Australian Women Writers Challenge - My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

The end of the year is coming up verrrrry quickly and I wasn't sure I'd get this thing done on time! But low and behold, I picked this book up just before I went on holiday and i couldn't put it down. Which is the opposite of what I expected.

Stella 'Miles' Franklin's names have been used in this challenge as the names for how many books you're reading, so obvi she's a well important lady. On top of that, there's a literary award named after her called the Miles Franklin award, which you can win if your book is exemplary of Australian-ity and also is very good.

On top of that, she wrote this book when she was 16, and everyone considers it one of the greatest literatures in Australia! Sick!

On to the book itself (because if you want to know more about Miles you can just google her for all the goss bout her life.) It's a work of 'fiction' in that she's pretty much written her own bio but used other names. She writes about her life in the Australian outback, dairy farming (which she hates) and staying at her Grannie's house (which she loves.) All the usual teenage feelings like WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE? And WHY AM I SO UGLY?  And then flirting with guys but hating them at the same time. It amazed me reading this book how similar it was being a teenage girl in the late 1800s to now. It's so ridiculously honest, to the point of being embarrassing for her many, many times. And yet she continues on with that teenage passion, like she hates what she's doing but can't do anything else.

The strong feminist element to this book makes it really relatable, in the same way Jane Austen's characters are never insipid or completely accepting of men having complete control of the world (like the history books would suggest women were back then, submissive and content.) She's constantly ranting about how unfair it is that men are allowed to be ugly, or assertive, or have interesting careers and lives while women were expected to be obsessed with marriage and family and nothing else. While times have changed a bit in terms of women's prospects in Australia, the sentiment is still very relatable.

There were few criticisms I had of this book, and they weren't to do with the writing or storyline (although I won't spoil it but you'll find yourself simultaneously in love with and completely frustrated by her feelings towards a certain Harry Beecham) but more I guess with the time and her unknown privilege. There were a few very racist moments, as is usual with books from this period (and now, but in other ways.) There were moments when she also came across as progressive for her time, and the racist moments were mostly observations of what others said to her rather than what she thought herself. But I think it needs mentioning nonetheless.

All in all this book was a surprise gem for me. I actually watched the movie when I was in Houston a month ago with my mum, and I enjoyed it a lot, which led me to reading the book. There's always some weird stigma for me that historical fiction is going to be really boring, and yet the best ones always just remind you of modern life with different clothes and jobs. This was one of the best representations of how it really is to be a teenage girl and have all your emotions all the time that I've read. I'm so happy that it has the respect of the literary world that it does. I can't imagine that happening nowadays, but I'm glad that it did.

Now apparently I'm an idiot because I just looked at the website and realised I'd signed up to read 4 books this year, not 3 as I thought it was this whole time. Dang it! If I magically find a book I can read in the next week I will, but somehow I doubt that'll happen. Anyway, let's just pretend 3 was always my goal. I've had an enlightened year reading stuff by Australian Women, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna do it again next year. 10/10 would highly recommend.

Jet Satisfaction

Saw Guitar Wolf at the Tote again. Always amazing. It was very hot and they went harder than last time, probably because of the heat. At the end before the encore, the bassist almost passed out and crawled back to the stage. They are definitely one of the coolest bands ever. Their commitment to being rock n roll is bar none.

I was pretty happy with my gothic getup, although when I got home I realised my buttcheeks were showing a little bit and hoped it hadn't happened much at the Tote. Yolo? This is also my new harness from Hopeless Lingerie. I love Zana Bayne's stuff but I didn't want to fork out for an amazing leather one when I wasn't sure if and how much I would wear it. This Hopeless one was much cheaper and made from satin so it's a bit less intense. It's still made really well though, the quality is beautiful.

What have I even been doing lately? I tried and failed Nanowrimo, although the best thing about Nano is even if you write 200 words it still doesn't feel like a failure. I wrote 5k, and even though that's only 10% of the Nano goal, it's much more than I've written in a long time.

Moss Piglet was in a gallery in London, which was documented by my friend Tom here on his tumblr. I went to an RMIT writing thing my friend Susie held, and it was good. There is a spreecast of it here.

I am feeling closer to writing a novel now I think.

Austin, Texas

I went to 'merica for a week to see my parents. They live in Houston but we visited Austin for a couple of days over Halloween. I took some photos that I think are nice.

Adventures in Lumpy Space

Hey gurl! Long time. I've been up to some stuff, wearing some clothes, playing some games, the yoush. This past Sunday I went to Armageddon (my first Armageddon but not my first con.) It was fun! Better than Supanova this year for sure. Mainly because I got to catch some celebs I was super excited to see, and also I got a cosplay done in time. Here's the proof:

What the lump are you looking at?

Australian Women Writers Challenge - Sibyl's Cave by Catherine Padmore

Okkkk.... it's getting closer to the end of the year and I've got some reviewing to catch up on! As I said previously, for anyone who missed it, I'm doing the Australian Women Writers Challenge, in which you just read some books by Australian women writers and then review them. I'm doing the smallest version of the challenge, which is 3 books, but you can do more if you want. The first book I reviewed was The Stone Key by Isobelle Carmody and my review of it is here.

I've had Sibyl's Cave sitting on my bookshelf for quite a few years, ever since I took Catherine Padmore's course on 'Writing Fiction' at La Trobe. I remember thinking she was cool, and that it was really cool that she'd had a book published, but I never got around to reading it until now. To be honest the genre of the book is not one I usually delve into (historical fiction/drama) but it was interesting to have a reason to read something like this. Here's what the cover looks like:

So... yeah. I don't read a lot of books with a cover like this. I've never really let go of that childish voice in my head that goes "that looks booorriiinggg" and hangs around the sci-fi section looking for the most interesting looking cover. But hey, the good thing about being an adult is you understand when the voice is being shallow, and you go ahead and read it anyway.

I did end up enjoying this book quite a lot. It revolved mainly around the life of one character, and all the stuff she goes through moving from Italy to England to Australia in the mid 20th century. Also all the serious *life biz* that happens. I found some parts of this book refreshingly honest, to the point where you cringe a bit like ugh, yep, that's real. Other times I found it a bit whimsical in its language. It's not that I thought the language was bad, it's just that whimsical isn't really my style, and makes me a little bit uncomfortable.

I was about to write a paragraph criticizing the title, but you know what? It's really fricking hard to come up with titles. I get the significance, I think it's a little obvious and far stretched at the same time, but whatever. The book itself is a good read, very well written. The characters are realistic and believable, and you do end up feeling like you know the main character very well. There was a point in the middle of the book where I was kind of wondering where it was going, which is the danger of something like this which isn't so focused on plot as it is character development. But the end wrapped up well, *spoilers* apart from the one bit where Eli cuts her foot, because I thought that was a little too cheesy and obvious. Like a family movie.

I was happy to read that some of the London parts in the middle were influenced by Vali Myers' biography, because that's really cool. 

So yeah. Not something I'd usually pick up, but I enjoyed reading it, and it was definitely well written. Interesting enough to keep you reading til the end, and for the characters to stay in your mind for a while afterwards. A good effort, Catherine Padmore! Well done.

Kitty at my foot and i want to touch it

I love these Lee dungarees so much. I was obsessing over getting some just as a belated birthday card arrived in the post with a General Pants voucher in it. I was hoping they'd have some and these are perfect! The problem with most one-piece clothing items is that if you're tall, a lot of them don't fit properly. The torso part is usually too short resulting in a wedgie. But these fit perfectly :) I also found the perfect beanie, typically after searching all winter through the freezing cold, just as it gets warm. Oh well.

Lamington Drive Illustration Residency

For the month of August, four Illustrators have been in residence at Lamington Drive Gallery in Collingwood. One of them, Ashley Ronning, is a good friend of mine, and on Thursday night they held the opening of the exhibition which showcases what they've been doing for the past month. The theme was Slumber Party. Queue crocheted blankets, spice girls posters and lots of lamingtons.

There are a lot of photos in this post so click the jump.

Good Books and Games

Hey there! I was feeling particularly pumpkiny the day this photo was taken. I love the colour orange. I also love these space tights, which were from ebay. I got a whole bundle of different ones for vurrry cheap.

I've been doing many things. Life is full right now. It's good. Moss Piglet, the journal I'm working on, is almost ready. Good news for those who contributed back in April! It's taken a while, and life has gotten in the way more than a few times, but it's nearly there.

I'm very excited to read these books, which arrived in the post:

They're by two of my favourite internet ladies. I have to admit, I already read Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth on the tram in one sitting when it arrived... but it's one of those poetry collections I know I'll go back to a million times. It's amazing. Particularly the section called Conversations About Home (at the Deportation Centre), which I wish anyone who thinks refugees are just 'queue jumpers' would read. Using that phrase makes me sick. If that piece of writing could become the most well known writing of this century, it would benefit the world infinitely. Warsan Shire can be found on tumblr, and twitter.

Mia McKenzie runs one of my favourite blogs, Black Girl Dangerous. The articles are so good, and so on point every time. The blog is a space for Queer/Trans/People of Colour (QTPOC), so be respectful and just read it unless you're part of that community. But I highly recommend reading it even if you're not, to get an education. The Summer We Got Free is Mia's first book and I'm really excited to read it.

I never ended up doing a games post :( Blogging takes time, which I only have a little of now. But I've been playing Path of Exile recently, with my housemates, and it's awesome! It's basically the Diablo 3 you wished you had. It's an independent New Zealand game, and somehow it's free, with the only microtransactions being completely aesthetic and not changing the gameplay at all (apart from making your character look awesome-er.) It's still in open beta so I can't wait to see what else they do with the game as it progresses. It's a giant fuck you to big games companies who have millions of dollars to work with and then create shitty, cartoony games with crap graphics and even crapper storylines... cough Blizzard cough.

Here is my Ranger character Buttz McGee being awesome. I have a blue frog with a crown on as a pet. That's an example of something you can buy with real monies.

Usually I'm not a fan of microtransactions, but the fact that I'm enjoying this game so much really made me want to give some money back to the developers. So I was happy to buy something.

You can download and play POE for free here.

That's all for now, stay tuned to see what colour I dyed my hair (OMG WHAT COULD IT BE?) and more inane ramblings about my life.

25

I turned twenty five a week ago. It was cool. These tights made my legs look really pale. These new shoes!!!

I've been thinking about writing something to do with age and how different it feels, but I'm not sure. The past three years I've been twenty two in my mind, and now suddenly I'm twenty five. It felt kind of scary leading up to it, but now it feels normal. Kind of good? Twenty one year olds seem very young. I guess they always were.

Whatever, life continues, regardless of your feelings. It's good. It means you won't be stuck doing the same old shit forever. I feel like I've been in a rut, and it's taken a long time to get out, but I'm finally making progress. I feel like I've also given up on the 'this is the year everything's going to change' attitude. That's some hollywood bullshit. And it gets in the way of real life. In which things change slowly, and never by themselves.

If you make cakes, your life will be filled with cakes. How good is that?! And I don't mean that as some cheesy metaphor for the cakes of life. I mean actual delicious cakes. The ones above were made by my friends, and they were coconut cakes. The best.

A quick PSA

I don't really claim to understand the whole google reader closing thing, but if you want to keep following this blog, I've joined Bloglovin. There's a widget at the side for you to click on ---->

You know what? I don't think I've ever thanked you peeps for following. I've never really thought about making this blog 'for followers', it's always been a personal project. But thanks for reading.

See you on Bloglovin hopefully.

Work n Playing

A jake ring that Oscar made for me, a My Little Pony hat I made for myself, and a vaguely Avril Lavigne-esque work outfit. Maybe I should have worn my Radiohead shirt? Har har

I really am very lucky that a) I love jewelry and b) my boyfriend is good at making jewelry.

The news of my life is as follows:

I am now the manager of Dejavu bar. My boss quit, and so I am doing his job. So far that has been both very stressful, and easy. Stressful because the idea of me managing anything seems insane, and easy because I already knew how to do most of the jobs, and so far the rest of them haven't been that hard. I'm worried that  it means I won't be able to get away from work as much, but having more $$ makes things easier.

My band just finished our first residency. It was rad! All the shows bar the second one went really well. The second one was fine but it was a quiet night, and we always play better when there are people dancing. The third show was a sci-fi spectacular, and I wish I had more photos. The last one we just played really, really fast. The Lounge were super awesome to us, and we loved playing there. I highly recommend trying to get a gig there if you're a band in Melbourne. They treat their bands really well.

This is the only photo I have of the sci-fi gig, credit goes to Georgie P:

Tv Shows That Disappoint

More often than I'd like, I'll be sitting and watching one of my favourite TV series, or a movie by a director I love, and all of a sudden - bam! - some racist/sexist/otherwise terrible shit occurs on screen. It really jarrs me out of the viewing experience, to be honest. I can't quite think about it in the same way. It's like when you're sitting with a group of people who you previously thought were alright peeps, and then all of a sudden one of them says, "That's so gay!" or "I was totally gypped!" and you feel that little stab through the heart like Ugh! We were fine, but now you've made me uncomfortable and I have to tell you and YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING.

So unfortunately, here's a couple of my favourite shows and/or things that have disappointed me recently:

Malcolm in the Middle

source: channel5.com

I recently re-watched season one of this show, which was somehow better than when I watched it originally. It might have been the adult jokes I didn't get when I was younger, or because Bryan Cranston was in it, and after obsessively watching Breaking Bad it felt like watching Walt's secret previous life. It even seemed progressive! Look, one of the recurring characters is a POC* and disabled! Unheard of!

It's also just a really funny show. Lois, the mum, was one of my new heroes. She's always putting everyone in their place. It's awesome. Up until the very last episode of the series - Water Park.

In  this episode, the family decide to take a day off and go to a water park, sans Dewey who has to stay home. Rhys and Malcolm are fighting the whole time, running around and shouting at each other. So far, pretty normal. Then Lois does her 'big angry speech' about them ruining the day. Here's a quote from it:

'Do you think we're wealthy?! Wealthy people drive fancy cars. They have fresh pasta. Do we do any of those things?! No! Wealthy people can afford any of their vacations ruined, no big deal. They just pick up and go again. Your father and I worked so hard, so long. What is wrong with you two?! Are you aborigines?! Every time I turn around, I hear someone screaming and fighting. And I pray to God that's someone else's children, but it's not, it's always you!'

At this point obviously my laughter turned into shock. Did she literally just say that on the screen? After I finished the episode, I went online to re-read the script and make sure I'd heard properly. Yep, there it was. Blatant, weirdly out-of-character racism. There had never been any previous mention of her character being racist in the show, at all. Nothing. So why was this in the script?

I have no explanation whatsoever. It's bizarre. And very disappointing, from a show that won so many awards and was so good up until then.

Futurama

source: tumblr

It goes without saying that I love Futurama, and have for a very long time. Unfortunately, they've let me down. I found the first episode of season 7, 'The Bots and the Bees' really problematic. Bender has a child with a drink vending machine, and the machine takes custody of the child. All of the jokes are based on the fact that the vending machine is a bad, neglectful mother who lives in a trailer park. Which is pretty basic classism, and really unfunny stereotyping. Even more confusing, for me, is that the vending machine was voiced by Wanda Sykes, who is actually a really awesome comedian. She is also a WOC, and while I completely respect her choice to voice the character in the show, I'm disappointed that the show would ask her to do it. The implication of the character is far too in keeping with negative stereotypes of WOC for it to be an appropriate casting choice. Then again, I think this episode should just never have been written in the first place. It wasn't funny, and it was racist and classist as hell.

Bryan Cranston

Oh Bryan! I had so much respect for you. I still do, but it really was disappointing to read this:

In the midst of an otherwise awesome AMA. That said, he's raising money for an organisation that helps missing kids. But you know, someone can do a bunch of awesome stuff and still slip up. It doesn't make it better.

So that's it for now, I'm sure I'll be able to do another one of these posts very soon considering this sort of shit occurs in like every show or movie that I ever seem to watch. Anyone else have these moments when things you love let you down? I feel like I have to end this post, yet again, with this:

*POC = Person of Colour, WOC = Woman of Colour

Darling Girl

I'm super excited about these makeups I got from Darling Girl. This isn't a review because much better people have written in depth about their brand before, but more of a love letter to them because of how awesome they are! They gave me free samples too.

So pretty and sparkly! Which doesn't come out much in the photos. But I highly recommend their brand for sparkly, awesome, unusual colours.
One of my fav stores in Melbourne, Fashiondacci, had a sale the other week and I came away with pins and jewelry. They're quite expensive usually so I was happy to get some stuff while I could afford it. I'm now aware the pin with the writing on it is probably upside down. Classic stupid Westerner?

Edit: It means provide/lend/offer. ?? haha 

And lastly, my boyfriend's old band, who have sadly broken up now, released their first video yesterday. It took about two years to make, hence the time lapse, but it's awesome nonetheless. Check it oot.

Blogger is being hella stupid and not letting me embed the video, so here's the link. :(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg08AVpAJy0

Good Beer Week

More like Get Out Of My Face Week. It's been an intense six days. I got back from Perth last Sunday, and I've been working every day since then. Today I'm going to do absolutely shit all. It's already amazing.

Beer. I love it, other people love it too. There are many different kinds of beer people. Some good, some bad. Because I work at a craft beer bar, it's not unusual for the customers to be knowledgeable about beer. Which is why it's weird that during GBW our bar has been full of people who *think* they know about beer, and are very smug about that fact. It's like dude, beer exists all the other weeks too. And we drink it all the other weeks. This is just your special week to shine.

Anyway thank god that's over. Beer nerds are great. Beer snobs are not.

I've got a bunch of photos and I'm not sure which ones to post first. I guess I'll do the premier of my other vans -

Fresh!!! Or so I like to think. This photo was taken in Perth in my parents' backyard.

I played a few new board games there and a lot of a certain new computer game, but I think I'll save all that for a games post.

If you go my work you'll see the new tip jar art that my boyfriend Oscar drew.

Aaaand I think I'll end this post with Millie. It's too sad that I only see my dogs like twice a year, so when I do I take a million photos of them. Stay tuned for more updates from my exciting life! SO EXCITING!

A Million Bucks

...is how much money I pretend I have sometimes. Like when I go to lunch with my parents to a restaurant called The Trustee. And I wear my mum's (alleged) Chanel bag.

I only have crappy phone photos because I am in Perth. I'm digging this Nars eyeshadow my mum gave me though. Also her silk paisley shirt. Maybe these things need to "disappear" into my suitcase.

I am crying tears in my soul right now because my favourite Melbourne designers, Alpha 60, are having a sale this week. Their last sample sale resulted in two of my favourite dresses that I own, and it was over a year ago. I'm probably out of Melbourne two weeks a year. I must have angered Satan somehow.

If you're in Melb tomorrow, go along and buy something for me ok?

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/401811_509984732397973_1711075774_n.jpg

-sale deets

- me, right now

Faking It

After reading this amazing new post on Hyperbole and a Half, I started thinking about a few things. Firstly, I think I've read something on that blog before, but I never really took notice of how good it is. Everyone else already did apparently, as it has like a million likes on facebook, so I'm kind of late to the party. If you haven't read anything on there, I highly recommend it. It's hilarious and personal and super well written all at once.

I read part one of these depression posts second, in the wrong order. Part one actually resonated more with me, although part two is more thought out and well written. The reason part one resonated more with me is that I could relate to it. I don't think I've ever gotten to the stages outlined in part two, although after reading this blog it's very easy to see how someone would. I don't think I've ever read something about depression that's been more easy to understand.

The fact is, I don't even know if I've ever had depression, and that's really confusing. I've suspected at some points, but I've never had it confirmed. I've been to a councilor approximately once in my life, and that was not long ago. I didn't go back. It's not that she wasn't nice, or understanding. It's just that I felt like I was faking it. I find it very hard to remember feelings that are in the past. So whatever I feel like a certain day, I can't remember feeling any other way. Which makes it difficult when you feel bad one day so you book an appointment, but when that day comes you feel neutral, so saying "I felt bad a couple of days ago" feels like lying. I start wondering if I ever did feel bad, or whether that's something I made up. So I didn't go back.

The other thing is, people all feel bad at certain points, and good at certain other points. Same with anxiety. So how do you know if the feelings you have are the normal ones, or the more extreme ones? I read a lot of blogs where people talk about their depression or anxiety, and they're very sure of themselves. They've been to therapists, they know exactly what's going on. Which makes me think that maybe the only way to have the bad version of those things is if you know you have them. Is it? Does everyone know for sure they have depression or anxiety? Does anyone else feel like they're faking it when they tell someone about it? Or exaggerating?

Then again, I'm quite used to feeling bad. I feel bad quite a lot. I also feel apathetic, tired and unmotivated almost constantly. Isn't that normal though? Isn't that just being lazy? I just don't know if it's the kind you should get help for, or if it's the normal kind you should just learn to live with. I can relate really well to the section on that post about making faces to go with emotions. But I think maybe that's just part of my personality. I've been doing it for so long. I can remember starting to do it in primary school. Is that the normal one or the bad one?

Anyway I better post this before I decide it's way too personal and delete it all. I'll accompany it with some photos of my new Hello Kitty Vans. I like these shoes very much.

They're dead now. For sure.

I know everyone has this jumper but I don't carreeeee
Jeremy Scott can suck it. This is one of the few times where I don't give a crap about high street brands making designer rip-offs. If you're gonna rip off the internet, be prepared to be ripped off yourself.

I just finished The Walking Dead game... oh my god! So intense. Definitely one of the best games I've played in a while. I mean, I'm loving Tomb Raider but in the same way you love cheesy action movies. I highly recommend The Walking Dead game if you like well written story-driven games. One of the best things about it is that your choices within the game determine the storyline somewhat. I say somewhat, because the same stuff is going to happen in the end. The main story doesn't change. But the details within the game are different, to the point where you miss different sections and see different parts depending on what you do. And it's just really well written! For once, a game where characters are relatable, and act in realistic ways. I really hope they make a sequel. (Semi-spoiler if you highlight after this) I want the next one to be ten years later, where you play a grown up Clementine who's a complete badass because she's grown up seeing so much terrible shit. It's not that much of a spoiler, but you never know, she could have died at the end. Speaking of which, am I the only person ever who saved Doug and not Carly?

Screenshot courtesy of www.videogamesblogger.com

Tardigrade

Here's what I wore to Supanova:

It wasn't as good as last year, to be very honest, although that was mainly due to bad organising - everyone we wanted to see talk did their talks on Saturday, and we went on Sunday because of work. Like Adam Baldwin and Rose McGowan :( We saw Adam Baldwin doing autographs though, which was awesome! Jane IRL. Maybe the fact that I couldn't give two shits about David Hasselhoff and there was no one from Battlestar there didn't help. And we'll probably never live up to the five mins of fame we had as Adventure Time cosplayers when it was only getting popular. Ah well.

Osc and Ham getting friendly with Gandalf. Later on we went home and had a nice game of Talisman.

Which was the first time playing with the city expansion. Pretty fun! Getting thrown in jail from the middle of the dungeon was confusing and hilarious. As usual, it went on way too long and we ended up battling each other for the win. Hamish was the clear winner, but in a moment of weakness he allowed me to fight him using craft and I ended up winning. Such is Talisman.

Sometimes I have this sad feeling when I think of being younger, because back then, being naive meant that I hadn't been exposed to as much fashion or art and I was more enthusiastic about my own ideas. It's good to understand the context of what you're bringing into the world, but at the same time it can be a bit creativity stifling to know that someone else has done it before you and it's not an original idea. Basically, it's hard to be enthusiastic about ideas of your own that you don't think are very original. Anyone else have a problem with this? Sure, it's better to know what you're influenced by so you don't just rip them off and make something terrible. But what if you lose all motivation in the process?

I'm about a fifth of the way through my Camp Nano writing, and it's just over halfway through the month. Not looking good! The journal has a name now though - Moss Piglet.

Easter, brewing and jewellery making

A squinty eyed outfit pic

Beautiful Ashley, who makes the tote bag in my previous post, and many others.

Not the Orthodox Easter, which is what my family celebrates. Still, went to my Nana's for 'normal' Easter. I'm doing a series of interviews with her about her life, which is very interesting. I've never interviewed someone about their life before. Biography websites give tips like, "Ask what chores they had to do as a child, and how much pocket money they got," which is almost laughable for people who grew up in Russia during WW2. I could write a book about her life, or I could just write some records for the family to have. I'm not sure yet.

In homebrewing news, we're brewing an oatmeal coffee stout.

And in jewellery news Delish Beads are fricking awesome, and I've made a bunch of jewellery that I love.

In writing news, I'm supposed to be doing Camp Nanowrimo, but my laptop's been broke/ being repaired for this whole time. So I'm like eight days behind. I wrote the first day on my phone, and then decided that sucked and I'd just catch up. I now have quite a lot of sci-fi writing to do! But since I'm writing short stories this time, I made my word limit only ten thousand. A bit more relaxed than fifty, let me tell you.