Nerd Church - The Fractured Web: Our Socials are Scattering

Warning: this post refers to the bad things that happen on the internet; wide variety of topics, be careful!

The internet is fragmenting...

Nerd Church - A Series of Kafkaesque Events

*This post contains Amazon.com affiliate links - if you purchase items via these links I receive a small commission. Please only use these links for .com purchases, not regional Amazon sites*

Warning: this post discusses and/or references panic attacks and Anxiety, murder, grief, forced marriage, and systemic failings

There are also some (mild) SPOILERS for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

I recently found myself re-reading Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: My Brain Is Unpredictable, Right Now

 

[Warning: this post discusses mental health problems and grief]

Look, I've been through some stuff lately, and it's definitely affected me.

My mental health has not been good for the last 10+ years, and now, after losing my mother in February... my head has given me a whole bunch of Very Bad Days lately.

I can't bring myself to go into details, but... it was hell. As a family, we've been through absolute hell since October 2024.

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: Let Me Romanticise Writing, Dammit!

 

Every now and then, out there on the Interwebs, I come across someone who disapproves of the 'romanticisation' of writing.

To them, writing is a career, a job, an occupation. Maybe they enjoy it, maybe they're good at it, but there's no fire in them that compels them to write.

Nerd Church - To-Do List Struggles

 

My to-do isn't that long - at first glance.

But that's mostly because I only write down a few things that I need to prioritise and/or think I'm in danger of forgetting. 😅

My mental to-do list? Much, much, bigger.

Like... I expect a lot of myself.

Nerd Church - Strange Days

 

Strange days are here to stay
Ever since Bowie died
It hasn't been the same

- Green Day, Strange Days Are Here To Stay

 

The world's weird, right now.

Maybe it always is, always was, always will be.

Still, I can't help but feel - and I know other people will agree - that we're in the middle of a particularly weird and wacky period.

The 2020s haven't exactly been an easy ride so far, and it looks like that isn't changing any time soon.

But whoever you are, wherever you are - keep going.

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: Stories Don’t Need A Beginning, A Middle, and An End

*gasps*

Nerd Church - Blogging Schedule Update (...It's Been A Stressful Week)

 

I don't usually write Nerd Church posts like this, but since Nerd Church isn't really tightly defined (...or defined at all, OK, I know,) I figured why not?

You may or may not have noticed that there was no Comics Wrap-Up (CWU) post, or Friday Fics Fix (F3) post this week.

- Which wasn't a planned break.

My life turned into another whirling ball of chaos this week, with my mother's health being very Not Good.

(Thankfully she's doing so much better now.)

Nerd Church - That Time American Horror Story Made A Mini-Series About Writers...

 

I love American Horror Story (AHS).

It's amazing, let's be honest.

I started watching a fair few years after the beginning, and started from said beginning - Murder House (as everyone should, imho,) - so haven't actually caught up yet.

Nerd Church - Short Story: Over the Rain

 

This story was originally published in the Medium publication Promptly Written in response to this writing prompt from Bella Smith:

— During a relentless rainstorm, two old friends reconcile their differences over a cup of coffee.

Over The Rain

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay

Nerd Church - I’d Love To Have A Cat’s Self-Confidence

 

Originally published on Medium

This started with a prompt, and then meandered far, far, away from the original idea… 😅

Prompt set by Dr. Casey Lawrence on Medium:


“ The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are stronger at the broken places.”

— Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms: Library Edition [x]

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: You Don't Have To Publish Everything

 

Warning: brief discussions of Anxiety/mental health issues

This is a reminder to any of you fellow writers/bloggers/whoever-s out there who need it:

 

You don't have to post everything.

You don't have to publish everything.

Nerd Church - Prioritise Small Steps

 

...brought to you by me, once again, giving myself a pep-talk and posting it on the internet 😅💪

Listen, the world is rough and tough and kind of awful sometimes. 

It feels like everything is crashing and burning and we live in a frankly batpoop timeline.

Nerd Church - Celebrity Birthday Buddies!

 

It's my birthday today (15th Sep) so I figured I'd have a little fun.

(...of the nerdy sort, because that's on-brand, let's be honest.)

So, y'know that thing where people talk about their ideal celebrity dinner guests, either living or dead, fictional or real?

This isn't that.

But it is somewhat adjacent to that.

I thought that instead I'd talk about my celebrity birthday party list - with the twist that they also have to have their birthday on September 15th. Just because it's an awesome date, let's be honest.

So, here's my celebrity birthday buddies:

Nerd Church - Short Story: The Lady Klara, The Prince Matteo

This is a fantasy short story that first appeared in the 'Promptly Written' publication on Medium, in response to the following prompt by Ravyne Hawke:

Conceptual theme — Villain
Twosome — Dreadful and Deadly

I'm actually quite proud of this one, so I hope you like it! 😅

Warning: general violence (mostly of the stabby kind,) blood, injury, murder, implied war, loss of autonomy

The Lady Klara, The Prince Matteo

Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay

Month(s) In Review(s) - June + July 2024

 

Warning: discussions of Depression and pet loss

...OK, doing this as a two-monthly thing is becoming an unintentional habit 😅

The only excuse that I have is that sometimes Depression messes my memory up - and the fact that I entirely (and I mean, entirely,) forgot to write a post for June coincides with some pretty sh**ty mental health days over the past two months.

So, yeah. I'm blaming Depression. And I don't feel bad about that, because it blames me for stuff all the time 😅

Nerd Church - You Pick Up Little Pieces of Yourself

You pick up little pieces of yourself, scattered through the world.




Pieces that belong to others too

 — point, say, ‘look, it’s both of us;’ a modern manifestation of Emily Dickinson’s Nobody.

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: Write Through

 

Warning: this post discusses Depression

I have not had a good week, mental-health-wise.

I had some very bad Depression days, and was generally not very good, mentally.

The thing is that when my mental health is poor, I really struggle to write. 

Anything. Like, coherent sentences are a problem.

Let alone the *Writing* I really need (I explained the difference between writing and *Writing* here, if you're interested.)

Nerd Church - Sometimes You Need To Take Things Slow

 

Do you get the feeling, sometimes, that everything out there in the big wide world is kind of... rushed?

It's kind of fast, kind of hurried, kind of urgent.

Nerd Church - Short Story: Unwitnessed

Originally published in Promptly Written on Medium, for this prompt by Ravyne Hawke:

Write a ‘moody’ piece around any of the following:

— a fresh perspective
— a lingering thought
— a lost moment in time

Warning: implied violence

Unwitnessed

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay