My goal this year was to be more vigilant in keeping up with this page and my writing in general. That has not happened. Back in February I attended Boskone in Boston and ended up falling into an illustration gig instead, which is awesome and very exciting!
I haven’t done Illustration in any serious capacity, beside my book covers, in probably twenty years. It’s also a children’s book which I’m working on so that is also very different than what I’m used to. So far it’s been very fun and extremely rewarding. It’s nice to be able to brush off some old skills, also a bit exhausting (in a good way). I’m hoping to have that wrapped up in the next few weeks since I’m working on the finished pieces now.
I also have the third book in the Strand series that I should be working on but I have been finding it difficult to be productive these last few weeks. I find myself mindlessly tabbing through social media and news websites even though I know there’s really nothing on either of them that I want or need to see. Being cooped up in isolation hasn’t bothered me very much since I work from home but the worry and anxiety that everyone is emitting seems to be seeping into my psyche and giving me a constant feeling of unease. “The tension is palpable.” is how one of my friends put it and I have to agree.
Today, after staring blankly at my laptop screen (Oh yeah, I also got a shiny new gaming laptop a month or so ago, which was nice and long overdue) for almost an hour I decided two things. 1. that I needed to set up a nice long playlist and 2. write something, anything. The first point about the music is that I work much better when I have music playing. it helps block out other shit and keeps me focused. As for the second point. I decided to tackle trying to catch up on some of my website stuff since that has been lagging far behind lately.
I’m going to finish up this post and then start working on one of the travel sections of this site. The trip that was planned for France at the end of this month has been cancelled and thinking back on some of my other trips will help mute that blow a bit. I’ve also been working on photo editing and posting a bunch of my travel pictures on Instagram the last few weeks so if you read this and want to check it out you can find me at Donchase315
Other than that I’ve been washing my hands a lot, taking a bunch of naps and probably gaming too much. I’m hoping the weather gets nice and warm soon so I can motivate myself to go out and do yard work. I never in a million years would have thought I’d look forward to mowing my lawn.
Stay safe all,
Don
