vampires, spaceships, and fantastical worlds—the tales of L.E. Teetzel

—where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?

Okay, apologies for putting that song in your head, but the idea to use it as a title popped into my head and I couldn’t shake it. That happens sometimes, usually when I find a vocal stim I have to say out loud for a while. Yes, I’ve been singing it to myself since it popped into my head.

Anyway, I know it’s been a while since I posted anything (okay, not that long, but I wanted to get more stuff done), and I just wanted to pop on to tell you why!

First of all, I decided to self-publish my novella ICARUS (check out the books page via the link above or below or here). Currently it’s available as an ebook, and I’m working on the paperback, so I’ll make a dedicated post when that’s all done where I’ll talk more about it. But it’s been eating up a lot of my brain power and spell slots.

And speaking of spell slots…

My mental health hasn’t been super great the last little while. Believe it or not, I get Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in the summer, my least-favourite season. I didn’t even know that was possible until I started to feel like shit in August a couple years ago. Turns out, it is, it’s just nowhere near as common as SAD in the winter, especially February. I used to get it then, but then the world caught fire and now the extra-hot summers take so. much. out of me. Like. SO MUCH. I’ve never been a fan of heat, but thanks to hormones and medication in addition to my naturally cold-favouring disposition, I am pretty constantly uncomfortable all summer. Which sucks. (Turns out the SSRIs that help my brain function mostly normally also make me extra heat sensitive and make me sweat more than I do normally. Joy.)

Obviously I still have to do stuff, like work and chores, and I still try to do stuff I enjoy, like writing and reading and gaming—I just can’t do as much as I can when I’m not a cranky vampire huddling in my darkened office.

I’m not looking for sympathy or anything—just letting you all know what’s up!

I’ve got the next Axaurius post pictures taken, two more Three-Thoughts Retrospective posts almost done, and another project started (I know, I know—shush). My bookstagram project of trying to read through all the books I own but haven’t read (which is an obscene amount) is going well, and you can check it out here (I don’t know that I’ve talked about it at all here yet, so I’ll probably do a dedicated post about it too). I’m trying to find more time and spell slots to get more writing done, because I want to start querying again to shoot for traditional publishing, or figure out if my current novel WIP would be better for self-publishing.

So, there’s lots in the works.

And that’s just some of the stuff.

I’m also trying to build up a stock of knit/crochet stuff to sell, and figuring out how best to sell them, tending to my indoor plants, and trying to get my garden to produce something this year (I did some experimenting that didn’t turn out so well, but I’m still learning).

Hopefully I’ll have another post for you soon, but I hope everyone’s enjoying their summer, even if I can’t!

Take it easy, hot dogs, and I’ll see you guys next time!