Thursday Tea Party

Hello my lovely readers. Today I have a nice cold green tea, how about you? I hope this finds you all keeping cool in this heat.

I have very few announcements but I figured I would update you all as I could.

One, we are diligently working at Fae Corps to get the Into the Glen anthologies out. Those should be out in August, As well as the Poetry book by the Lovely Beulah Vega, A Saga For the Unrequited. I am quite busy trying to get both together and will post links as soon as I have them.

I am supposed to be in Indie Blu(e)’s upcoming anthology But You Don’t Look Sick with a bit of Poetry…again links upcoming.

My resin art is for sale on my Facebook page. I am taking commissions. If you are interested in what I can make I have posted a album full of the molds I own on my personal Facebook. It is public, as not much is.

I have added a new thing for Fridays to try to bring more fun to my blog. I will start it tomorrow. Let me know what you think.

I have been adding my art to Deviant art (the link is on the side). I have also been trying to do recordings to make mine and Serena’s Books into Audiobooks. So the occasional poetry reading is going up on YouTube in the meantime.

So, that is all of mine…what are you doing for the summer? Any fun plans?

Changes ahead

The last two years have been so busy. And I am finding it hard to keep up. When I started with Coffee house writer’s I was easily able to keep up with the schedule I was on. But I have since started doing more here and with Fae Corps. We are doing more in Fae Corps. I am floundering under the weight of the responsibility… So I have made a decision. I am leaving Chw for now. I have already told my wonderful editor. There will be one more post next Monday. Then… I think that I will try to post here more. I am hoping that releasing one responsibility will ease the burden of the rest.

Tuesday Tunes

A day for me to discuss music

Lost Within by Fivefold

Lyrics

Crawl out of the hole you’re in
Who you are is not who you’ve been
Now’s the time to sink or swim
Will you fight the tide or get lost within
And I know you’re feeling low
Feel like you’ve lost control
But the darkness that you know
It’s not your home and you’re not alone
And all you’ve wanted was just so much more
This world has taken ahold
Don’t let ’em get your soul
The silence
You feel it cold as a winter storm
This world has taken ahold
Don’t let ’em get your soul
Iron bars are hell to break
Tell me now, do you know what’s at stake?
Your whole life in a blank stare haze
You walk around like the end of days
And I know you’re feeling low
Feel like you’ve lost control
But the darkness that you know
It’s not your home and you’re not alone
And all you’ve wanted was just so much more
This world has taken ahold
Don’t let ’em get your soul
The silence
You feel it cold as a winter storm
This world has taken ahold
Don’t let ’em get your soul
I’m callin’ out to you
Can you hear me?
They can’t break you down
Let you hit the ground
I promise you it won’t be long (Won’t be long)
You’re feeling overwhelmed here
Drowned by the pain and the fear
The sun will come with the dawn
All you’ve wanted was just so much more
This world has taken ahold
Don’t let ’em get your soul
The silence
You feel it cold as a winter storm
This world has taken ahold
Don’t let ’em get your soul…
Get your soul…

My 2Cents –
Though this song sounds like it is about being depressed, And it most certainly is, I feel like it is about picking yourself back up when you are depressed. I have been here, and it feels impossible. then it doesn’t. Somehow you just survive, and you don’t know how you did it. but you did.

It is the little things

This year the holidays stunk. Yeah I said it. It is so taboo to be miserable during December, because you feel like you are weighing everyone else down. Or you feel just freaking ungrateful.

I know that I am not alone in this. This year has weighed hard on so many. No ability to do big gatherings, or family meals, or the other traditional trappings of the holidays. So much of this year has been death and illness. And for me family distancing.

The holiday was just lacking. So I was playing video games with my youngest, and scrolling down Facebook occasionally when something caught my eye. Serena has her own Facebook. Well someone, another author, had told me that Serena’s Rust, Gore, and the Junkyard Zombie was on his Christmas wishlist. He tagged Serena in the comments of his gifts… He got it.

Seeing that tag just made me smile. It made my whole holiday better. Just knowing that book was wanted.

So till this year is gone, enjoy the little things. Don’t let it fall apart because the big things are missing. Enjoy what you can. I hope that each of you find a little thing that brings joy this season.

Tools, Skills, and other follys

Tools, something that are different depending upon the user. Each person may have different skills depending upon the tools that they have at hand.

For an example, I am capable of sewing by hand. I have been taught this skill in childhood. My mom, my grandmothers, my other female role models… They all sewed. In various levels of skill. My mom still makes the most beautiful quilts. However, though I have the ability to sew by hand… It is slow. I have arthritis in my hands. This makes it take longer. I am not as neat as I am with a machine.

This is something that was brought up lately. Someone told me that my digital art has improved. I am sure that it has… After all I have better tools. I have a decent laptop. I have good art programs (Gimp & Krita are my two current favorites). I even have a good mousepad that I recieved for Christmas. (An elephant with headphones on. It is an ergonomic one that helps with my arthritis).

If someone is struggling with their art, or their writing, or any part of their life and you want to assist… Ask them what tool they are missing. Sometimes it is something small such as someone to bounce ideas off of.

Tuesday Tunes

A day for me to discuss music

Lyrics: Alright, alright
Alright, alright
Alright, alright, it’s a hell of a feeling though
It’s a hell of a feeling though
Alright, alright, it’s a hell of a feeling though
It’s a hell of a feeling though Who are these people?
I just woke up in my underwear
No liquor left on the shelf
I should probably introduce myself
You shoulda’ seen what I wore
I had a cane and a party hat
I was the king of this hologram
Where there’s no such thing as getting out of hand
Memories tend to just pop up
Drunk pre-meds and some rubber gloves
Five-thousand people with designer drugs
Don’t think I’ll ever get enough (don’t think I’ll ever get enough) Champagne, cocaine, gasoline
And most things in between
I roam the city in a shopping cart
A pack of camels and a smoke alarm This night is heating up
Raise hell and turn it up
Saying “If you go out you might pass out in a drain pipe”
Oh yeah, don’t threaten me with a good time It’s a hell of a feeling though
It’s a hell of a feeling though
Alright, alright
It’s a hell of a feeling though
It’s a hell of a feeling though What are these footprints?
They don’t look very human like
Now I wish that I could find my clothes
Bedsheets and a morning rose
I wanna wake up
Can’t even tell if this is a dream
How did we end up in my neighbors pool
Upside down with a perfect view?
Bar to bar at the speed of sound
Fancy feet dancing through this town
Lost my mind in a wedding gown
Don’t think I’ll ever get it now
(Don’t think I’ll ever get it now) Champagne, cocaine, gasoline
And most things in between
I roam the city in a shopping cart
A pack of camels and a smoke alarm This night is heating up
Raise hell and turn it up
Saying “If you go out you might pass out in a drain pipe”
Oh yeah, don’t threaten me with a good time I’m a scholar and a gentleman
And I usually don’t fall when I try to stand
I lost a bet to a guy in a Chiffon skirt
But I make these high heels work
I’ve told you time and time again
I’m not as think as you drunk I am
And we all fell down when the sun came up
I think we’ve had enough Alright, alright, it’s a hell of a feeling though
It’s a hell of a feeling though
Alright, alright, it’s a hell of a feeling though
It’s a hell of a feeling though Champagne, cocaine, gasoline
And most things in between
I roam the city in a shopping cart
A pack of camels and a smoke alarm This night is heating up
Raise hell and turn it up
Saying “If you go out you might pass out in a drain pipe”
Oh yeah, don’t threaten me with a good time

My 2Cents:

This song has been stuck in my head for 3 weeks. I think with the way people have been suffering through 2020 that maybe a good time is just what we need this year. So tell me, what is your good time?

Announced fun!

I finally broke down and ordered me a laptop. While, yes, I do have a computer.. It’s old and slow. It does not really have the ability to do anything more than the basics of layout… And it is stationary. That is such a deficit for me. I am not good for sitting in the same place day in and day out. I am considering the laptop as my birthday present to myself. (My birthday is March 13. Presents are so much fun!) I ordered an Acer Aspire 3. I am hoping to be able to do art, writing, gaming and a wee bit of zombie killing (7 days to die).

Echoes Into the Void

So I was having an email conversation with a friend about social media. He was pointing out the algorithm that sucks the orginality out of social media in general. While I agree with him and sometimes I think that I would be happier without the view of humanity that I recieve from reading the interwebs, I would miss the delight of seeing the creativity in the human soul.

The conversation ended with the idea that we both often feel unseen. It is not, I am sure, a novel feeling. To feel like instead of being actually heard… You are merely sending echoes into the void.

So I think that I want to hear the echoes…tell me something that you feel like isn’t being heard. One thing that you want to say. I will listen. And then go through the comments and hear others. Or pass the post on to others. Let’s get it to where no one feels like that echo.

Thursday Tea Party

Well, well, what have we here? Our last tea party for all of this year! Gracious, this year has been one filled with growth… And strange adventures. I certainly have many planned for 2020.

Faery Footprints, the next anthology from Fae Corps Publishing, is due to be released on January 6. I will have a link for the preorder by Monday.

The submissions deadline for Through the Sunshine, a light fae anthology by Fae Corps Publishing, is January 30. It will be released around June/July 2020.

Beauty’s Tears, having been set aside so I could do layout for Faery Footprints, is about to go into layout. I am planning a release around the first of February.

The illutrations for Dylan and the Pet Zombie are nearly done. Once they are completed, I will be doing layout for it and announcing that release date.

Serena is still working with Kingdoms of Sin and Life, Guilt, and Undeath. She is hoping to finish one if not both in 2020.

I am still working with Coffee House Writers. I have been accepted to attempt a place in their anthology. I also am planning to submit to a couple of others in the upcoming year.

I personally still have to finish Attack on Shoe Mountain, and of course the poetry volumes. There is so much writing that I have to finish. So I plan to be busy.

Of course I will be updating you as I know more! This year should be a busy one.

Tuesday Tunes

Au/Ra – Ghost

Lyrics –

[Intro]
(Ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost)
(Ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost)

[Verse 1]
Today I’m kinda feelin’ like a ghost
Call my friends but ain’t nobody home
Tell myself I’m fine but I don’t really know
I’m just scared that I’ll end up, I’ll end up, I’ll end up alone
I never let it show
But I feel like a missed call on a phone
Tryna live my life, pay-as-you-go
But I’m so scared that I’ll end up, I’ll end up, I’ll end up alone

[Chorus]
You know I’m like a ghost, sometimes I have to fade
And it haunts me that I have to be this way
You say it’s gone cold, I say I’ll do better
But I always seem to disappear again
You know I’m like a ghost, I see it in your face
And it haunts me that I have to be this way
You say it’s gone cold, I say I’ll do better
But I always seem to disappear again
You know I’m like a ghost

[Verse 2]
You know I never meant to cut you off
Got phantom feelings I can never solve
Stranger things to worry ’bout, I know
But I’m so scared that I’ll end up, I’ll end up, I’llghost

up alone

[Pre-Chorus]
Can’t see myself in the mirror
Does that mean I’m not really here?
I’m losin’ touch with everything I know
And I’m so scared that I’ll end up, I’ll end up, I’ll end up alone

[Chorus]
You know I’m like a ghost, sometimes I have to fade
And it haunts me that I have to be this way
You say it’s gone cold, I say I’ll do better
But I always seem to disappear again
You know I’m like a ghost, I see it in your face
And it haunts me that I have to be this way
You say it’s gone cold, I say I’ll do better
But I always seem to disappear again
You know I’m like a ghost

[Bridge]
(Ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost)
(Ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost)
You know I’m like a ghost
(Ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost)
(Ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost, you know I’m like a ghost)
Ooh, I’ll be okay, I’ll be alright, I know
Ooh, I’ll be okay, I’m just scared that I’ll end up alone
(Ooh, ooh)

[Chorus]
You know I’m like a ghost, I see it in your face
And it haunts me that I have to be this way
You say it’s gone cold, I say I’ll do better
But I always seem to disappear again
You know I’m like a ghost

My 2 cents –

I honestly thought about a holiday song… But not everyone celebrates the same holiday. So I found a song that I feel reflects how many feel during this time of year. The artist has a wonderful voice and you really feel the loneliness in the song. I often feel like a ghost, unseen. That is the result of having a chronic illness. I often end up with only my family as company because I am too ill to go out. And then anxiety adds to it. If you are feeling like a ghost… You are not as alone as you feel. Reach out. Message me (patti.mouse@gmail). I will always chat with anyone who feels alone.