Well, things are not going well in the #writemotivation department. I haven’t been able to find the time to just sit down and write a good chunk of material ever since I finished off “The Woodsman”‘s first draft and finished off a Herenna chapter in Tal’kan. University homework and other obligations just seem to keep coming out of nowhere, and unfortunately demand to be done first. I’ve managed to grab a few spare minutes a day to get a few words in, but nothing significant as of yet. This semester has been brutal.

Hopefully, though, I’ll be able to finish off another chapter in Tal’kan today; at least, that’s my goal. We’ll see how that works out.

In other news, Lissa Clouser has given me a Kreativ Blogger award. Thank you very much! I really appreciate it. As part of receiving this, I am supposed to thank her (done, but thank you again!), list seven interesting things about myself, and nominate seven more people. I will be more than happy to list seven interesting things about myself, but I’ve always felt awkward nominating other people for things like this, so I will refrain from that bit, but will give shout-outs to the following awesome people. If they want to post seven facts about themselves, they may, but this is just a list of seven awesome internet people with fascinating stories, ideas, and interests:

1. Jacob G. Adams
2. K. T. Hanna
3. Rebekah Loper
4. Dionne Lister
5. Alessandra Hinlo
6. Jamie Dement
7. Dyadic Echoes
(8.): Thomas James Brown

So, then, onto seven facts about me!

1. I have been playing percussion – including mallet percussion, timpani, concert percussion, drum set, and Bodhran – for almost twelve years. My specialties are drumset and Bodhran (for those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s a traditional Irish drum that you play vertically with a stick called a tipper; here‘s a picture of my teacher with one of his).

2. I also play the Tin Whistle – I’m teaching myself, and so am moving forward relatively slowly. It drives everyone within fifty feet of my insane when I start playing.

3. I am extremely picky about what music I listen to, and primarily listen to symphonic metal (favorite bands being Nightwish, Sonata Arctica, Rhapsody of Fire, Luca Turilli, Stratovarius, and Avantasia). I also listen to folk metal (such as Eluveitie, In Extremo, and Turisas), and other good metal acts (Lordi, Rammstein). I am also a huge fan of progressive rock (Rush, Kansas, Transatlantic, Jethro Tull, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Liquid Tension Experiment), and classic rock (Supertramp, Blue Oyster Cult, UFO). And, of course, I also love traditional Irish Music (Lunasa, Solas, The Chieftains, Danu, Eliot Grasso, Gaelic Storm, Beoga, Bothy Band, Cherish the Ladies, and more)

4. I am an occultist, and am rather proficient at reading Tarot cards, and am in the process of teaching myself Astrology and Geomancy at the moment. Runes/Futhark is next on my list. If you ever want a reading, drop by my EsoTarot blog. My favorite Tarot cards are the Hanged Man, the Devil, and the Nine of Swords (Cruelty).

5. I don’t watch that much television or movies, but when I do, I watch mostly science fiction shows and Disney. My favorite shows are Babylon 5, Firefly, Farscape, Red Dwarf, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Crusade, TaleSpin, Wolf’s Rain, Claymore, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Phineas and Ferb, Psych, Eureka, and The Guild. My favorite movies are Princess Mononoke, How to Train Your Dragon, The Great Escape, Titan AE, Anastasia, Tangled, The Road to El Dorado, Groundhog Day, Hercules, The Lion King, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Whisperer in Darkness, The Hobbit, The Last Unicorn, Wall-e, and Up.

6. I read almost exclusively science fiction and horror. My favorite authors are H. P. Lovecraft, Dan Simmons, Vernor Vinge, David Brin, Tamora Pierce, Lois MacMaster Bujold, and Terry Pratchett. My favorite book series of all time is Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos.

7. I study History and Sociology. In Sociology, I focus my studies on social inequality and diversity, and in History my focus is on the medieval Middle East, particularly on Iran. I will (hopefully) be writing a thesis next semester on the Great Saljuq Sultanate.

Lastly, I wanted to just do a Lucky Sevens thing with my own manuscript Tal’kan: going to the seventy-seventh page of it (I’m only on page 78 right now!), going to line seven, and then copying the next seven lines. So here it is (it makes absolutely no sense out of context, I realized):

“Think you can spare something for your poor old daughter?”

 He tossed her one of his projectiles. “I expect it back without a scratch.”

 Herenna saluted.

 “Good. Now let’s get out there and kill some druids!”

 Herenna needed no other urging, and she and her father joined the oncoming tide, leaving Herenna’s companion to guard the machine. By then, the bubble had reached the edge of the hill.

So, that’s that! Hopefully I can get something done today!