Finding Inspiration in the Waiting Period of Writing

October 20, 2025 / Lisa / Leave a comment

Otherkin has been through the editing process and it wasn’t as brutal as I’d feared. It’s also passed muster with two beta readers. It’s now waiting and gestating. I need one more read-through after all the changes and then will start the publishing process.

In the meantime, I’m in that fallow period between stories, waiting for one to come through. This can sometimes be a stressful thing as fears surface. Will I get another story? Oh my god, what if I never write again?!? In other ways, it can be like a vacation, where you can let go of all the word – work and just let your mind wander.

One thing I’m doing is reading The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life by Suleika Jaouad, and what a wonderful way to keep writing flowing in between projects.

So…I was enjoying the rain and thunder and all the beautiful fall colors yesterday, and I came up with a theory and decided to do some research.

The theory is, that a person’s preference for silver or gold is tied to their favorite season. It make sense, right? For example, fall and winter are my favorites. As is silver. The color is like rain and snow and gray days. That also kind of ties into my favorite gemstone, which is garnet.

For research, I did a broad study by asking a sister, and of course, she blew my theory out of the water. I thought for sure summer would be her favorite, because she likes gold. But no, it’s winter. In some ways her choice of season makes sense because she hates bugs and extreme heat. But how can she like gold when she doesn’t list the yellows and golds of summer as her favorite season?

Maybe she’s just an anomaly.

Or maybe it’s my theory.

Otherkin: Merging Reality with Mythical Beliefs

July 11, 2025 / Lisa / 6 Comments

Otherkin is an interesting subculture. It represents people, or a person, who identify as nonhuman. In particular, people who believe they are wholly or partially an animal or mythical being.

I’m not talking about people who dress up in costumes or people who feel they relate more to their dogs than to their family. Just as you know you are a human being, these people know they are not. They believe they are animals, mythical creatures like dragons or elves, or even aliens.

Whether you think of this as a psychological disorder or truly possible is open to interpretation and your own belief systems.

However, there is a lesser known interpretation. This aligns closer to earth-based religions, to paganism, etc., where they believe all things have life (or soul) and that the otherworld is all around you whether you can see it or not. These are people who believe in the kindred spirits of animals and nature.

That’s the interpretation I’m using for a story. Otherkin will be released soon. It’s taken me a long, long time to write, and it’s a sequel to This Deep Panic. How does the world look after mythical creatures have returned? How do we move on from a catastrophic earthquake and begin rebuilding lives? How do we do that when most creatures want to kill us, but some are…otherkin?

I am just starting the revising work and then it will go to the editor, then come back to me for more revisions. But I will have the first three chapters available soon for everyone to read. And in the meantime, here is the cover. Let me know what you think. I’m very happy with how the artist has rendered this.

A Random Thought On Consumerism

January 13, 2025 / Lisa / 9 Comments

My husband wanted biscuits and gravy for breakfast, but made with hot sausage. I accidentally picked up Italian sausage. But he realized hot sausage is just sausage with red pepper flakes added, so he added a bunch to normal sausage and got his spicier breakfast.

As he was telling me this I realized how trained we are to be consumers. The automatic reaction when he told me what he wanted was that I had to pick up hot sausage when I was out that day. My first thought wasn’t that I should make it myself. Or, honestly, have Art make it since he does most of the cooking.

Which is odd if you know us, if you have been around when we’re canning, spent any time in our pantry, helped stack firewood, and so on. It’s not like we live in an apartment in a city with easy access to what we need. It’s not like we’re not used to no power for days, or the highway shut down.

Yet with all that, I immediately, without thought, became a consumer. How weird.

I have a cookbook from the 1800s. I’ve kept it because it has everything in it and if the world ever goes to shit, that cookbook is going to be invaluable. It’s full of directions on raising food, harvesting, butchering, preserving, and using all with no waste. Do I ever open it? Rarely. Do I ever use any of the recipes? Even more rare.

Yes, I bake my own bread. I have sourdough starter. But wow, it’s so easy to just nip into the store when I’m down below and grab a loaf.

Yes, I make homemade soup, and made a great beef barley stew with red wine last night. But, wow, it’s so easy to just open a can.

Have you ever noticed how many homemade recipes involve opening a can of this and a can of that?

I recently came across a recipe for making your own pancake mix. I was actually surprised and thought it would be a great idea. Why am I surprised? How did I think people made pancakes before commercial pancake mix appeared? I mean, besides the sourdough pancakes I make with that starter.

We are so well-trained by this society we live in here, that we must buy without any thought to what an alternative might be. And the buy culture has been made so, so easy that we never give it a second thought. It’s so natural, so normal, that many don’t know any different and aren’t even aware of the trap.

Plus, don’t get me started on throwing things away. I remember as a kid, dad replacing picture tubes in the television when it quit working. Now, you can’t easily find repairmen. You just throw it away and buy another. Because it’s easier, and even more horrible, cheaper than repairing.

I like to think I’m not caught in that consumer trap but it’s the little things like a package of sausage that causes a quiet voice in my head to say, yes you are and you just don’t know it.