Where have I been? Where have you been?

Seriously, where have you been? Me? I was around... Doing ... things. Watching ... stuff. Mostly though I was planning a wedding. Whose wedding? Well, funny you should ask. MY wedding! Yes, that's right. You heard correctly (partly because I screamed it to you through my keyboard), I said "MY wedding". I did it. I finally gave in and made an honest man out of him. Yay me!

Me and Pops heading to the church

It was perfect. No. It really was. Awesome weather and place aside, the people who came made all the difference. I have pictures of three very close friends splitting and sharing one single tissue to dry their tears, because none of them thought to bring an entire pack of tissues with them. Cause come on. They've been to so many weddings already this wouldn't be any different. Right? Right? Mwa ha ha ha!

They hadn't predicted the awesome scenery that made for a fairy-tale day. OR the fact that my father-in-law started playing the bagpipes as I came in a fishing boat escorted by my father, all dressed in white*. They didn't think the whole day could get any mushier (and put their used 1/3 of a tissue aside) until we shared our first dance, and then the waterfalls started all over again (Yes, don't try to deny it, I saw you in the video E.'s cousine made while no one was looking).

Add to that the delicious food and the best wedding DJ ever and you have yourself... drumroll....The Wedding of the Year!

*The church couldn't be accessed any other way.

All things have to come to an end though, and after the Wedding of the Year and the 5-day honey-moon trip, my -now- husband and I returned to our usual routine up in the North.

We did it!

I had no problem with the Routine per se, rather than with the realization it brought with it. Namely that now that I had no wedding to plan and fret over, I had no excuse to not be writing. Not that wedding planning ever was a sound excuse, but saying "Meh, I can't write, I have to plan The Wedding of the Year!" sounds better than "I just don't feel like it".

My almost 10-month break from writing did have its advantages though. I gained some distance to reassess what had happened that made me choke at the thought of a blank page and I decided to not let it get to me. As to what "it" is, I am not equipped to describe it (yes, I am that writer). What matters is I have now decided to stop being such a kitten and start writing as well as submitting again.

I have so far sent stories to four different kinds of publications: One literary teen nagazine, one speculative fiction anthology series, your average kind of Review-zine and a themed competition, and am expecting the rejections any minute now.  

Until then, I will just keep translating machine parts no one has ever heard of to pay the bills and dream of making it big. So big I won't have to check to see what a "Bördelflansch" is EVER AGAIN!

The awesomest place ever: Poulithra.