• Paris Paloma. I got to see her in concert by happy coincidence in June, and her debut album dropped in August, and basically I haven't stopped listening to her ever since. She writes about so many of the complexities of being a woman and being an old soul and longing for something better. This album was the catalyst for my redesign of Pentegreens 1 (more on that later). Basically I have eaten, drunk, and slept cacophony for months now and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon.
• Halsey. Halsey's been a top artist of mine for quite a few years now--I think I got into her in like 2021 or something ridiculous like that. She's been the Fall Out Boy of my 20s (they were the top band of my teens). In October, she dropped a new album on chronic illness and the agony of losing your body and wondering when and if and whether you would ever feel better. It's not a fun album to listen to, but the CATHARSIS of it...yeah.
• Bastille is yet another band that put out a new album this year and I am obsessed with it. It's all literary and history references and they're all CORRECT which is something we never get with literary albums. Just....AHHHHHH. 
• Noah Kahan once again came in clutch. Paul Revere, y'all. If you're not from New England, you won't get it. But like...yeah.
• LOTS of soundtracks, specifically The Hunger Games and Arcane. And no, I don't mean scores--I mean assemblies of songs made for movies/shows. Obsessed with them.

• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus//trauma p*rn//least likely precocious child//the dog can talk but this is not magical realism//not a sign of women helping women//only one good guy in the whole book (dies)//the men at the workplace make fun of an adult man for bringing lunch from home//deeply suspicious mental health treatment//autism baiting 
• The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han//bro why//it was a 6 hour audiobook that I listened to in two hours but at what cost//puberty makes you dateable which is how you derive worth
• Lightlark by Alex Aster//opens with literal cannibalism//she's not like the other girls she is a CANNIBAL//most toxic love triangle (three ways of toxicity)//pointless//why did there need to be an arena battle//WASTED potential
• A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston//I read her book The Seven Year Slip and it was fun and cute so that's what I was expecting//bro why//how dare someone want to have children//staying in your hometown is bad but also the only choice you should ever make?//problematic romance//the main character is literally a book boyfriend so I shouldn't be surprised that he growled but I still was//WAY too much spice and all of it gave me the ick//I almost threw my phone out of my moving car at one point 

• I was working on Dragon Tales for a while this year, and then with some feedback and reflection realized it just wasn't what I was supposed to be doing yet. So I've pulled back on that one. I haven't given up on it, but it was not the time and I understand that. I'm going to let it cook for a while and see what comes of it.

• I wrote a story called The Crayfish Are Still Here for Creative Writing class that was actually a literary fiction piece and I loved it. It's a flash fiction piece, but here's my favorite line from it:

If Pa is angry, I know God will be, too. God put Pa at the head of the house not because Pa knows everything, but because Pa is a good, good man. Pa will always get up first and go to bed last. He prays like he means it and he’s the first to admit he’s wrong. Pa loves us. 

If Pa says I’m wrong for what I’ve done, then God help me, I guess I’m wrong.

• I wrote an entirely new novel (very short) that I'm still keeping very close to my chest. Working title: Just Another Ghost Story. It's paranormal. That's not much to keep you interested, but don't worry, more is coming next year. Here's a snippet just for right now:

• And finally: I entirely rewrote The King's Daughter! This year, something finally clicked into place and I realized what I was doing wrong. It's been beautiful to piece this story back together, and I'm in love with how the puzzle pieces are coming together to create one beautiful, intricate whole picture.