Happy Halloween!
Slowly but surely the weather is starting to reflect the fall vibes I have been craving since September. There are leaves on the ground and nights are getting colder.
October turned out to be a month of learning and adjusting.
A big focus recently has been my growing interest in astrology. A few years back, probably around the start of 2022, I really got into focusing on each month as a marker of the passage of time. Since then I have enjoyed embracing each month with its unique mood and inspiration. I love thinking about how each month is a reflection of its season – winter, spring, summer, fall. Slowly over the course of the past couple of years I have incorporated different elements into my celebrations of the changing months. The newest addition to my monthly celebrations have been the changing astrology signs.
This month I made a scorpio sign to hang above my office window. I have also been collecting tokidoki zodiac unicornos and am displaying the current one – scorpio – near my devil’s ivy plant. It’s been a lot of fun.
Another super fun thing that happened this month is that I got my first tattoo! I’m so excited about it and happy I did it.
The date for my tattoo, October 10th, was random based on when I reached out to the artist I wanted to work with and her availability. In the end it worked out quite nicely. As it turns out October 10th is World Mental Health Day. Mental health is a cause I care about deeply and so I enjoy the fact that my tattoo happened on that day. Serendipitous!
Writing Progress
I really like how these monthly blog posts have become a type of monthly review. They allow me to assess the amount and type of progress I am making toward my goals.
Sad to say that at the moment I am a bit frustrated.
Right around the time of my last post I started to shift the focus of my writing. Starting around the spring of this year (2023) I began to focus heavily on planning and drafting versions of a fiction/memoir story I wanted to write.
When I quit my job for writing back in the fall of 2021 I had just been through a lot, like many people. Not only that I was still carrying a lot of things from my teenage years, things I needed to process and sort out.
I have been journaling since I was 12 and knew that writing was a great way for me to process heavy periods of my life but wanted to delve into narrative writing, full on story writing, as a way to really bring together a lot of pieces that span years of my life to make sense of issues I had been struggling with for a long time.
I was never sure that I would publish any of those writings, still am not sure but at this point of my life I feel that I have spent a significant amount of time with a couple of things that were important to me and it is time to set them down.
I suppose it’s a bit like weightlifting or working out. You go, go, go and at some point you need to take a brake.
More recently my attention has turned to a more entertaining story, one that is more imaginative and altogether fictional.
A part of me is disappointed, feels like I have failed. I spent so much time working out details and outlines etc for my memoir inspired fictional story just to set it down. Feels like failure.
A part of me is afraid that I don’t have what it takes to do well, to start again, to write an imaginative story. Afraid that I will fail.
But another part of me is saying, “Fuck it, do what you want. Be happy.”
Finished Books
•Goodnight, Irene – Luis Alberto Urrea•
OMG! I did it. After months of trying to finish the book Goodnight, Irene I finally managed to finish it, yay!
I started this book back in July, it took me a minute for sure. I think the biggest reason it took me so long is that war is not a topic I like to read about. With that said, I don’t like buying books just to not finish them. It’s kind of a commitment thing maybe. I like to finish what I start or just see things through. Unless I absolutely cannot stand a book I think there is always something to be learned. A good question to ask in these instances is why don’t I like this book? Often times the answer is just as good as asking why do I like this book.
•The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches – Sangu Mandanna•
Another book I finished this month is The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna. The format for this was strictly audiobook. I found this to be a sweet cozy-fantasy-romance type read. It reminded me somewhat of TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea likely because it dealt with magical children and a person who goes to where the children are to help them.
I picked this book up because I wanted something magical to read for Halloween, or at least leading up to Halloween. It was a good one for my purposes. I’m not big on watching horror movies and so I didn’t feel ready to make the leap into a horror book, at least not yet or on my own.
Currently Reading
•A Discovery of Witches – Deborah Harkness•
I picked this one up because again I wanted Halloween-y books to read. I started the show series and stopped because I wanted to read the books first. I am eight chapters in and am started to have a hard time continuing. This might be another situation like Goodnight, Irene…
I’m not sure what it is that is turning me off. I like the idea of witches and creatures existing in our world. I like the idea of an ancient mysterious book but something isn’t working for me… it might be the pacing, it feels a bit slow but we’ll see how my feelings develop as I read more.
•Fairy Tale – Stephen King•
This one is a big surprise to me.
The theme of this month’s post seems to be – books with Halloween vibes.
I bought this one because hello, Stephen King – King of Horror. Plus my husband is a big horror fan and one of the books we read together in the past was ‘Salem’s Lot. I know, I know, I just said I am a scaredy cat and don’t like horror but that is why I read this author together with my husband – so I am not trapped between the pages on my own lol.
We are only about five chapters in but I gotta say I am really liking this book. Like, a lot. More than A Discovery of Witches, more than The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. I guess that makes it my favorite of the month.
Next Month
November is NaNoWriMo!
Unfortunately I have never found success with this event. I think for me the holidays are a very busy and stressful time of the year and not conducive to intense pressured writing goals. Despite that, I will try to partake by simply continuing my regular writing practice.
My hope is that in November I can stabilize my writing idea and gain a sense of confidence so that I can again pick up my writing pace and be a happy writer once again.
Until Next Time,
Angelica Sophia
Angelica Sophia 
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