I just wanted to voice too that I recently found out about Libby and you can use it to electronically borrow books from the library and use an e-reader (like a Kindle or Kobo) if that’s more up your alley. I know it’s not as good as physically going into the library, but I also don’t love to borrow physical books if I can help it.

hoping this encourages someone to get a library card to use it! there are a lot of digital libraries too that, if you don’t have access to one of your own, you can pay like 50-100 dollars a year for access and get so many books.

my hyacinth is looking lovely this year and actually split into two. I didn’t know it could do that.

I’m worried about my lavender but I do see a tiny bit of new growth on it. currently it looks dormant still, and I’m concerned it died. wasn’t sure if I should remove the pine needles around it or keep them there, the rain I don’t think is helping but we’re getting more sunny days.

tulips are starting to open up too! my mom planted a ton of them last year, and I’m looking forward to the rose bush we planted last year growing more. she also bought blueberry plants, two of them, two different variants. Costco apparently had them, hahaha.

hoping to get more hyacinths I think. they’re really pretty, even though I don’t think they last for super long? my mom wants a flower hanging basket for mother’s day, mentioned that she wanted one that might attract hummingbirds, but I don’t think ones of those exists?

currently using Vivaldi and I love it, but eyeing a switch over to Floorp (fork of Firefox) when uBlock is officially done for in chrome browsers. I’ll still need Vivaldi for some things, but I can’t live with ads.

hey! sorry replying to this took so long, I have had some mental health struggles.

I can definitely relate to writing about those topics. I feel like it’s a really good way to cope, because it’s what I used my entire childhood as well, but also to explore those issues in a controlled environment. although I wouldn’t call it someone extending “pity” towards you, you’re seeking sympathy, and I know it’s easy to fall into that trap but wording is important!

I used to always write younger characters (though they were always teenagers) being taken care of by an older character, always an adoptive sibling situation, because I have no siblings but always wanted one. parents were never part of it. I think you and I want the same things in our writing – the healing aspect is really important instead of breaking the character over and over, which is something I see a lot of writers enjoy in the spaces I used to be in. it’s something I think is important for people to see (even though I don’t write publicly anymore), especially people who might be going through their own struggling.

I envy your ability to write sci-fi, I’ve never been able to write it in a way I was happy with. my favorite has always been “soft sci-fi” or “sci-fi that makes sense but we’re not going to do any math or science okay?” hahaha. just because unless it’s pretty simple (which yours sounds like it is) my poor single brain cell fries itself trying to remember and parse everything.

when you say reincarnation pods that determine what your new body is based on what psyche wants, does that mean even if people reincarnate, they don’t leave the afterlife? and also, does that mean you don’t really have any control over it? so someone who, say, is not in touch with or not open to admitting they’re something (like take gender identity for example) might end up having to stare that in the face? if so, I think that’s really cool! it makes for a really interesting plot to explore, even if you as the author don’t end up taking that route for any of the characters.

I love that choice for Chris’s new name! Solemn is also just really pretty. the choice to use a name change to represent starting anew is also very nice.

when you say “beefed up seraph”, what does that entail? extra powers?

and can you tell me more about Solemn’s new family? I love secondary/supporting characters. I have a curse with them ending up my favorites.

I’m not currently in a place where I would be very good at reading the WIP, but I do really appreciate you extending the offer. I understand if you can’t reveal too much because of you working on it, too! and of course, I wish you lots of luck and inspiration in that process.

I really enjoy the Hardware Haven videos. He makes things more understandable for a newbie like me.

this sounds fascinating!

I’ve only ever once commissioned art of my characters before (just one, and it was a rough sketch with some canons from a video game) but I know it made me really excited and it’s been my phone’s lock screen for four years. I have no artistic talent so to see one of my creations come to life still makes me smile.

what made Chris choose the name Solemn? what made you as the writer decide to write this kind of main character? who are the political activists? and lastly, what made you choose the afterlife as a setting?

those are just some questions that came to me off the top of my head! I know how much I love talking about writing so I wanted to give you the space to gush and chat about yours.

I actually had some issues with root rot previously, but those cleared up. however, because of that, I moved it into a smaller pot (a friend actually told me to, and advocated for a cut in half water bottle when I said I didn’t have anything else smaller) and while it did okay for a bit, now it has the browning center. I tried giving it some more sun like someone said I should, but that didn’t help.

I can certainly try to repot it, I have some soil leftover from when I went to a greenhouse, same place I got my haworthia. and thank you for the tip on the hyacinth!

Not sure if the first part of my question counts, since it’s about indoor plants, but I have an aloe plant and haworthia (I think is what it’s called) and while the haworthia is doing well, the aloe plant started to have it’s stalks in the center turn brown. I’ve tried giving it more sun like someone recommended to me, but it doesn’t seem to be improving. However, it does seem to still be growing.

I have one outside plant, a hyacinth, and it’s already started to come up, which is exciting even though it started kind of early(?) but I had a question. When it initially bloomed, it was super top heavy and flopped over. I couldn’t get it to right itself no matter what I did. Anyone got any tips?

I might be able to plant some more flowers this fall, but I’m not sure what to go with. I would love to do roses in memory of my grandparents, but I don’t think they would do well in my area.