Skylar C. R. Wolf's Blog, page 2

With Chilly Winds, October Enters The Scene

“Fight because you don’t know how to die quietly. Win because you don’t know how to lose. This king’s ruled long enough-it’s time to tear his castle down.” — Nora Sakavic, The King’s Men (AFTG #3)

Hello kind reader,
I hope you’re wrapping yourself up in a cosy blanket with a warm beverage because if I can say one thing ahead of all the updates – October comes with a chill.

A Lively Bit But A Gentle One

The chill I just mentioned might be a bit more literal than I wish it was. I left September fighting a small cold and winning the battle. But not without a bit of – metaphorically – an injury. In this case, I had to reschedule spending time with my family to another weekend. Normally, I would’ve gone to my parents‘ place for my mum’s birthday. Instead, I went to their place to not only celebrate my own birthday but also my mum’s. It was much calmer which is pretty nice after the stress filled weeks prior this all.
Maybe I can take this cold I had as my body to really slamming through the emergency breaks for me to get much needed rest. Perhaps I should thank it in a way because this way, I had a much more relaxing time with my family. I got my step dad and my sister also a small gift as a very belated birthday gift for them because I couldn’t be there for their birthdays. And I wanted to be fair and get them at least something small. I watched a film with my sister too as I had promised her to. And it was not bad. Actually it was pretty solid but more to that later.

Another point I want to mark is that I had to reschedule my tattoo appointment to November but that is okay because both, my tattoo artist and I will be ready then. I am super excited to introduce you to Neil once he is resting on my left shoulder but until then is still a bit of time.

A new addition to the book shelf family is this little one. I also got one of those carts you usually see people create their TBRs with. I hope to one day fill it with my TBR too. But right now it is occupied more with candles, e-readers and a couple current reads.A Writer’s Cranny Is Never Unoccupied

If I told you that word by word, sentence by sentence, the end of the first draft of TWaTST feels more graspable as I am at the second to last chapter before I will go over it and fix a lot on the chronicle and plot hole area. But that is nothing I can fix now. I am not done telling the story to myself yet. So… Please be a bit patient with me.

Otherwise, I have started to collect shiny little trinkets for a mere idea. For something which has no form yet, which I am not ready to tell myself yet. Or at least not in the full fletched way I would usually do with others. It is there, collecting things, inspiration and that is good. Because once I get to tell the tale, I hope it will be as intriguing as it can be.

A Little Bit of Media Influencing This Month

A Cinematic Moment (Film/Series)

I binge watched the first season of Fallen, which is a newer TV adaptation of the same titled book series by Lauren Kate. A few years ago, my mum and I watched the film and the TV series is much different to the film we watched. Its entirety has a more SciFi vibe to it when what I had remembered. Still a pretty solid one.

After a bit of a sad realisation that for me, Your Lie in April is not available on my favourite streaming sides anymore, I rewatched Suzume again. This film, I like it even more than Your Name. I don’t know why precisely, just that it gives me a lot of comfort.

Otherwise, I have been spending a lot of time on YouTube, especially watching LetsPlays by Jacksepticeye and Gabsmolders.

A Musical Influence

My most recent songs stretch from Ghibli’s instrumental pieces to Yaelokre’s new songs. It is a bit of a mix and match. Some of it are songs which inspire me for this little blob of a story idea. Which I am not going to reveal now because until it has a more solid form, I don’t want to share much more about it yet.

Is There A TBR We Are Looking Forward To?

No, that is the simplest answer to it. However, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t read anything to the end of past month or now in October. Let’s venture a bit into this month’s mood.
While most of the year, I read something between (YA) horror, magical forests and whatever the heck „All For The Game“ is (Which I still have to finish and I want to do that this year) as a vibe, the mood has changed quite a lot. I look for comfort, for dabbing a bit into my own emotions again, especially something which has a healing kind of feel to it.
I guess, it is my own way of finding a bit of peace between the upcoming most stressful time of the year – Christmas Season (in a retail kind of aspect).

When Haru Was Here by Dustin Thao
My tear filled face might be all over my page for now, unless I posted other stuff in between. I loved „You’ve Reached Sam“ a lot but I think I like „When Haru Was Here“ even more. Simply because you can see Dustin‘ growth as a writer but also how much more this one wrenched my heart. My only regret is that I had not prepared myself for crying. Otherwise I would have had tissues at hand.

Heartstopper, vol. 5 by Alice Oseman
After dreadfully pushing this on and on and on, I finally read it. In one sitting. My tea barely lasted long enough because being back in this world was wonderful but sadly also so quickly over. It is impressive how many topics get spoken about in this amount of pages and important ones as well! I don’t say it lightly but sometimes, when I was younger and still figuring things out for myself, I wish I had Heartstopper already. But I’m glad the younger generations have it now and hopefully find comfort in it. Because I did.

Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight by Clara Blais
This is a novel by a wonderful author I had read her first book a while back and I always wanted to read more by her because she has such a way to write things which makes emotions so vibrant and graspable. I’m happy I finally get to enjoy her writing again, that my own mood brought me back to her stories. It is a few more chapters before I meet the end but I am optimistic that I get to finish it before this year ends.

Mistletoe Season by Sheila Roberts, Kathleen Fuller and Pepper Basham
Netgalley was kind to let me be an ARC-reader of the audiobook. And it was filled with joy, giving me a bit of the same warm feeling I get for Christmas – outside work. One of the things I look forward to festive seasons is the phase before that. When streets get decorated, the Christmas market is around the corner and you might be able to still grab a hot chocolate before you start your shift. Not the holidays themselves. Simply because this is the first Christmas I won’t be at my parents‘. I will be there for Silvester and New Year, however I know I won’t be a good sport when I crash home after work, only to jump to the next train to get to them. It’s too stressful and there would be too many people on the train.
So yeah, I got a bit side tracked. But the audiobook was very sweet.

Soma by Fernando Llor

A wonderful graphic novel I had requested on Netgalley and devoured in short-ish time as the tension kept me grasped and wanting for more. The story is bittersweet as friendships develop and you have to part with some of the most incredible characters. It was great but also a bit of a tear provoking one.

And so many more…

I won’t go into the details of what I have recently picked up or even finished when you get this post into your hands. It is simply because the list is long and might get longer as I try to finish another, try to find the perfect fit for my undefinable mood. I fear November might look the same, unless I feel compelled to pull something from my TBR jar. But that is something future Skylar has to decide.

The September Leaves Leaving Me Wanting…

Hello kind reader,

I wish I could’ve put this month’s blog post earlier out, however as we venture so much deeper to the end of the year, the more I feel like being ripped out of any small amount of a feel for time. Anyway, I hope you’re comfy as this… could be a bit of a ride.

An Unintentional Emotional Wave

In retrospect – This month was a … lot. As it gets progressively colder, people get sick. And you just feel it in your day job when suddenly half of your colleagues are gone due to being off on holidays or due to illness and suddenly you have to work at least thrice the usual amount for a prolonged time. I love my occupation but for now, I am happy to be on break soon.

Mentally — I try to find solid ground but it is more like wet cobble stones. Every step I take is … wobbly. And perhaps it is my own fault as I have high expectations on myself. But I think once I hit my holidays, I get to grab myself on my feet and shake this kind of thing out of my head again.

A Writer’s Progress Bar…

which is not really measurable. As in – I have spend a certain amount with my characters but not really in writing on my book projects sense. I almost finished one chapter this month and that is huge to me after all the issues. My hopes are for October, for this coming month to make a bit of a more evident mark in things.

Currently, as I teasered early on, I’m out of the loop of things – be it time… or myself. And with October, I think I will find myself in there for a bit again.

And while I try to find myself – A story idea has nestled itself into my lap but I cannot act on it yet. I am here for only collecting snippets and pieces before this becomes something huge. All I can say is that my attic gets pretty crowded right now.

The TBR and The Books Which Found Me

I didn’t set a TBR for the first time really in months. No prompts, nothing. Only a couple a books I hopefully vibe with by picking them up like that and me.

I finished Sweetest Darkness which is my last (YA) horror book for this year as my mood really switches over to being in need of cosy, maybe healing, you know? But it was a great read and definitely worth a reread once I acquire a physical copy.

From my story archive but yeah, I started to read it at work. Maybe not the wisest thing I have done this month but I am glad to be back in a more consistent form of reading

While talking of healing – I don’t know what you might say but I find When Haru Was Here by Dustin Thao quite healing-ish. Well, I breeze through the novel as I am writing and I do shed some tears. But there is comfort in healing. At least watching Eric heal from the loss and coming to terms with what it means.

Otherwise I started Lonely Castle In The Mirror as a manga series but also finally picked up my e-ARC of the novel because I love me some magical castles and the aspect to solve a riddle. I hope it stays as intriguing throughout the story as it is now to the beginning.

I am also slowly munching on Dracula for the book club. It is super interesting in a humorous way to me.

Beginning of this month I finished an audiobook called Love and Other Cages which is a fascinating romance with thrilling/crime fiction aspect. I am not well-read in romance but it was super interesting. Speaking of romance – I started another audiobook which is called Mistletoe Season. It is super cosy and I don’t really care that it is Christmas themed. It gives me the much needed comfort in the same way I get it from drinking hot choccy .

A Tiny Playlist For This Month

Actually more like one artist I seriously have been listening to a lot this month (aside of the Epic Musical) — Paris Paloma. I have been binge listening to her album Cacophony. One of my favourite tracks is triassic love song.

Last but not least: Hopes for October

It is more like a check list but also begging myself to have a good time.

One is getting that tattoo on my birthday and hoping for things to go well.

Another thing is hopefully getting that other bookshelf because I want my queer lit and VE Schwab to have their own corner. Also read something fun, maybe clean up my room a bit (as far as I can while healing a fresh tattoo). Yeah, and maybe create a bit of a small-ish Halloween costume because I am working on Halloween but want to dress up a bit for that day.

And yeah, that is how far my list goes of right now.

Now, a small question before I go: What are you looking forward to?

With love,

Skylar

Entwined News from a Stray Writer – July and August Update

“Because I am exactly where I should be, doing exactly what I should be doing. That is peace.”

Pax by Sara Pennypacker

Hey there, kind reader,

this blog post is coming quite late as July bled over into August in the blink of an eye and I’m only minutes, two days away from September. As I was starting to type the words down for last month, it has already changed its mind, passing its duties over to August without informing me because such trades are done at night, shortly before the sun dawns into a new day.
Therefore, I am writing this one in hope to somehow envelope two in one go. Which also means this is going to much longer than initially planned.

Life’s Tendency To Overwhelm One In Waves of Emotion

While August is still a few days away of being over, I’m a bit reminiscent of July.
It was one of those months which pass over within one exhale even though you wanted more breaths out of it, a couple more blinks before saying goodbye and moving onto what you used to know so well.
Don’t get me wrong, I am happy to be back at home and to work again but is it a bit selfish of me to have wanted a bit more time with my friends I made at school before returning?
The good thing is we’re still in contact and that even to a rather regular extent which I appreciate a lot. I like being kept in the loop of their lives a bit and I just really hope we get to see each other again.

Other than that, August is a fascinating month in itself as I ended July in conversation with my employer / mentor for the training and depending on how well I’m doing and if I get a spot in an earlier school block (Update from almost the end of August: Yes, I did get an earlier spot.), I might be able to shorten my training time and graduate next year. However, it is not a guaranteed thing as it really depends on mostly if I get an earlier spot or not. The other portion of this is revisioning my school files, which I’ve been doing whenever I got time. (And mental capacity.)

Other than that, I’m trying to enjoy the little glimpses of Autumn I get whenever the temperatures drop a few grades down, even though August is holding onto a late summer glow. The changes keep my body on its toe, hence it causes me to be more tired the past days. I don’t know if I should consider myself a weather sensitive person but maybe it would be wrong to outright deny that. We’ll see about that with the time progressing.

The Creative Acts Of Writing

If I was more eloquent, I don’t think I’d be a writer. At least not in the way I am.
In July, I definitely got more words into both my projects, be it the first novel in the TWaTST (still need a series name) trilogy or the short story project I had hoped to still hand in to the last YSA for this year. However, I think I keep the latter for next year. Finish it in peace and edit where necessary before the next YSA drops.
August is a bit more on the … well, I guess, less energy side of things. I did not write as much as I had hoped but I slowly notice that my on-off-writing really depends on my energy levels which simply have been rather low this month. Several things might play into this. And I think I simply have to accept the fact that I cannot change the way I am or that my body simply demands rest at time, especially when resting is something which becomes a bit scarce over the month.

A Pile Of Books I Might Have Accidentally Stubbed My Toe

July has … done a little of a number on read novels. Somehow for the past months, I have found my passion for my Netgalley App again because I could get some reading time squeezed into my breaks at work. It’s simple because I have my phone with me all the time and it just felt pretty nice to get those dents into my review rate over there too. Somehow I also picked up a bit more of audiobooks as well.
So, as a rough overview, what I’ve read in July:

Us, Et Cetera by Kit Vincent (audiobook-ARC)
I did not expect to get this involved but I was speechless a lot of the time. Don’t recommend to listen to it while cooking because I accidentally dropped my veggie at times but it was beautiful nonetheless.

Don’t Let The Forest In by C. G. Drews (e-book ARC)
This year really feels like a „Hey, let’s escape into magical and/or creepy woods for a little bit.“ and I was not let down because it has everything I wanted at that time. The It-Can-Be-Damn-Messy-To-Learn-You’re-Ace character (because yeah, it was messy for me too), the pining (because damn, we’re in love with our long time best friend but both are equally blind to realise it), the creepy monster filled woods close to the school and so much more.

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (graphic novel, in German)
I had requested a review copy a while back when I was still at the beginning of my bookseller training and I’m happy I finally got to read it. I had read it previously on Netgalley a long while ago but I must say, the German translation is pretty good! Genuinely, I like how we get to experience through the mother and her son that culture is complex and adjusting to a different country and its otherness is not easy but somehow you manage. Honestly, I just love to see how healthy the relationship between parents and child is and how the two have their way to communicate through stories, better said fairytales.

House of Frank by Kay Sinclaire (e-book ARC)
This book sent me through a rollercoaster of emotions. I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more, I worried. And I fell in love with this book, found a small family with the characters and learnt a bit of myself while reading.

A Quick and Easy Guide To Coming Out by Ravi Teixeira and Kristin Russo (e-book ARC)
Fellow queers and allies, I present to you… the easy way to come out. Well, this graphic novel sums up pretty nicely how… not easy it actually is. And while coming out is not always pretty, the graphic novel offers a lot of helpful pointers and tips when it comes to a) coming out, b) the many forms of it and also c) how to deal with possibly outcomes. Ravi and Kristin explain as well that this is definitely not a „guide which covers 100% everything“ because such a thing doesn’t exist, however it does great in covering the most and especially the most important things.

Time for a bit of poetry: Self Portrait by Makenzie Campbell and From Sand to Stars by Shelby Leigh
I liked both poetry collections, each in their own ways. There were some poems which rang heavily with me while others were simply beautiful but not hitting me in the core. Which is absolutely okay. Poetry is a very personal thing. I appreciate both collections in their art form because they’re both incredibly in that.

A Few Manga Titles: Pink Heart Jam vol. 2, #muted vol. 1, Twisted Wonderland vol. 3, I can’t stand being your childhood friend vol. 3
I wrapped up two manga series and continued others. Manga are a bit of a break to me. Like a break from heavy scenes – be it in writing or reading. Overall, I quite enjoyed the titles a lot.

First finished piece for August: Motheater by Linda H. Codega

Well, for August I’ve a TBR small stack which I should kind of call more „my small stack of hopefuls“ because squeezing in reading time is not as easy as it was previously for many factors. One of them is mostly that I try to revise as much as I can in my days off because it’s hard to pick up my notes after work. I might’ve mentioned it in my (please link this) tiny catch up earlier this month – I’ve a chance of potentially shortening my training and – if things go well – might finish early next year.
Anyways, the titles:

Dracula by Bram Stoker
This one is okay if I don’t finish it this month because a few of my colleagues and I read it as buddy read/ a bit of a book club thing.

The King’s Men by Nora Sakavic
I’m halfway through and would love to finish it so that at some point this year, so that I can head into Sunshine Court. I can’t describe the story but I enjoy it.

Piranesi by Susanne Clark
Prior, I took this novel with me to school but never really got around to read it. I hope – because it is also a shorter book – to trick myself with some form of endorphins by finishing at least one book this month to keep my inner gremlin happy.

Not a TBR pick but something I started and would like to finish: Pax by Sara Pennypacker
I love foxes, and I really love friendships in books. And a combination of both would be perfect, right? Well, so far I think so. Let’s hope I get to finish it in 2024 too.

Forever Red by Harvey Oliver Baxter (e-ARC, beta version)
I’ve to spell it out that the version I have is the beta version which is not the one others got for the last round of ARC reading. So, stuff might’ve or most likely changed. However, I enjoyed the story I read and I’m still looking forward to have the band next to Arlo at home.

Manga / Graphic Novels I finished so far in August:
–Given vol. 9
I finished this volume which is the end of this beautiful series I’ve started a couple years ago. I still wonder where the time went where you’ve waited patiently for the next volume– It was beautiful. Still a bit sad to see it done.
–Let’s Cast Off vol. 1
I’ve this one on my shelf for a little while and even though I know that the other two volumes are out for a bit by now, somehow it took some time for me to finally dive into the series. However, it is amazing!
–muted vol. 1 & 2 by kandismon
It is such a sweet story and even though the third volume is out, I am still hoping to get my hands on the box with the acrylic charm because it is so cute! It would also look neat on my bookshelf.
–Turns Out My Online Friend Is My Real-Life Boss! vol. 3
I didn’t know that this series got a third volume but I am happy it did because it a cute continuation of the story I had started at some point. I’ve just checked once more – the series is ongoing.
–Twisted Wonderland Anthology vol. 1
Am I still sad that in Europe, you can’t play the game without getting a VPN? (If that works even) Yes. Do I enjoy reading the manga series and this anthology series? Also yes.
–Twisted Wonderland vol. 4 (End of Season 1)
I’ll be desperately waiting for Season 2 because the story concludes in such an incredible way and I want more.

Other Media Which Entertained Me Whenever I Needed A Mental Escape

Chainsaw Man, Season 1
I know that I have to wait for a second season but I’ll gladly do so because it is packed in action, humour but also sad moments. At least, it felt quite refreshing to me.

Bungou Stray Dogs, Season 1-5
If I ever binge watched a series, it’s this one. I watched the first three seasons several years ago and to come back around it, just feels so good. However, I can’t believe that I finished all of that. The entirety. So far. I have seen that there are rumours of a sixth season but they’re not confirmed. One can stay hopeful, right?

Suzume
Something I’ll definitely rewatch because next to Your Name, it is one of my favourite films by that studio. Weathering With You was fine, however I think they peaked in storytelling with Suzume again. But that is my personal opinion.

Dilwale (2015 version)
Did my best friends and I rewatch this one? Yes. Was it fun? Oh, heck yes. I somehow started to like Bollywood films agin thanks to my best friend. And so far, it’s been a good time.

Main Hoon Na
I cannot express how much I laughed at moments because it’s too funny. It’s also very heartwarming.

Music:
I’ve dived back into KPop more and listened to a lot of JPop/Rock as well again. Especially Kenshi Yonezu is on my top listening list. Other than that, Stray Kids, some OST of Bungou Stray Dogs and Diabolik Lovers (and yes, I stand with my choices).

Anyways, that’s all I got for you. I hope for a fun time in September and more laughter. And maybe that I get a bit better back on schedule. I’ll see you around.

With love,
Skylar.