November 2023 Recap

Somehow, it's the end of November and Christmas season is almost upon us. How did that happen? I don't know either. Anyway, it's time for another monthly recap.

• We had a good Thanksgiving with friends. I made mashed potatoes and cupcakes that didn't come out quite right. After dinner, we shot pumpkins and played Uno. It was fun.

• I got to go ice skating. I was curios to see if my roller skating skills would translate and they mostly did. I enjoyed myself quite a bit, even if the frictionless environment was a little scary.

• Honestly, I'm not sure where the time went this month. I don't feel like I did anything, yet the month flew by and felt rather busy. I guess I did a lot of Christmas prep, which took up extra time.

• Murder for the Modern Girl- Kendall Kulper (3 stars)

• Tilly in Technicolor- Mazey Eddings (3 stars)

• Taggerung- Brian Jacques* (5 stars)

• Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol 6- Alyssa Wong (2 stars)

• Glitter- Aprilynne Pike (4 stars)

• One Piece, Vol 1: Romance Dawn- Eiichiro Oda (4 stars)

• Triss- Brian Jacques* (5 stars)

• Komi Can't Communicate, Vol 4- Tomohito Oda (4 stars)

• Komi Can't Communicate, Vol 5- Tomohito Oda (4 stars)

• Loamhedge- Brian Jacques* (5 stars)

• An American in Paris (Gene Kelly is a joy to watch)

• Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning (still amazing)

• The Blob (felt like an old Doctor Who episode, in a good way)

• Hocus Pocus (a Halloween classic)

• Cellular (not perfect, but fun)

• Inside Out (I didn't cry watching it this time!)

• Edge of Tomorrow (I'm still thinking about this one)

• Knight and Day (Mission Impossible if it was from the POV of someone who stumbled into a mission by mistake)

• My Big Fat Greek Wedding (fun, but could be better)

• Casino Royale (one of my favorite Bond films)

I finished my edits on New Magic! My novel is now a whopping 91k words and I somehow have to make books two and three at least that big. I'm quite proud of myself for finishing it and I think it's a stronger novel now.

So now I'm working on updating my query materials. I don't plan to start querying again until January, because it's too close to the holidays, but I want to have everything ready by then. I'm making good progress so far.

• Inktober 2023 Recap

• Ranking Every Season of Ninjago

• My Favorite Parts of the Writing Process

I didn't finish any art in November. I started a new piece, but had to take a break to work on Christmas gifts. My goal is to make all the main gifts I'm giving by hand, so I'm working hard on that.

• Write a new short story for my newsletter freebie.

• Have a good Christmas with family, friends, and more.

• Time to start 2024 planning, baby!

How was your November? Do you feel like the time flew by or dragged? Tell me in the comments.