I’ve fiddled around several times on Dragonsinn.net in the past few weeks to improve the site’s layout and design.

I think it’s almost settled, but I’ve a quick question while we’re talking about websites.

Does anyone have a good web host to recommend?

I’ve been looking at Green Geeks and A2 Hosting.

Dragonsinn has always been self-hosted and I’ve been with my current host for a long time.

I’m seeking one that’s a bit more supportive to the WordPress setup.

Sorting Out Creative Projects

As I was going about my Dragonsinn website updates, I noticed that my list of creative projects was getting longer and longer.

I’m happy to have a career that’s separate from my creative or artistic endeavors. That’s actually something I’d like to write about in another post.

Since I have a limited amount of time to dedicate to hobbies and art, I started consolidating some projects (I’m likely to try and integrate this blog and my microcast more often from now). I noticed one project that was giving me a bigger sense of dread than hope or excitement—

“COMPLETE HORROR NOVEL”

Seriously, the thought of writing a full-length novel (approx. 80,000 words) to me is somewhat of a horror story in itself.

It’s just a little too long of a process for me, as someone who’s always had a preference for writing poetry and short stories.

Writing a novel sounded like the more professional thing to do (due to the decline of short stories in conventional publishing). While there are numerous choices today (such as traditional publishing, self-publishing, or small press publishing), it was one of the projects on my list that I was struggling to get behind due to the heavy time commitment and labor involved with it versus the potential ROI of that time + labor.

Self-publishing platforms using AI to develop bestsellers, self-publishing woes on Amazon, and AI-generated books flooding Amazon are other things that I find very tiresome when it comes to trying to be successful at publishing.

I’m not totally against AI, and I’ll always enjoy writing and storytelling. I just don’t feel like my original goal to write a novel the old school way is going to bring me much fulfillment or happiness.

I did write a couple of novels in my early 20s under my former pen name. It was fun although I struggled with trying to make my writing more commercial.

Reading these articles was helpful as well:

• I gave up on my childhood dream and couldn’t be happier. (by u/Virtual_Announcer on r/simpleliving)
• How to let go of your childhood dreams (by Kathryn Crawford Saxer for Seattle Times)

The subheading on Kathryn’s article says it well:

“Sometimes quitting an old lifelong dream can lead to new ideas and opportunities.”

I was quite sad at first when I came to terms with giving up this project for the time being.

After that, I felt more relieved as it opens up time and space for other projects that bring me more joy.

Thank you to my Redbubble buyers

I have a shop on Redbubble. I uploaded a Hitchcock fan art piece a couple of years ago.

I was pleasantly surprised to have sold my first art print and stickers from there, and would like to thank the buyers if they happen to come across this! (The buyers are anonymous on my RB dashboard and I can only see where the item was shipped to.)

Being more vocal

In an effort to manifest my eventual relocation plans, I’ve become a bit more vocal about wanting to move to an area that feels more like home to me.

I’ve usually kept quiet in person to keep the peace…but doing that for a long time just breeds resentment IMO.

It feels much better to just speak your truth sometimes in a factual and polite manner. It feels a lot better to me than keeping it all inside and pretending it’s all okay when it really isn’t.

I tend to spend a lot of time on art and design when I need to escape from something I can’t easily break free from just yet.

Hopefully that turns out to be a good thing for my art projects this year! ✨

One Last Thing…

Is anyone reading this on Ko-Fi?

Feel free to say hi to me there.

Side Note: Just learned through their official Twitter/X account that Ko-Fi is pronounced as ko-fee (rhymes with no-fee). I’d been pronouncing it as Ko-Fye this whole time!

I’m adding a few random items onto my shop there for subscribers (or for people who like to dig around my websites to look at ALL the links).

One of the items is a signed copy of my debut poetry chapbook.

I should have 1-2 more fun items to add there in April or May.

Stay tuned.