Going on a Little Business Trip to Taos + miniUpdate (Patreon)

TL;DR: I'm going to Taos New Mexico on a work trip to gather info about that area and get some time alone. Girlcock College project is going to take a back seat to writing for a while to make room for a Tail Virus story, finishing "Ghosting Through Life," and other unfinished writing projects.

Quick Update on Projects:

I'm evaluating the Girlcock College project as far as how much of my resources it takes vs what I get out of doing it. I plan to finish volume 2 of Girlcock College, but I'm going to pace myself because I have a lot of pent up writing motivation. That motivation is to get another Tail Virus story going that y'all will get to vote on, finishing "Ghosting Through Life," and taking a look at other projects I have left unfinished (this includes a couple commissions I've paid for and haven't poked artists about). I definitely want to get the Tail Virus story going because Tail Virus won the interest poll I ran a while a go.

Taos Business Trip:

My work life is quite balanced most of the time because even though I collaborate with artists and others I still get a lot of alone time writing and creating stuff for y'all. Due to my living situation, a good chunk of my free time is taken up helping my aunt, uncle, and George (my friend who has Parkinson's). Not something I mind overall, but I sometimes need a break, to just go do something on my own so I can remember who I am when I'm not conforming to the needs of others.

This need has given me the idea to go on my first writing business trip. Taos is an interesting area in New Mexico that I want to scout out. There's a really neat hot spring that's famous for being clothing optional that I want to set the next Tail Virus story at. There's a famous town square area I'm thinking about setting up a chase scene in. And there's a hike where there's a bunch of big horned sheep that I think could inform yet another story.

I won't let myself turn everything I'm doing out there into work. In addition to wanting to get some time alone, I want to get familiar with Taos so it's easy to plan a vacation there with Sarah and/or Secretskunk later on.

My trip to Taos will start on the 20th of June and end on the 22nd of June. I'll be a bit harder to contact, but I'll check in on Discord and such in the evenings. I'm excited to travel as part of my writing business because it's something I've seen many other writers do, but never thought to do it myself. If this goes well, I'll likely go on more trips here and there. I gain a lot from seeing places I want to write about personally and I should've started doing this a long time ago.

In March, my tax lady told me that I needed to put more trips on my taxes because it's a totally normal thing to do. Especially since authors often go on trips to get information on settings for their stories. Turns out I wasn't taking my business as seriously as I could've, it turns out. LOL

So yeah, I feel weird in a good way that I booked a hotel in Taos yesterday morning. I'm going to use the quiet to lay the foundation for a Tail Virus story and see how far I can get towards finishing "Ghosting Through Life."

Thanks for listening and hope everyone's having a great June!

- Elara

Here's a link to the first poll for the Tail Virus story I mentioned.