Last month I redesigned my blog. It felt like it was time for a change — even a fresh start — since I haven’t been able to post as often as I used to, and my subject matter has had to shift a bit due to lifestyle changes and work. So if this is your first time visiting the blog since then, you’ll probably notice it looks quite a bit different!
Life is good lately. I’ve been enjoying my job, exercise, family time, and wedding planning. It’s been busy — but the good kind of busy!
My Personal Coffee Challenge
The biggest personal challenge I’ve taken on lately is reducing my caffeine intake. I was having about three cups of coffee per day — one first thing in the morning, one when I got to work, and another after lunch. It was just a habit. I couldn’t wake up properly without a coffee, and I noticed that if I skipped it in the morning, I would be groggy on the way to work. I like to do the Pimsleur Spanish audio lessons on my morning commute, but without caffeine first, I couldn’t say hola.
Now, that’s not such an unusual thing — lots of people need coffee to wake up — but I know that if I’m going to be traveling later this year, I can’t rely on caffeine at specific times every day. I need to be able to live without it once in a while, and not have a headache or zero energy. It was just getting to be a little much.
So last month I started weaning myself off of caffeine, and it went surprisingly well. I had low energy for a day or two, and a headache maybe one time, but otherwise it was a very successful process — because I kept it gradual. I started off by only having one coffee in the morning, and going down to just a tea in the afternoons. (Or a green tea latte — I love those things.) I tried to go later and later into the day without caffeine, so I didn’t depend on it to wake up first thing in the morning. Now, I can wait until the afternoon to have coffee, and there have been a couple of days where I’ve survived with just tea. I call that a success!
What I’m Playing
On the geekier side of things, I started replaying The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. I love that game so much. I just finished the first chunk of the game and am now hanging with Triss in Novigrad (which is sort of like “Part 2” of the story). For the longest time I just wasn’t gaming as much, and I couldn’t seem to stick to a single game — but since picking up The Witcher 3 again, I’m happy to sit down and immerse myself for hours at a time. It’s like I just need to find the right game to enjoy again.
I’ve also been playing Destiny 2, since it’s launched its Solstice of Heroes event. It’s been a blast scouring Earth for patrols, fighting my way through Strikes, and leveling up my favorite gear. Replaying some of my favorite missions in the Solstice “Redux” missions has been a great challenge, too. I lost track of time with this game, and it’s so perfect to play with someone else. Destiny was one of my most beloved (and most played!) games ever, and finally I feel like Destiny 2 has its hooks in me.
What’s everybody else up to this month? Hope you’re all enjoying your summer. =)
— Ashley
Robo♥beat 
I’ve just recently started on book four of Soulcleaver, so that will probably be my focus this month. It’s going well so far. Very heavy on battle scenes, which I find easy to write. The first chapter is titled “Many Will Die,” and I think that sets the tone of the book very well.
I’m still having trouble finding a game that really sucks me in. Since I’ve been playing a lot of D&D IRL, I decided to finally give Dungeons and Dragons Online a try. It’s fascinating as a student of game design because it feels very different from most other MMOs — or video game RPGs in general — but I don’t see it holding my attention for long.
On the subject of D&D, I wrote a one-off adventure for our campaign. Our dungeon master’s been asking me to write something for a while, and I wanted an excuse to play my old character from the first campaign again, so I wrote a story around her. Theoretically going to play through it next week.
I’ve started reading a book by Brandon Sanderson called The Way of Kings that was lent to me by a friend, who has been raving about the book and all but ramming it down my throat for weeks now. So far the setting seems very original and detailed, which I appreciate, but the characters seem a bit boring. My friend assures me this will change as I progress deeper into the book.
That sounds like a good month. Good luck with your writing! I always find battle scenes tricky to write, but glad to hear they come easily to you. It’s funny how every writer has their own strengths and weak points, I’m guessing. I enjoy dialogue most, although I’m appreciating description more as I get older and write more.
That would be fun to write a D&D adventure! Have fun playing it.
Let me know what you think of that book. I’m reading A Darker Shade of Magic right now, just started it but I love the writing so far. Seems very original too.
For me it’s writing emotional stuff that’s a big challenge. I find it difficult to articulate feelings. People hitting each other with swords is refreshingly simple by comparison.