A Bunch of Updates
So, it’s been not quite two weeks since my last blog entry, and since I have not much to say beyond a whole lot of stuff happening, I thought I’d do an update post instead of something long and interesting.
Earthquakes
In case you missed it, with all the US election goings on, there was a massive earthquake near Kaikoura two minutes after midnight on the 14th of November. When I say massive, I mean it: magnitude 7.8 and a depth of only 15km (that’s 9 miles for any Americans reading this). Since that initial quake, there have been more than 1500 aftershocks, and at least 50 of them had a magnitude of at least 5.
If you’ll pardon the pun, we are all quite literally shaken.
I was brushing my teeth when I felt it coming (it was a long build up and an even longer roll) and immediately started doing the Wellingtonian “wait and judge”. Then the pipes started rattling, and I got that feeling in my bones that something was coming and it was going to be big. We were lucky – closest thing to damage was a lot of my books falling everywhere (not a surprise) – but other places were not so much. Two people died, there were massive slips in Kaikoura, land has been raised from the sea near the epicentre, breeding colonies for seals and birds have been damaged/wiped out, and some buildings in Wellington look like they will need to be demolished.
It could have been much worse. While this was a massive earthquake, it happened when most people were at home, not at work or on the roads. Had it happened nine hours later, at the start of the work day, the results would be very different.
NaNoWriMo
I’ve given up on NaNoWriMo. Between real life and illness and then all the quakes… I’m not going to be able to catch up. But I’m not upset. The 12k or whatever of The Cantia Covenant has been very useful. It showed me much more of what I need to do for world-building and planning, gave me some new character ideas, and most importantly gave me an independant plot for a character that still ties in nicely with the larger world. So I’m going to let it stew for a while and do much more plotting before I pick it back up some time next year.
Also! My photo was in the paper for NaNo, so that’s something.
Writing In General
I may have decided to abandon NaNoWriMo 2016, but not writing. I’m finally ready to head into my third draft of The Necromancer’s Daughter, my YA novel about… necromancy. Also Greek mythology and its parallels with some aspects of Maori mythology (see Persephone and Hine-nui-te-Po, which was also touched upon by Karen Healey’s Guardian of the Dead).
Many thanks in advance to Anjulie of Koru Mag for giving me the advice/push that will make this draft of The Necromancer’s Daughter the best yet. Seriously, between that and some other ideas, everything has finally fallen into place and just feels so much stronger already.
Gaming
The Skyrim Special Edition is out, and I’ve just started playing it – for the first time in years. Amazing how much I remember, and how much I have forgotten. It’s also interesting to play Skyrim after playing the Dragon Age series: Skyrim looks beautiful and has so many neat things, but I miss the emphasis on character that comes with Dragon Age. Followers in Skyrim are nothing compared to Companions from Dragon Age.
Also, I got the shock of my life when I booted up the game and suddenly Fenris is shouting. It was so difficult to not go back to my Dorianmance and the world of Dragon Age (and yes, I know Fenris isn’t even in Inquisition, but Gideon Emery still voices Samson, so close enough).
I will update you on the adventures of my Altmer lady when I get more into the game. I haven’t even reached the Greybeards yet – but I did take the time to acquire a grumpy elf follower who thinks wizards should be locked away.