What I do Outside Writing



My main writing station.

As I grew from my tween years, I focused a lot of my time and effort on writing. I was pumping out novels –– albeit raw, low quality novels –– almost as fast as my son can run away down the street from me. I had my other interests as well: drawing, reading, archery, and piano, among other things. But one of my highest priorities was writing, and I loved doing it.

I still love writing. There's an emotional satisfaction from crafting likeable stories and characters. I think it's that innate, divine part of everyone that has the desire to create, and storytelling is probably the closest we mortals will ever come to creating worlds.

As I grew, my priorities shifted and grew too. I gained more responsibilities in my church, I worked through college, and I got married and started having kids. It has become more and more difficult to find a balance between what I love to do and need to do, but I still find time for both. My writing sessions have grown irregular, but with God's grace I still find the inspiration to continue a story where I left off weeks or maybe months previous.

Outside of writing I have developed some new interests thanks to a new friend. I have been participat

ing in the SCA in a Viking persona, and most of my outfit is done. It's made me appreciate my ancestors more, and it feels neat to wear something similar to what they wore so many centuries ago.

 

I've also started doing some Dungeons & Dragons, and I've really enjoyed developing a character for the game. I'm not terribly familiar with the D&D worlds (I've read 3-4 books out of the dozens of Wizards of the Coast books out there), so she definitely comes across as atypical for a Forgotten Realms wood elf. Anywho, I look forward to exploring the game more. Me and my husband like involved strategy games, and we're hoping D&D for the two of us does not disappoint.

My D&D character Althaea

I've mentioned a few times that I do archery. I started archery when I was fairly young, between 9-11 years old. As I continued to practice it, I upgraded to different bows, and am currently with a beautiful recurve hunting bow that belonged to my grandpa. Unfortunately, archery too is an irregular pass-time, especially since given our small back patio space, practicing serious distance shooting is impossible. However, at the SCA Harvest Hunt last year I had the opportunity to shoot long-range, and I did a lot better than I thought I could.

Most of my time is spent with my two boys, and motherhood is my #1 job. It's a stressful but rewarding role, as seeing your children learn new things makes all the frustrating communication problems and late nights worth it. Me and my oldest will run laps around the house, and I enjoy cuddling with our littlest one. We enjoy walks and hikes and tickle fights.

 

 

I've lagged behind on updating Xenithar's Musings, but I will be putting up at least a post a week for the next few months. I've been thinking about what things I could write about that will engage the readers, and have a variety of topics planned for the coming weeks.

So what do you like to do in your free time? Or do you have free time? And are there things you would like me to write about on Xenithar's Musings? Comment below!