Mackenzie K. Writes

Good morning, cyberspace! I write to you now from the staff room at the library on my lunch break–the only time I really have for anything creative lately. It’s been a long month–a wild month–and I’m only just now able to sit down and reflect on it all.

It was never my intention for February’s Thoughts to be posted in March, but alas alack. I had it drafted in February–I just never managed to hit that big ol’ publish button. Despite that slight hiccup, February was filled with many big and interesting and fulfilling things, and I’m excited to share some of them with you today!

IN A NUTSHELL…

January was a month filled with reading. February, on the other hand, has been a month filled with chaos. I caught the flu, binged The Haunting Of Hill House on Netflix in 2 days, started reading The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank before realizing how heavy it was (apparently I am too soft for World War II stories, especially those written by children), had some gloriously soft mornings spent at coffee shops with two of my writing friends, battled a mouse in my house (ew ew ew), and lost a duel with my serrated bread knife while trying to cut a frozen English muffin in half…

Yeah, it’s been a crazy month. But it’s also brought with it a wave of refreshment. My hours at work have shifted so that I’m no longer working 10 hour days, and this has brought with it some glorious pockets of rest throughout the week. Creativity has been slow in February, but it’s been the good kind of slow. The kind of slow where you can feel the cogs working behind the scenes, the kind where you just know you’re on the verge of something good. What that is, I don’t know yet. But I know that it will be amazing once it hits.

STORIES

I’ve been working on a couple projects this month! The first, of course, is my goblin book, THE CURSE OF THE GOBLIN KING. I’ve officially hit the 30k mark, which is quite impressive for this story. My word goal is somewhere around 60k, which means I’m halfway through this story. If that isn’t cause for a panic attack, I don’t know what is. The drafting process for this book has been a little slower than I would have liked, but that’s due to me juggling several other things behind the scenes.

The second story I’m working on is a new submission for this season’s theme over at Havok publishing! I don’t know if they’ll pick it up yet or not, but I’m enjoying the characters and the worldbuilding, and I have a feeling that this one could branch off into a multi-story series if I’m not careful…

(and don’t worry. if this story doesn’t end up being picked up from Havok, I will certainly share it over here!)

Book-wise, I haven’t found anything particularly fascinating to read lately. If y’all have any good recommendations, I’m all ears.

SCHOOL

I can’t recall if I’ve mentioned this yet, but I have officially gone back to school, peasants! I’m going for a certificate in Early Childhood Literacy–something which is going to help me do this whole Children’s Librarian thing a whole lot better. I’m on my second class right now, and the coursework for this one is wild. January’s class was a cakewalk compared to this month, but I guess I can’t really complain… I’m learning a lot more in this class than I did in my last one.

This particular class has taken up a looooot of my spare time, though. I won’t be super upset once its over, no matter how informative it is…

STITCHES

Ah yeah… Stitches. I’ve considered myself relatively lucky to have never experienced the Emergency Room Life in all the 20-something years I’ve been alive. Unfortunately, that blessed life has come to an end.

After a brief but substantial duel with a frozen English muffin (a poor choice for a sandwich bread, now that I think about it), my left index finger has sustained a rather serious laceration. One trip to the ER and three stitches later, my finger is now wrapped up like a sad little burrito. I get my stitches out next week, but for the meantime, I am charged with the task of keeping my wound clean and bandaged.

I’ve also decided I most certainly do not like shots, especially the ones that numb your finger and bloat it up to twice its usual size. (special thanks to the kind doctor who didn’t say anything when I lowkey flinched into my fist)

In other slightly happier news, my trip to the ER has rekindled my creative fire for everlost, and my smol children from 2018 have started whispering in my brainy meats once more… I don’t know if I’ll be able to listen to these whispers quite yet, but they are there. Whispering. As whispers are wont to do…

COMING UP IN MARCH…

To be honest, there’s a whole lot more happening in March than there was in February. For one thing, Durachi’s hatch day is on the 10th! He’s turning ten this year, and–yes, I feel extremely old. It’s weird looking back on my life and realizing that Durachi has been my longest-had pet in my entire existence. He’s been my companion for almost 10 years now, and I could not imagine my life without that little goober in it. To celebrate, I’m planning on showering him with presents, popcorn, and cheerios next Sunday. Hopefully he’ll enjoy it and won’t think I’m absolutely insane, which seems to be the common consensus for my decision making skills lately.

Speaking of delusional decision making skills, another thing happening this month: I’m going axe throwing. Judging by the fact that I can’t even cut an English muffin without mutilating a phalange, I’m interested to see how this excursion is going to go… There is a possibility that I will come back from this trip with one less appendage. If you never hear from me again, it is because I’m learning how to type with my toes.

Truthfully, I’m looking forward to March. The weather is getting warmer, the birds are coming back… it’s officially beginning to feel like spring. I always seem to forget just how much I love March and spring and all the wonderful things that come along with it. This will be my first year planting my own garden at the apartment, and I’m excited to begin that process, even if it’ll look a little wonky at first. hopefully I will still have both hands by the time this happens… Whether or not I’ll be successful with gardening remains to be seen…

There’s just something refreshing about spring. I feel like I can breathe again. I feel like good things are on the horizon. My heart is healing, and there’s nothing but joy within me.

So now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go perfect my double chocolate chip muffin recipe so that I can do my first ever episode of Baking With A Book–coming soon this March to a book blog near you.

now if only I could find a book worth blogging about…

TALK TO ME, PEASANTS!

what sorts of things have you been doing in February? do you have any fun plans for the month of March?