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2020: What a year…

Oh man, where to begin. Maybe I should start at the end for a change. Like why I’m writing this post. So much has happened, and I know I’m hardly the only one who had a tough year. But I know my experiences are different from most people. COVID-19 hasn’t changed my life as much as for others. My husband was home more which was great. We work well together so being together 24/7 is no problem at all.

My biggest challenges were my health and writing. In March, my neck injury came back and hit me like a truck. I couldn’t think, focus, or do much with screens at all. That’s a bit of a problem when you have to edit your work. After the summer, I finally felt better. The exercises I got from the physical therapist helped me a lot, although I still get headaches regularly. It’ll take time before it’s gone.

Three weeks after that, the joints in my wrist dislocated and the cartilage in between became inflammed. The doctor saw nothing wrong and only gave me pain killers for the pain. When it happened, I thought I was going to faint from the pain. I was on the verge. This was one of the instances where I was happy my husband was home and he helped me to control the pain.

With one hand impaired and a head refusing to work like it’s supposed to, it’s hard to be a writer. Especially when your publishing schedule has been flipped because of circumstances. I wanted to publish the second and third book of the Infernal Contracts trilogy, but instead I relaunched Devil’s Deal (out now and available for 99 cents for another week) with the help of a professional editor, and the second book is with him now.

I had no time to recover completely. I had to write, I had to type. Even if my head and my hand were in pain. And that’s something I have had to get used to, to be able to work while in pain. Even when that pain is a seven on a scale of one to ten.

So no gaming for me. I had to save my screen time and my keyboard time for my books. I reduced my time on social media and discord, only focusing on what was in front of me, what had to get done. So now I was cut off from the real world because of several lockdowns and general caution because I might still be at high-risk if I catch COVID-19, and my online social life was reduced as well. Still, I didn’t feel lonely. I used to feel lonely a lot when I was younger. I also cared a lot more about what other people thought of me. I lived for their approval. I no longer do though. Maybe that helped me become more mentally resilient. And probably having my best friend with me is a big factor.

I don’t know how active I’ll be with blogging here starting the new year because my wrist still isn’t completely healed and I’ve got two books to finish before I can breath again. But I hope to be more active in the communities I’m part of. Read more blogs again, comment, get back on Discord and Twitter. Who knows.

Finger crossed that 2021 will be better in many ways.

Time for change

Yes, this is the first real post here in a long time. The arc of young Miira has finished. I’ll upload a pdf version of the complete story soon so you can read it all at once whenever you want.

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve already seen me mention some recent changes. Like my new gig at MMOgames.com. I’m doing a weekly Guild Wars 2 column there and some other articles when I can.

I moved last month and we’re still cleaning up and trying to make it look like a home. We’ll get there, just not as soon as we’d hoped. Besides all the normal household chores, our full time jobs, my new side job, commute hours and chronic pains, it just takes a bit longer. I hope you’ll forgive me for taking a break from blogging.

In the off moments I need to play Guild Wars 2 and I’m still working on a new lay out for the site and hopefully make it a bit more fresh. That, and all the other sites I’m working on. I have five in my portfolio now and I want all of them up and running by the end of the year.

At my day job I secretly write my short stories, outlines for novels and do some research for this year’s NaNoWriMo. I still have some bigger news, but that’s for next year, if everything works out :)

Getting on schedule

I’ve been working out a schedule of posts and series that I want to do. It’s set, but I think it’ll be hard for me to keep posting every day of the week next to my job and play games to write about. My aim now is to keep posting at least once a week and create a backlog of higher quality posts for your enjoyment.

Think of recommendations of older games (GOG inspired), flash fiction of my characters in Guild Wars 2, builds for the various games I play and updates on modded content. I’m currently working on a 4-player ‘Free For All’ map for Age of Wonders 3.

Besides all this, you might have noticed the newsletter sub box on the right side. I’m also still working on some other things for the site, but I won’t reveal them yet. Wait and see.

Guild Wars 2 Fire Elemental

Entering the Initiative

I recently found out about and joined the Newbie Blogger Initiative. This blog goes way back to 2009, but I still feel I’m new to blogging. I’ve never been consistent with posting until two years ago. I wrote about the launches of both Diablo 3 and Guild Wars 2, but after that the posts became irregular again.

This year I really want to keep things up and post regularly. Joining a blogging community will probably help me do that. Not only has the NBI a rich archive of blogging advice, they also support each other. I hope to learn a lot from my fellow bloggers and make this blog thrive. In return, I will also share my experiences and knowledge with the community. But most importantly, I have to learn to get things done :)

 

It’s been a while

Sometimes a seagull steals your fish. Or, sometimes life doesn't go the way you want it to.

Sometimes a seagull steals your fish. Or, sometimes life doesn’t go the way you want it to.

A few months have gone by without a post from me. For several reasons. I didn’t know what to write, or how to write it and when I did write, it wasn’t for this blog.

I had to write a big report for work, a whole 175 pages. I was very proud of it when I finished it and they were happy as well. Another company offered me a better job while I was still working on that report. Changing jobs means making arrangements of all kinds. Handing in your resignation, writing more documents to make the transfer easier and making sure the commute to the new job is arranged. So that and other private matters kept me from writing.

These past few months also made me realize something. I want to write, badly. Not just blog posts, but stories. I already had the idea of making a website about narrative design, which would also be part of my writing portfolio. So that’s also something I’m working on.

I will still post to this blog when I can find the time between my full time job, resting, my boyfriend and my other website. I probably have to learn some things about time managements.

PS. I took this photo at Texel, Ecomare. They take care of sick/stranded seals and birds and set them out again when they are healthy. These seals are old or unable to survive in the wild.

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for my blog. I think it’s awesome they wrote a script for it amd they allow it to easily share with our readerd. So, here’s the summary! I thank you all who come here regularly amd who pass on my blogs to other people. :)

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 6,100 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 10 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Updated

I have updated the two pages about me. Not much is added, besides some links on the hypermobility page and the addition that I’ve graduated from university. I’m getting my diploma on Tuesday and I’m very excited :D Who wouldn’t be?

When I was updating the page about hypermobility, it felt incomplete. I’ve learned and experienced a lot in these two years and I do see people coming here to read about my experiences. For them, and for me, I’ll write some more general posts about hypermobility. Note that I’m certainly not a doctor and have never studied anything in the field of medicine or biology. These posts are all my own experiences and definitely don’t apply to everyone who is hypermobile.

No gaming

It’s been a while since I last played League of Legends. Winter time is definitely my least favorite time of the year. It’s cold and now there’s snow and it’s freezing (-6 degrees celsius). This kind if weather makes my body disagree with itself. My joints don’t wanna work together so I can’t work on the computer for a long time. If I do, I might damage my joints and might not be able to game again like I did. Right now, I’m also having problems again with a neck injury from last year. I can’t watch a flickering screen with fast-moving pictures. Now it’s not a choice anymore if I want to go game or not. I can’t, even though I want to very much. It’s good that there are things I can do without a computer. Reading books and writing are excellent. But that’s why it’s quiet here. I will come back and write more. I promise :)

Blog update

I’ve updated the About pages. Nothing interesting has been added, but it’s more personal now :) And yes, again, a new theme. I love the widget on the left side <3

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Guild Wars 2 Fiction

Miira Lightbringer:
Fried Moa Steak
Quiet Before the Storm

Young Miira:
Tail Tugging Part 1
A Promise Made Part 2
Night Falls Part 3
Grawling Preparations Part 4
Badazar Incarnated Part 5
Graduation Part 6 - Final

Savyrius Belain:
We Meet Again...

Naella Ysangwan:
Dogs and Ogres

Play with me!

Do you want to game with me?
You can add me on Steam, Origin, Raptr, X-Fire or League of Legends. All use the same nickname: Endalia.

Or, if you want to give me some extra love and want to play League of Legends and you don't have an account, you can sign up here and give me some love <3
Diablo 3 Battle Tag: Endalia#1709
Guild Wars 2 Identifier: Endalia.8109

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