The Hollywood Theater in Portland, OR
Hello Again, (и снова здравствуйте for those that read Russian – I know there's a couple of you). So, as of early September 2017 I now live in the wonderful city of Spokane, WA. For those of you outside the United States, that’s in the Pacific Northwest not far from the border with Canada. We refer to Canada jokingly as “the Great White North.”
If you have read my previous blogs, then you’re aware that I started writing a novel (not my first) in December 2016, and my goal was to have it published and be promoting it at the HP Lovecraft Film Festival in October 2017. Unfortunately, the process of moving and taking a promotion and setting up a new home and so many other things severely hindered my efforts to reach my goal. Still, having received excellent feedback from my beta-readers, I edited my novel through four drafts from the original, and I felt good about at least discussing it with other writers when I went to the HP Lovecraft Film Festival/Cthulhucon in Portland, OR, and I am SO GLAD I went!
Cthulhugirl posing with a copy of the official poster for the Festival
I took the time to attend the entire festival from Oct. 6-8. I saw some excellent new horror films based on Lovecraft’s work, attended live dramatizations of “The Rats in the Walls” and “The Thing on the Doorstep,” and spent several hours with my best friend, just to start with. I also attended a symposium in which Lovecraft’s Dreamlands were discussed, which tied in to my own work on my novel, and I also went to a writer’s workshop where I spent time working directly with other writers and an established editor in my genre on writing scenes. Naturally, I met other writers in the process, and I met a publisher that put me on the right track towards getting my current novel published. I had such a great time, and I had tons of new ideas come to me as a result of my experience!
A painting I saw in a restaurant after the film festival in Portland – it was so perfect that I saw it at that time!
Once I came home from my short vacation, I started working some serious overtime on my day job in addition to adding revisions to my novel. It was exhausting, but worth every minute. My novel is in the final editing phase of the last draft, and I’ll be asking one of the writers I met at the HPLFF to read it before I submit it for publication, just to get a feel for how it should be promoted. As to my day job, I’ve been spearheading a major project that will save time and increase efficiency throughout the company. I’ve had a ton of setbacks and interruptions, but that project is almost at completion now, in January 2018.
At the end of 2017 I also read a book on time management that has really helped me, and although I’m taking it relatively easy at the moment due to my health issues, I’ve got a HUGE amount of writing to do this year. I have 3 short story ideas, 4 other novels to choose from to work on, a role-playing game scenario to polish for publication, and of course the promotional material associated with publishing my current novel. If last year seemed busy, this year is going to make 2017 look like it was standing still.
I still have lots more to share, but I’ll close for now with this awesome picture of my apartment complex on Halloween. I feel even more that my home is in Ulthar Beyond the River Skai – so many elements of the Dreamlands converge where I live that sometimes I wonder if I am awake or still dreaming!
Dream on! ☺
-Dhyani
