tend to be the same?
I'll answer the second bit first. I read chick lit. Lots of chick lit. Probably far too much for one little person to handle - with the occasional snippet of sci-fi, thriller, and historical non-fiction. When it came to writing, I decided to write chick lit (naturally), and it also fits in well with the non-fiction fashion writing I do. I finished the first draft of my fist novel Welly-Booty-Goodness and shrugged. I was meant to be super-excited but it wasn't there, maybe because I've read so much of the stuff before. So now I'm considering embarking on a thriller for NaNoWriMo.

2. Do you love NaNoWriMo as much as I do? (for assistance with answering this one, I will inform you that I love NaNoWriMo THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS much)
I have a confession. I'm a NaNoWriMo virgin, *blushes*. I did BuNoWriMo in June run by Burrowers, Books and Balderdash. It's exactly the same premise but on a smaller scale, and I really enjoyed that. But I'm so excited about NaNoWriMo - I'm sooo going to a kick off event!

3. Do you have any beta readers of your own, and if so want to tell us about ‘em? If not, why not?
I don't have any dedicated Beta readers as yet, because I haven't really got anything to a stage where I want to get it checked out by anyone. A couple of fab, bloggy pals have been good enough to take a brief look over a chapter here and there for me though.

4. What kind of music do you write to? Or do you need complete silence? Or the steady beating of a bongo drum as background noise? Or something else entirely? (if the latter, what?)
So, for Welly-Booty-Goodness, I wrote the entire thing to the same playlist - Elvis, Beejees, Fink and Al Green. I'm thinking if I go the thriller route, I'm going to need some new suggestions!

5. What the HECK were you thinking, agreeing to be MY beta reader? Just kidding! The real question is...what's your favourite writing snack/drink combo?
Peanut M&Ms, a huge bowl of greasy, ready-salted crisps and a bucket of coffee.

Mmmmmm, peanut M&Ms...! No, really, that's where the interview ends. Pretty abrupt, huh? Well, I ran out of ideas for questions. So now I will just say THANKS to Laura for submitting to my interrogation, and for agreeing to be my first ever beta! Wheee!

Check out Laura's blog to enter her 200 Followers Giveaway!

Satur'dee

It is day something-or-rather of NaBloWriMo (I know I could find out what day it is by deducing the date, but I'm feeling too lazy to lift my hand to the top right-hand corner of my computer screen where the date and time lives! I can tell you it's Saturday, just by glancing at that corner, though. Gosh I'm good). Now for the meat of the entry:

• The image above is a manipulation (and, naturally, serious cropping) of an original piece of art done in really dark pencil (yes, that is the technical and Trisha-rifically correct term for the kind of pencil I'm talking about...because I say so!). It doubles as "song art". See, when I first started writing songs, I did a little picture - sometimes more than one - for each song. I've slacked off on that in recent years, mostly due to no longer having easy acesss to Photoshop, but maybe someday I'll get back into it!
  
  
• I finished reading ALEX CROSS'S TRIAL today. It was such an awful story, mostly because it was based on events of history. I have no idea how people can be so horrible, or ever could, even when it was 'the norm'. But at least not everyone in this story was horrible. I really enjoyed the fast-paced writing, short chapters, and Ben Corbett's voice. In short, it was an easily devoured, if shocking in parts, read. It doesn't have the realism of some nasty pieces of work I've read this year, which is probably a blessing - who wants to really truly be there in the awful moment with a story like this?
  
  
• As of this very second, I am up to page 63 in my paper-to-Scrivener editing, and my current word count is 99,441. Yay!! Under 100k again. But I have another 4.5k to cut before I'll be satisfied.
  
  
• I am thrilled to report that I have found my first beta reader! But I will report on that in more depth later! For now, I post this, in the hopes that everyone is having a great weekend even as I speak (or, rather, type).

In conclusion, thanks everyone for the input on the face transplant topic. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who'd prefer to walk around with a fake face (or no face at all) than to sport somebody else's dead one.

Once An Imago

Once An Imago

The clock strikes twelve and Annie trips on the third step, embarking on the tumble to her near-death. Tommy's Grandmother hands him a carefully-wrapped present; her hands are shaking and the box slips through Tommy's fingers; everyone watches its descent. Lauren pauses in the act of reaching for her hand mirror as the doorbell rings. Rowan shakes his head, which is full of thoughts about how gorgeous Sandra looks tonight, and how he can't believe he ever thought Denise Rowland was hotter.

The cripple emerges from the condemned building, beginning his morning shuffle downtown. He wafts in a miasma of decay, an excellent example of what not to become. He's a survivor who foolishly refused to let the war kill him when he had the chance. The promise of what might have been haunts him every moment of every day, a giant lacuna lurking in his shadow. He passes people on the street and imagines the way his tale would make them oscitate. Their faces would turn bright red as they realised their bodies had betrayed how little they cared. He reflects on where he came from, and where he's ended up.

He thinks, Synchronicity.

---

I was tempted to let this post stand on its own, without any 'non-fiction' addition. That way it would truly be a 200-word post. But I just have to explain that this post is counting not only as my 2nd Campaigner Challenge entry but also as my first post for NaBloWriMo, which I am insane enough to have signed up for at sort of the last minute.

I also have to say that during October, and therefore NaBloWriMo, I am going to be reporting on how my transferral of paper edit notes to my Scrivener file for SUNDOWN goes - because yes, today I finally finished the paper edit!!! So now it's time to get that all into digital format. In time for November to start. Yes, friends, I've got a month to get this off my to-do list so I can relax for the rest of the year (and by 'relax' I of course mean write 2 novels in November, then spend the rest of the year scrambling to get my other 2011 goals finished). For the record, my word count before beginning to transfer edits is 101,459. I want it to be more like 95k by the time I'm done.

The Chrysalis Experiment - 85,000 words

This year, some friends and I started the Chrysalis Experiment, which I referred to as a year-long foray into the art and science of short story writing. We've posted 36 prompts so far this year, and so far I've written 36 short stories to go along with those prompts. We've had a steady core of participants who have continued to produce stories. Some have fallen behind but have not yet given up. We've got 16 prompts to go (16 weeks), and then we'll earn that sparkly shiny badge up there. But for now, a reflection on how the year has gone for me so far.

I did a word count yesterday, and I had about 86,000 words worth of Chrysalis stories. Yes, some of them blew out beyond 'short story' territory - one story is currently 22k, and not finished - but still, all of them started as a 1k-10k Chrysalis story. My latest story, titled "Case o' the Crazies", is posted on the Chrysalis blog for the world to read.

One of the things I've noticed so far this year is that I tend to write a lot of short stories that feel more like 'beginnings' of larger works. My co-hosts have said the same thing quite often. We've even got a few drafts of novels out of this whole thing. One participant has told us she thinks she's doomed to write flash fiction because she often doesn't make it to the 1k mark. I've discovered a tendency in myself to write post-apocalyptic scenes. I've written a few stories that could potentially belong in the same world.

At the end of this year when I've got 52 stories written, I'm going to take a closer look at all the things I've written about and report on the stats. Genre, word count, number of stories finished as opposed to those begging for more to be added. That kind of thing. I look forward to comparing notes with my fellow Experimenters at that time.

All in all, it's been fascinating, challenging and rather exhilarating.

Another update on 2011 goals

It's been a while since I gave an update. To be honest, it's been a while since I got anything serious done. I have pathetic excuses that I won't even bother to utter because they're just not acceptable!! Suffice it to say though, I'm having fun and enjoying my life a lot! On my paper edit, well for a while there I was managing one chapter a night, but more often than not I don't get that done anymore. I'm up to page 65 or so, out of 188 pages. Other goals on my list can only be achieved after I'm done with my paper edit...so I guess I better get my act together!! On the preliminary read-through/edit of NAUSICAA...not much is happening. No, scrap that. Nothing is happening.

On A'vron's classics book club, nothing is happening, but at least that one's not my fault!

Now, though, onto things I have been doing.

I've been playing my guitar again, and currently I'm learning how to play "Rhythm Is A Dancer" (not just the chords but lead guitar parts, and the bass line). I've also been scanning old photographs from negatives and slides, and writing stories for the Chrysalis Experiment. I've been managing to post at least once a week in this blog, so that's another goal I'm keeping up with. And of course, I've been reading. It's pretty slow going. I'm currently on Jodi Picoult's Second Glance, and I'm enjoying it but I admit at first there were just so many characters and I was getting confused between them all. The central chapters from Cecilia's point of view were a welcome relief. But they also made me realise I should probably start reading the book all over again, to better understand all the interweaving storylines. I'm on page 301 of 420, so getting there. Slowly. But surely.

So there you go. An update, at last.

Paper edit, music, Chrysalis

The paper edit is well underway. I'm finding that the above picture is what happens on a better page, and on most pages there is way more scrawled handwriting, crossing out and rewriting, and sometimes when I'm too exasperated to do better, just a note that says something like "Rewrite", or "summarise?" or "too sudden". I'm up to page 53, and there are 188 pages all in all. So I'm a fair way in, but the prospect of getting through the rest is a wee bit daunting sometimes. Not that I'm letting it freak me out - not at all! I'm just plugging away. Not even doing a bit each day, I have to say. But I've been doing other stuff.

For instance, these are MY SONGS but the music is performed by a guy called Billy Bedard, who I've been collaborating with. The lyrics, music and vocals are by me, but he's added his own touches here and there, i.e. adding a bridge where there wasn't one previously. Sometimes it means I have to rearrange how I sing things, but that's okay. I've also recorded vocals for his songs too, but the tunes are not available anywhere online yet. He intends to wait until he has all 30 of his songs recorded before releasing anything. There isn't any money in this, but I'm doing it for the fun, and the passion for music. Collaborating is fun, if you do it with the right person!

I've also written this week's Chrysalis story, which I am really quite happy with. I'm currently revising it, but it was nice to be able to prove to myself that all my Chrysalis stories from now on weren't going to be post-apocalyptic tales of lonely woe. Hehe.