Shoujo-Slytherin

So.

It's been a while (clearly).

Where do I even start? I've kind of popped in and out over the last year or so, and it's always crazy seeing the people that have favorited the stuff that I left on here. A lot of it is soaked in the raw emotions that I was feeling in those ages of 15, 16, 17 so I can't even read a lot of it now that 10 years (!) have gone by.

But the love of writing as a craft never really went away. And the fascination of seeing so many people be so impacted by my work in this way with favorites (even as far back as a few months ago) never really stuck before now?

As I write this, I've been in the midst of tackling my first novel-length work. Which is a lot, so let me back track.

I went to college, and graduated with a degree in English. And a huge part of my frustration on the whole idea was the fact that the default occupation option was to be a teacher. Impactful, great, necessary work. But it wasn't my work.

I spent the next three years trying to figure out what "my work" was. And then the phenomenon-that-must-not-be-named-to-avoid-a-PR-firestorm happened and that journey--one that had been hard fought and was a slow crawl up a very large mountain--came to a crashing halt.

After a few months of just taking the time to grieve while staying afloat in an uber competitive remote academic environment during the craziest eight months of human existence, and a couple of terrible yet amendable decisions, I finally decided that enough was enough. I had given my life to satisfy all different types of people but it just left me with an emptiness that made it hard to relax.

Instead of a New Year's Resolution, on Jan 1, 2021 I decided to write a book. Over five years since the last entry I made on this profile, and today is the first time I've been back for longer than an obligatory log-in to refresh myself of the memory that this platform even exists.

It's been sixteen months since I started working on the novel and the end of the draft is in sight. And to be honest, I've been scared. Scared in a way that I've only ever seen captured in the entries that I left behind here. But I think I wanted to write this because I needed to remind myself that for better or worse, I poured my heart on this profile and people have clearly benefited from it. So there will be people who will enjoy the story I have to share when it's ready.

I don't know if I'll be back again for another one of these, if it's just going to be a regular thing or not. But I think I needed a place to be able to just... talk shop without it sounding like I'm shilling or asking for some external indicator of engagement. And this platform has somehow survived [much like I have] so it felt right to post here.

Now, book details. There aren't many, but this is what I feel I can talk about with complete certainty (as I draft, mind you. Who knows what could unfold?)

⭐️ There is a title. It kind of resonates with a key point of the story, so I won't tell it here.

⭐️ As it stands, I'm at the 80% mark. The goal is to at least have 100K words to work with by the end of the month.

⭐️ The main character is a Black LGBT middle schooler. [Scare off the non-tolerant with this one.]

⭐️ It's set way off into the future (like 150 years). I don't think this will change any of the topics being talked about, but I feel like that needs to be established.

⭐️ We might have a ???-to-lovers arc at some point of the story. As to who or the circumstances, mum is the word.

⭐️ There is magic. And weapons. And girls kicking butt.

So that's all I've got! I do want to try to come back to this profile and platform, even if it's just through this journal feature right now. If you have read any of my old work, I would love to hear how it affected you in the comments if you ever find this.

Well, back to writing for now.