The Girdle of Melian

elcome to Insecure Writer's Support Group Day ! This month's question is: Is there someone who supported or influenced you that perhaps isn't around anymore? Anyone you miss? The awesome co-hosts for the February 2 posting of the IWSG are  Joylene Nowell Butler,   Jacqui Murray,   Sandra Cox ,  and  Lee Lowery! I'm lucky in that I haven't lost any of my direct supporters. But my grandmother's marriage was part of the inspiration for the love story of Rosa and Baha in Out of the Water , and she passed away a few years ago. Their names are directly taken from my grandparents' names, and I had to give them alternate names when sharing the novel with my mother. This year marks two centenaries: of Ulysses and of the Newbery Medal . A new recording of Ulysses is in the works. It would be such a different experience to hear it rather than read it! I blogged about reading Ulysses a while ago: " It took me a year - I read a chapter each Sunday ...

y year in books! This is an idea I got from a post on Staircase Wit : Rules: Using only books you have read during the year (2021), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title. Let me know, below, if you did a version of this too. How do you currently feel : The Good, The Bad and the Little Bit Stupid by Monica Lewycka Where do you currently live : The Exile by Diana Gabaldon If you could go anywhere, where would you go : A Day at the Seashore (Little Golden Books) What is your favourite form of transportation : The Grand Tour by Agatha Christie Trains and boats and walking (and possibly surfing, though I haven't tried it yet)! Your best friend is : The Master Puppeteer by Katherine Paterson You and your friends are : Baby-sitters Club Friends Forever 1: Everything Changes by Ann M Martin What's the weather like : The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon What do you fear : The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny and The Darkest Dark by...

rafting roundup! November baking and a new blanket October 3D Tolkien puzzle ! and other non-knitting crafts... September baking and gardening ! August baking (bread!) and knitting ! June and July: Words With Friends fun Then there are these two from December (this reminds me of back in the day when I once shared screenshots from Farmville ): Baking and Worldwide Knit in Public Day ! Baking and knitting and yoga ! May baking and knitting and mantı ! April baking and knitting ! Baking and cooking and knitting and the Did This Year Actually Happen pandemic calendar (inspired by Amanda Palmer) February and March baking and knitting ! Jemi's brownie muffins ! January: the 2020 roundup And for 2022? I have a cowl to finish knitting and my daughter has asked for a Gryffindor scarf, but otherwise, I don't really have any crafting goals, except to try one of the more complicated Kate Davies patterns. The new club, Argyll's Secret Coast , starts soon! ...

riting recap! Before I get to my goals for this year, let's see if I can buoy myself up by looking over my writing in 2021: January: The 2020 roundup February: A walk in Montreal , which sort of links to my short story "One to Another" in the Dark Matter anthology (see May) March: Poetry Day guest post by Beste Barki I have a story going up to the moon ! I still can't wrap my head around the fact that this is happening. What a fun world! April: CampNaNoWriMo ! May: Release of Dark Matter: Artificial -- An Insecure Writer’s Support Group Anthology ! I have a poem published in Sauti:Poems of Healing ! June: I hosted the monthly writer's exercise on thelitforum ! Actually, looking back, I completed the exercise every month except for in February, March, and June. Fun! I collated all my book reviews to date! July: CampNaNoWriMo! August: I wrote a new short story! September: I submitted the new short story to the Surrey International Writer...