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Author: Ellis Morning

General Update (aka 2020 Takes Its Toll)

General Update (aka 2020 Takes Its Toll)

Things have been … surreal lately, for lack of a better word. Protesters tear-gassed in front of the White House, protesters tear-gassed a mile from my house—all while protesting against police brutality. Meanwhile, a global pandemic rages, and will almost certainly surge again. And amidst all this, I spent two weeks in the hospital while being treated for an auto-immune disorder. A one-time occurrence, or something (else) I have to deal with for the rest of my life? It’s too…

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Sword and Starship Book 3: First Draft Completed

Sword and Starship Book 3: First Draft Completed

The first draft of Book 3 of the Sword and Starship series is done! (Though I still haven’t settled on a title.) It’s about 84,000 words over 18 chapters: a decent novel length, with room to expand if necessary. This is the first point at which “Book 3” exists in a coherent form, without lots of revision notes and unwritten gaps. It still needs tons of TLC before it can be shared with the world, but it exists. I get…

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December 2019 Updates, Goals

December 2019 Updates, Goals

There are a lot of things I used to love about Mac that are becoming less and less true. At one time, everything just worked—but now I deal with stuck keys on my laptop keyboard (at least it is mostly usable! *knocks on wood*) and features disappearing from apps because Mac believes my laptop should be identical to my phone. Even worse, the Time Machine utility has begun failing regularly while backing up my machine, for who-knows-what reason. That’s bad…

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November 2019 Updates, Goals

November 2019 Updates, Goals

Time still feels like it’s flying, but I’ve been filling that time in good ways, so I can’t complain. Also, no major health issues this year, which is a big improvement over last. A lot of time and money has been going into our house lately. It’s been worthwhile so far! Writing Updates October was a good, productive month. I finished drafting the last couple of chapters, and now I’m giving the draft of Book 3 one final pass before…

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October 2019 Updates, Goals

October 2019 Updates, Goals

So, the summer was a blur. Guess what? September was, too, even with the occasional break in my routine! I think the fact that it’s still very summery here helped it speed right along, just an extension of summer. (Seriously, the high here tomorrow will be 90F/32C. I live in Pennsylvania, where we allegedly have four seasons.) I’ve been intent on my writing goal in particular, which has paid off, I think. Barring complications, I’m in a good position to…

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September 2019 Updates, Goals

September 2019 Updates, Goals

I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels like this summer was a blur. How have we reached September already? In a bid to slow things down, I’ve begun engaging in some routine-breaking. This time of year, I try to savor the outdoors in particular, before it gets too cold again. Sitting or walking under some trees for a while really seems to clear the junk out of my brain. Writing Updates With 80,000 words in 15 chapters, my…

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August 2019 Updates, Goals

August 2019 Updates, Goals

This month began with a major challenge to my comfort zone: driving hundreds of miles alone, and returning to both the dorm and the classroom for the first time in 15 years. During this one-week immersion seminar, Latin was the only language spoken in-class, and the only language allowed outside of class among fellow students and teachers. Sure, this sounds hard. I expected it to be mentally taxing. What I didn’t count on was how emotionally taxing it would be….

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July 2019 Updates, Goals

July 2019 Updates, Goals

It may be summer break for most people, but I’ve never felt so close to my school days as I have during the past few weeks, preparing for my upcoming Latin seminar. There are several readings from Ovid, Cicero, etc. that will be discussed, so I’ve had to spend hours each day on those, because I’m still at a stage where I’m looking up tons of words and frowning over each sentence to decode its meaning. It doesn’t help that…

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June 2019 Updates, Goals

June 2019 Updates, Goals

After several months of house projects and doctor’s appointments and more appointments and travel and anniversaries and birthdays, here’s June, sitting pretty wide open. I’m looking forward to a few quiet weeks before going out of town again! Writing Updates As mentioned last time, I really needed a vacation, so I took one. It was kind of a messy, on-off thing. I can’t even tell you how many days it lasted. But I tell you what, I was excited to…

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May 2019 Updates, Goals

May 2019 Updates, Goals

House painting, multiple appliances in need of repair, community events, pre-traveling errands, traveling, decompressing. It never even occurred to me that I needed to write a blog post until April 30. Oops! Mid-May will mark 5 years since my husband and I embarked on what we call our “funemployment”—leaving our corporate jobs to pursue our own interests. Self-employment has been amazing once I learned how to be a kind boss to myself. I’m mostly there, but there are a few…

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