Summer greetings! I can scarcely believe we are already in July (you know, apart from the part that I'm utterly MELTING!). Its quite scary how quickly the months go by.
Well, as you may have noticed, there was no June blog post, as I was taking a break for stress and health issues. A quick update on that; I have seen the doctor and been placed on medication (which in turn seems to have freaked out my bosses enough at work to stop putting me into overly stressful situations), and I am doing much, much better. Now, I still have issues to face and there's still plenty more to be dealt with, but I feel like I have the help I need, that the last few weeks have been much more relaxed, so I no longer feel like I'm at the very edge of losing my mind. Which in turn, makes for a much happier Laura-bunny.
So, now that part's out of the way, moving onto news and things coming up soon!
Impossible Spaces and "Skin"
The time I've been waiting for so excitedly is nearly here- the release date of Hic Dragones' anthology
Impossible Spaces, featuring my science-fiction short story "Skin". The release date will be July 19th (only days away now!), and I'm ever so excited. Skin is a story that means a lot to me, and so its very special to know this one will be in print. I'll be providing links at the bottom of this post, but here is a sneaky peak of the front cover!
Relating to this, I am currently finishing off an interview with my good friend
Angeline Trevena, who will be interviewing me about "Skin" very shortly. I have to say, as someone who usually writes the questions, it feels a little bit odd to be the one interviewed this time around! (But then again, as it was lovely Angeline who taught me about interview techniques in the first place, interviewing her a couple of months back for Fifty Shades of Decay felt slightly odd also! But great fun!). So please keep your eyes peeled for that too!
Changes in Art
I recently made the decision to stop pursuing artist work within tattoo studios. Without naming the studio (as I actually still get on with everyone there!), I was recently let down by the place when they expected me to be available whenever they needed, and passed on the position to a younger lad without getting to see the (if I may say so) lovely tattoo design I had drawn up for them. However, I do not make this decision grimly or with hard-feelings. Sadly, for people in my position, tattoo-careers simply aren't viable. You simply cannot have a "day" job and work within a tattoo environment at the same time. So I'm passing up the notion of that career path now. Having said that, I am still more than happy to design tattoos as commissions, and have not turned my back on the industry! (Oh hells no, despite all that, I'm sure I'll be back in that same studio later this year for my Wayfinder tattoo ;) ).
Career Progressions and Ambitions
As I mentioned a few weeks back, regarding my near-mental-breakdown, I was assaulted by a customer while I was at work. A few days after that, one customer was so offended by the fact I didn't laugh at his awful joke (that I hear multiple times daily) that he phoned one of the managers to make a complaint. So as you can imagine, I've been job-hunting weekly to find a non-retail job. In my first week, I managed to find 2 jobs, but as I haven't heard back from them, I can only assume I didn't make the cut, which is a real shame. Then at least 2 weeks went by where I found nothing (apart from retail). I was also flat-out refused by an agency, and I was left feeling pretty worthless. Sadly, at 26, despite the fact I have been in work consistently since the age of 15, my lack of "experience" in other fields of work mean that I'm not even given the time of day, despite the fact I am well-educated and have a broad skill set.
So talking things over with my mum (because mums always know best), we decided that writing now has to become work, not a pastime that I do with the intention of getting published. I'm now going to be adding 2 and half hours a day on top of my working hours (to make that a full working day), just to write. Trying to turn the negative into a positive :) Its something I really need to take off- sadly in retail, full-time jobs are extremely rare, so its obscenely difficult to support oneself in such work (hence why I currently live at home). Not only do I
want writing to be my career, but now it looks like I will need to also, especially if I have any hope of moving out in the next 2 years.
So lets see if I can be disciplined enough to make this work! Wish me luck!
Other Things
Not too much else to report, but in the last month, I have gotten a new phone that actually works (yay!), bought my very first bikini (*blush*), celebrated the Summer Solstice (summer greetings to you all x), got to spend a lot of lovely time with my lovely friends (<3) and also recently gotten addicted to Dungeons and Dragons (I'm a dhampir cleric :3 ). Coming up over the next few weeks, I have more social gatherings, holiday, birthdays and next month I will actually get to meet my literary hero
Neil Gaiman!!! Getting to meet Voltaire and Neil in one year? This year has been a pretty awesome one!
Reflection (Spiritual)
This is just something soppy and spiritual I wanted to add at the end of this blog post (feel free to skip if you wish!), but it was something that occurred to me during our Summer Solstice ceremony (which was an unusually sombre affair due to recent mournings in the community). This year so far has been hard, incredibly so in some ways, yet has also been full of immense joy and happiness for me. Its hard to think of chaos as a negative force in the world, when sometimes bad things simply have to happen so good things can happen to. These bad times really make me love and appreciate the friends closest to me <3
So thats pretty much it till next time. Stay turned for updates and THINGS!
http://www.hic-dragones.co.uk/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Impossible-Spaces-Hannah-Kate/dp/0957029284/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373214763&sr=1-1&keywords=impossible+spaces
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