{"id":631,"date":"2018-10-01T17:38:51","date_gmt":"2018-10-02T00:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/?p=631"},"modified":"2018-10-01T17:38:51","modified_gmt":"2018-10-02T00:38:51","slug":"when-life-gives-you-dead-leaves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/when-life-gives-you-dead-leaves\/","title":{"rendered":"When Life Gives you Dead Leaves . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

Geesh. It’s been ages since my last blog post! Since my last check-in, our brutally-hot summer has changed into an unusually cold and rainy autumn. Granted autumn is my favourite season, but I can\u2019t help but feel we\u2019ve been cheated out of summer. Well, maybe it was just me who was cheated.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Autumn, how can I stay mad at you?<\/p><\/div>\n

A bout of rather nasty warm-weather pneumonia at the end of June rewarded me with a fractured rib. That took away most of my summer activities: hiking, camping, and general out-and-about-ness. Three months later I\u2019m still tender and unable to do much more than my weekly walk to the corner store for Doritos.<\/p>\n

My Real Life Job in the oil & gas industry has become exciting. We acquired another company, went public, and are in the process of replacing everything in existence in our business. Lots of fun, lots of work, and lots of long hours.<\/p>\n

Leaving not many hours for writing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then, as if I already didn’t have enough to do, we got a dog. Meet Mochi, our red sesame Shiba Inu. One look at her little face was enough to melt this stone heart and forget the fact that, not only did I have troubles finding time to write, I also had to find time to take care of her.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Having an 8-week old puppy in the house is a lot like having another child. We fuss over her when she\u2019s awake, bend over backwards for potty training, then tip-toe around when she\u2019s napping so we can have a few minutes of peace. So far my obsessive hovering abilities have kept her from chewing the house apart and using Boo\u2019s cat post as a toilet. Perhaps one day my two fur babies will make friends, but for now the Boo is content to just glare at Mochi from a safe distance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

… always.<\/p><\/div>\n

I mentioned my weekly walks before. It\u2019s something I\u2019m trying to stick with. No phone (other than to hatch Pokemon eggs, lol!), no music. Just me and my over-active imagination. The walks help to keep me moving and active, and they also give me a chance to think through my writing. On my walks, I\u2019ve figured out character backstories, schemed-up plot twists, and found ways to link scenes together.<\/p>\n

One thing I\u2019ve realized is when life dumps dead leaves on you, you make a big-ass pile and hop in! I took my pneumonia as a chance to get to know my writing again. I took my fractured rib as a chance to find low-impact exercise that will keep my body moving. I took the hectic work life as a chance to refine my leadership and organizational skills. So far, I’m still in one piece and kicking this year’s butt.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Although I don\u2019t see Real Life settling down any time soon, this is nothing I can\u2019t handle. And with autumn bathing my countryside back yard in colour, I\u2019m finding it easier to deal with the things life throws at me. My anxiety has been quiet for a few months. My last psychedelic head-trip (aka ocular migraine) was over six months ago. I\u2019ve been watching my diet in hopes to keeps those attacks at bay.<\/p>\n

In the world of writing, Book #4 in my Rose Cross Academy series is still truckin\u2019 along. I have a few scenes to hammer out and link to the rest of the story line. The story is written, beginning to end, it just needs a little TLC. I’m almost done the cover too!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Book #4 cover … under construction!<\/p><\/div>\n

With NaNoWriMo coming up, I already have my project for November in mind and I’m actually planning things out. Lately I\u2019ve been reading fantasy novels, which are a deviation from young adult, paranormal, and horror novels. In reading fantasy, I\u2019ve thought up my own novel and I\u2019m going to use that for November. The story will follow a young girl who is the only non-magical member of her magical village. In my world, magic is the norm and not the exception, but to the ho-hum extent\u2014lighting fires for cooking, growing seeds into plants, filling a glass of water. The great magic died out hundreds of years ago during a war that attempted to expunge the higher magics from the world. That great magic hides in books throughout the world, and she\u2019s determined to find all these magic books.<\/p>\n

So as I sit in my messy corner of the couch in which I have penned three novels and am working on about a billion more, I watch the first flakes of winter meander by my window. Really, I\u2019m making it sound more ethereal than it actually is. In reality, I\u2019m cold, I want a cup of coffee, and the smell of burning dust from the first furnace run of the season is making me sneeze.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Yes. Winter is coming.<\/p><\/div>\n

And there\u2019s a puppy chewing on my toes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Whatcha lookin’ at?<\/p><\/div>\n

Welp, nothing for it. Time to get back to writing. And I’ve gotta get this puppy to stop using me as a human chew toy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Geesh. It’s been ages since my last blog post! Since my last check-in, our brutally-hot summer has changed into an unusually cold and rainy autumn. Granted autumn is my favourite season, but I can\u2019t help but feel we\u2019ve been cheated out of summer. Well, maybe it was just me who was cheated. A bout of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[68,8,65],"class_list":["post-631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-updates","tag-mochi","tag-updates","tag-wip","post-preview"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6odz9-ab","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1166,"url":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/2021\/10\/autumn-on-the-west-coast\/","url_meta":{"origin":631,"position":0},"title":"Autumn on the West Coast","author":"Rissa Renae","date":"October 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"As you may know from a previous post, we packed up the family in July and moved from the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains to settle in the foothills of the North Shore Mountain range--aka the greater Vancouver area. 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This summer was all about finding ways to lower my stress levels and keep my head on straight. Chickadee-dee-dee Many pictures of birds were taken during this time, like this chickadee (my favourite bird!). It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Day to Day"","block_context":{"text":"Day to Day","link":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/category\/day-to-day\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/BooUnhappy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/BooUnhappy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/BooUnhappy.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/BooUnhappy.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":816,"url":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/2019\/11\/gone-to-the-birds\/","url_meta":{"origin":631,"position":2},"title":"Gone to the Birds","author":"Rissa Renae","date":"November 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Call it global warming, call it climate change, call it fake news, call it whatever you want. This summer was not a summer at all. Cold temps, lots of rain and fog, and no heat: exactly the opposite of what a summer typically is this side of the Rocky Mountains.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/category\/birds\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/MochiSnow2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/MochiSnow2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/MochiSnow2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/MochiSnow2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":761,"url":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/its-not-a-cotton-easter\/","url_meta":{"origin":631,"position":3},"title":"It’s Not a Cotton Easter","author":"Rissa Renae","date":"May 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A little back story: This past weekend, Mother's Day weekend, I gave an associate at the local home & garden centre something to chuckle about. You see, in the front I have these nice shrubs planted between my columnar aspens, and wanted to plant the same in the back yard.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gardening"","block_context":{"text":"Gardening","link":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/category\/gardening\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FieldSparrow1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FieldSparrow1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FieldSparrow1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FieldSparrow1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5312,"url":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/where-the-heck-have-i-been\/","url_meta":{"origin":631,"position":4},"title":"Where the heck have I been?","author":"Rissa Renae","date":"March 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"I'd like to think I can use the excuse of life getting in the way, but in reality, it really hasn't. I've been writing. A lot. And also reading a lot. I think it's the reading that's been taking me away from the social aspect of being a self-published author.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Updates"","block_context":{"text":"Updates","link":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/QnFairyFarts.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1178,"url":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/2021\/10\/cramming-my-creativity-into-a-corner-of-the-couch\/","url_meta":{"origin":631,"position":5},"title":"Cramming my creativity into a corner of the couch","author":"Rissa Renae","date":"October 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"To add a bit of background, we made a snap decision in April 2021 that we were going to pull up roots from Calgary, Alberta and drop them in Vancouver, British Columbia. 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