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One of the things I like to do, and this helps with character development too, is write scenes with a group of characters sitting around a campfire together. Only if these characters are going to interact with each other a lot going forward, mind you. These scenes most likely won't make it into the draft, but it helps me see how they interact with each other and the world, who they'll reveal what to and how much or how little and why. The scenes I like to write this way are: • their first night together, they've only just met and don't necessarily trust each other • the night after their first battle together • when they've lost someone close to them recently (no matter the circumstances) • when they're about to part ways for the final time I learn so much about the characters this way and even some about the world. And it helps me when I'm stuck to make sure I balance the attention on a multi-cast story. Even if it's all from one POV in the long run.

We really live in the darkest timeline when people starts to promote anti-intellectialism to this degree

really wish i didnt come up with so many cool concepts that i can't seem to actualize. my only idea of a career path there would be Creative Director on things. i don't even think THAT's the majority of their job tasks, and it's not like you become a creative director without evidence that your ideas are good (via executing them yourself first somehow lmao) i have ideas for psychological horrors and existential thrillers and paranormal slice of life and no clear means of bringing them to reality yet. i can't even fully decide if i want to lean on literature or if i want to attempt more visual mediums for things! lol

I just love your videos, I have been watching and commenting for a while under a different name/account. This is my writing account, which I will be using from now on. Loved The Broken Queen and can't wait for the next one!

This is something I didn’t know I needed to watch.

Shout out to the Aquarian Tarot!

I dont believe in not writing trash. Everything is really trash; Dostoyevsky puts you to sleep, Hemingway is ass, and I'd rather shoot myself than read Dazai.. And if everything is trash and bad and boring, who cares what others think of your work? The whole point of art is to create and to express, not to sell. You should be writing for yourself, the only person who needs to find your writing interesting and fun and engaging is you

This is why I will never write as a source of income I depend on. I refuse to write erotica or sexually charged literature, but that’s where the $$$ is.

Do you tend not to start work on the sequels now until you've tested the response to Book 1? Were you waiting to start on Shattered King until you had decided Broken Queen was a 'success', or was that just how the timings / drafting ended up happening? Also thanks for your channel, you've quickly become such a comfort channel for me x

Listening to your videos while playing the Animal Crossing OST in the background is a vibe. Also the advice of don't have kids, LOL too late. but my partner and both wanted kids pretty early when we were dating so it was going to be the type of thing that we were going to do it and deal with finances later. And both of us are both full time artists go figure. I will say all the advice resonates with me and I already do most of them because again both me and partner are creatives and the frugal life is essential for us. BUT I will say don't be too frugal where it becomes depressing. Sometimes stuff bring us joy, and it's ok to once in awhile treat yourself to something nice, so long as it's not going to blow a hole in the budget. It's a balance.

Thanks for making a chill island in a sea of horrific news.

I love this video! I watched it while I meal-prepped. 😄🙏

3:40

These are my favourite sort of videos :)

5:59 8 steps starts here

Totally relate having to get rid of games bc they’re not suited to everybody and there’s nobody to play with. I wish there was a way to make board games single player lol

You're part of the Cozy TH-cam corner of the universe I appreciate! 🙂

Yes to the cheese soup. So good.

I like this channel so much because you're so normal and relatable and its so refreshing. It's hard to keep up with certain channels where they start their day at 5am and go to the gym everyday, etc.

90s is vintage!? *cries in old*

refuge 💚

Heck yeah, you know the real reason why you wanna come back to Maryland? Because Jousting is our official state sport!! 😂 (Maryland pride, what do you mean I have Maryland pride??? lol)

I so regret getting rid of my magazines. I was a teen magazine girl and I really miss the feeling of flipping through those (maybe, I just miss the 90s lol). Would be so lovely to find a stack for a nostalgic afternoon. I've started exploring the magazines in Libby, especially some of the international titles. Either way, my collection definitely needs a good declutter. 😅

My analog heart is coveting your timeline book! As soon as you showed it, thought of the exact same use for it. I actually use old calendars for keeping my story plots in line, too.

We're in "epic decluttering" mode right now. Will shortly be moving my writing desk and reorganizing all my books, and hopefully I'll actually have a dedicated writing space for the first time in... uh... my adult life. <3

I always enjoy your videos. Two things hit me as I watched. One, I don't think the human mind or heart is created to take on all the global rush of crisis, disasters, etc. that we are inundated with now. On the one hand, I love that I can help someone on the other side of the world, but on the other, I can't really process or cope with the entire world's tragedies, if you know what I mean. I've severely cut back on my news consumption because it was stressing me out, and honestly, I think a lot of the stuff put out there is just to make you angry or fearful. Second, and on a lighter note, I LOVE the artwork of cobblestone way stuff. For whatever reason, those drawings make me feel incredibly happy. :).

Where do you bring your books? I use Mr Ks a lot , those they won’t take get thrifted. Also paperback swap for my daughter to earn credits for more books. .

@the tablecloth: My grandma embroidered one on linen with similar colours, though it was a geometrical design. Her Mother and Grandmother could do whitework and needellace professionally (they weren't master craftswomen in embroidery, but had a farm and sold the embroidery - and eggs - for everything they couldn't produce, but had to buy, like shoes, doctors and education) Her mother never taught her, because she worked in her husband's salon and didn't have time for it - also, there was rationing for fabric and thread and who would waste their coupons on a child. When she went to Switzerland for her training for her journeywoman exams (the level before master), her Mistress (it is really hard to translate terms that are a vestige of mediveal guilds) taught her embroidery (no rationing in Switzerland) and that Tablecloth is the result. I saw it, got puppy eyes, got it gifted, I love it :D

I bet like 88% of your viewers on this channel were like, "I'd play the lyrics game with Lydia!"

18:00 This is my outlook on social-ness right now, too. I've been invested in world things and politics for the last 10 years, and I'm EXHAUSTED. My feeds are also filled with people breathlessly posting about every single little thing. And it's only February. :') I can't pay attention anymore. Thank you for being a refuge. Maybe, a local retirement home might like that 70s 80s lyric game? Like they might have enough people there who have core memories just waiting to be unlocked. :)

Declutter one shelf at a time. I think I’ve found my mantra😂

Using the library to "keep your books" is a great idea, in a world where libraries are safe.

Omg that Josephine wall puzzle 🤩 I love her art. I might have to look for one…

I had that cookbook as a child! I cooked from it a bunch. The potato pancakes and the "8 small buns" recipes were my favourites.

Very cozy blog <3 Saved me from doomscrolling. I have been to the Goodwill bins once and never again because I caught a nasty flu and missed a camping trip with friends. I was wondering why one lady was wearing gloves and a mask going through the bins. Now I know.

are you selling any of the stuff on your various pages?

As I mentally prepare to move too... and write my story... and work... this is the video I needed more than every single other one I've seen in the last few days. I have a library at home too, and specifically a cookbook library, plants and trees and natural world library... and defo a few of those 60s-70s books with herbs and whatnot in it! LOL! love that you have them too. If I can find the Moosewood cookbook, that one is staying in the collection. But I have to let a bunch of books go. And this is so helpful! Thank you for the refuge and inspiration. :). AND>>> HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! fellow Aquarius here.

You read Enchanted Living, too! Cool!

You know most of Enchanted Living is based in Frederick!

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Boggle is one of my favorite games! Why were you in the Steampunk book?

Yes, I am making last-minute adjustments to my first ever published book through Amazon before I submit it. It's like my brain is too restless to just listen to music, it needs other things to focus on.

I love your vlogs and this one was so cozy. I'm attempting to only buy second hand (clothes) this year and just a 'low-buy' year in general. Wish you lived nearby so I can take your puzzles off your hands and transplant them to my father-in-law. He does them with my husband. I have poor spatial reasoning skills so a 50 piece is a challenge for me. But he only does 2000 piece puzzles, usually something with a manly or '70s nostalgia theme 🤣

Can we get a “Meet the Cats” video someday? Love the writing content, but I want to know more about the kitties!

I really did enjoy this video, very relaxing and fun!

I remember Linnea in Monet's Garden! Seeing that cover just unlocked a childhood memory for me. :)

I put this on while reorganizing my own office, hehe 😂. Totally at the same place you are, re: stuff and owning and buying stuff. And indeed, a lot of things donated to thrift stores (clothes especially) do end up in the garbage or exported to poorer countries, where....it also becomes garbage, because there's so much of it. It was especially a problem during the first couple years of the pandemic. A lot of my local shops stopped accepting donations at all for a while! So I, too, have been trying to simplify even when it comes to secondhand shopping. Thank you as always for the cozy little space! I'm definitely one of those folks limiting my reading of the news so that I can stay regulated and try to make a difference in my own circles, and I'm glad others are too 😊

These days my stock answer to "How are you doing?" is, I'm just trying to control what I can control and ignore the rest. Winston-Salem is definitely worth a quick weekend getaway if you feel the need to escape normalcy for a bit. The Old Salem stuff, Moravian bakeries and The Book Ferret will easily fill a day. I loved W-S the 3 years I lived there.

OMG I had 2 or 3 Cobblestone Way puzzles that my grandmother got me when I was little. I LOVED that aesthetic so much. I also want to add that this video was just such a welcome moment of peace this week. It was very comforting. I really want to try to embrace being more creative and community focused. It's hard to not get swept up in current stuff, but my health just can't handle all of it.