Brain Dump Update: Hobbies, Writing, Etc.

Good afternoon from your friendly neighborhood writer!

I hope you are all doing wonderful today. How has 2025 been so far? What have you been into? Anything new or interesting happen?

Today we have a more laid back blog post, where I’ll blab and you can learn more about what I’ve been up to these past four months. If you’re interested, check out my last Life Update from June!

Writing Projects

My authors/writers know, when you catch a moment of creativity, you snatch it and RUN. That’s how I’ve been feeling lately, and it has been a wild array of emotions.

Never-Ending Nightmares is still underway! I gathered a small team of ARC readers, and so far have gotten some valuable feedback. If any of you are reading this, you’re the best, and thank you again for being part of this project! I also found an artist that I love who will be working on the new cover art. I am so incredibly excited to see it and to share the results with you all! That will probably be somewhere near the end of January.

I am currently in my final stages of reworking and editing, but I won’t lie, my brain has been exhausted going over the same words countless times. This is why I’ve been writing everything else BUT what I’m supposed to be working on.

Pinterest has been my muse this past week (as I’m writing this, it’s the last week of October). Although most writing prompts I see are a little cliche or cheesy, they’ve been a great way to practice my writing muscles in a sea of editing. In the past few days, I’ve written down around 15 story ideas, each with a small excerpt. It has been freeing to work on small projects. I feel as though November will open up more opportunities for me to work on NEN without getting distracted. Plus, I’ll have ideas to work on when the book is finally published next year!

Video Games

Remember how, in my last update, I said I would stop buying games and finish the ones I already had? :) I was doing good, I swear! I also apologize in advance for how long this section is about to be, but it is titled brain dump for a reason!

I finished playing Kingdom Hearts 3, which I adored! No one could make me hate the KH franchise! It was a little confusing story-wise (as it has always been), but it felt so good to reminisce and rekindle my love for the game. If you like cheesy, hopeful storylines, I’d recommend! Now I just have to try the DLC, which I’ve heard is a pain in the ass.

I’m still working on Baldur’s Gate 3 and Stardew Valley, but not nearly as much as I was a few months ago. I did reach the last act of Baldur’s Gate 3, which I’m so excited and nervous about. I’ve been procrastinating on that game solely because I don’t want it to end. I haven’t played Stardew Valley in a long time, but I’m sure I’ll get back to it at some point. That game doesn’t have a proper ending that I know of, so it’s not too high on my priority list.

Lately, I’ve been playing a lot of dating games! I think, with all the writing I’ve been working on, sometimes I just need to turn my brain off and enjoy a cute love story. Plus, as a writer, it’s interesting to see different writing and dialogue styles. Am I going to expose myself a bit by naming these games? Yes. Am I ashamed? Absolutely not!

All of these are available on Itch.io, and I believe the ones listed are also free, but I always encourage supporting small developers! Here is everything I’ve played or am currently playing:

Fated Mate (my favorite of them so far): I think the name speaks for itself. This one is about dropping into a fantasy world where the A/B/O system is in place. If you don’t know what that means, I’m sorry for your google search history in advance. Anyway, I thought the story was well done and fleshed out! The art is aesthetically pleasing, and I love the character designs! Of course, I’m biased towards Taliesin, but I mean, look at him. A short, pleasing storyline with a sweet ending.

Embassy Otherworld: This was definitely my second favorite! Also set in a fantasy world, this game had a lot of diversity with character designs and world building. It’s a short game, but it felt well-rounded. I really enjoyed the variety of choices you could make, and I found the main interest so endearing. I felt like this could be a book, and I would be the first to read it!

Vampires in Your Area: I didn’t read much about this game before playing it, but it was short and sweet! I thought the plot could’ve been a little more fleshed out because it felt short, but I really enjoyed the concept! The ending scenes were also very cute and wholesome, I really enjoyed that. I wanted to know more about Nox’s background though! He seemed like he lived an interesting life.

Rewritten: I also really enjoyed the concept for this game! This is about re-opening a book store and having boys from books come to life! I loved the idea, which is so original, and the characters were very cute! I also thought this could’ve been a little longer, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Klaus was such a sweetheart, and his ending scenes were incredibly wholesome as well!

14 Days With You: I am currently working on this game, and so far, it’s definitely interesting. Since I’ve been playing a lot of these games, ads have been popping up on my social media, and this one was THE MOST persistent. So naturally, I got it. The main character is strange from the get-go, but that’s how the game is designed, so I’m very curious to see how it goes. I know it’s going to get a little dark, and I’m all for it!

Currently Reading / Recently Read

Am I going to reach my reading goal this year? Who knows at this point. I am on book 32 of 40, and I feel like that is an accomplishment in itself with how my brain is going.

In the beginning of September, I made it a point to sign up for ARCs in an attempt to support small authors. I wanted to do something nice for the community, and felt inspired. I applied to 8 ARCs without thinking about how much I’d have to read in order to finish them all within the deadline. Luckily, half of them accepted! I’ll be posting full reviews on the site, so look out for them, but I was honored to be part of the ARC team! Each author was so nice.

Without further ado, here are the books I’m currently reading:

Foxes & Poisons by Adina Chiles: This is the last ARC I have to finish up, and I’m a little more than halfway through. This book I is so so good! Even though I’m not done yet, I am so excited to keep reading! The first half of the book started a bit slow, but once it started picking up, I was locked in! I’m very intrigued to see how this ends, as both main characters are pretty headstrong.

Quicksilver by Callie Hart: I’ve heard so much hype about this book, and needed a break from reading obligations and ARCs. Although I’m only about 30% through the book, I understand why people enjoy it. The story so far has been exciting! I am a lover of fantasy (as you probably know by my book reviews) and this one starts off with such a rich atmosphere and power dynamics. I’m already so excited to see what happens! I also didn’t read the synopsis until after I started reading.

Miscellaneous

Something I don’t advertise or talk about often is my love for art! I’ve been focusing on writing and doing things to decompress after writing, which hasn’t left much room for anything else. Recently, however, I’ve been riding that creativity high a little too hard.

Distasteful? Yes. True? Also yes.

After months of not touching anything art related, I’ve finally started to do some digital art! I am working on a piece and can feel the muscle memory starting to kick in. I forgot how much I enjoy it. It gives me the opportunity to slow down. I am forced to concentrate on one thing. It’s almost, meditative in a way. Also, on an art related note, I’ve finally decided to paint my skateboard. I don’t know how to ride, but I promised myself years ago that I owuld learn once I painted the underside and replaced the grip on top. I am finally finally finally working on it, thanks to my best friend giving me a deadline (that I will try to meet).

Another thing I’ve been working on is tarot readings. I have been doing a LOT of readings lately, for myself and for others I’m close with. That has also been a relaxing and meditative activity for me. I’m very excited to keep practicing and learning.

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And with that, my fingers are tired and I’m out of ideas to write about. If you made it this far, you must really like me :)

Thank you for reading, and I hope you have an amazing Saturday <3