*cue screaming and assorted drama*

Back after an extremely extended hiatus, a hearty welcome to today’s guest … me. Yup, that’s right. The quirky, thinks-she’s-pretty-funny author that you all know and love (or don’t-odds are no one is reading this anyway, which makes this more of a journal, doesn’t it?) Regardless, I’m back baby! Now, for how long? That’s anyone’s guess, really. My track record with this blog/website thing hasn’t been the greatest … but I have the intention to at least try?

So. What does ‘being back’ mean? Well, for one, I figure the website needs a little updating. Plus, I thought I’d do some basic life updates for the fans that may actually still be out there, waiting for news of … well. News. So here it goes!

School: While I’d love to claim that getting my degree is what caused me to fall of the face of the internet … that would be a lie. Mostly. I was taking classes, and I now have about a year and a half worth of credits needed to graduate with my Japanese degree. I even managed to score a 4.0 in my last semester! But school is currently up in the air, because …

Location: I moved to Georgia to be closer to my family. This happened in 2022, which contributed to the internet absence, but even this is only a small slice of the ‘why isn’t Crystin writing to update virtual strangers?’ pie. Though it certainly influenced the other reasons; moving means finding a new job, a new residence, new roommates, new friends … and having to figure out all those new things takes time away from more important pursuits, like hobbies. Or writing. Originally with the move, I planned to finish up my degree at UGA – but it turned out finding the employment factor (and the rising cost of inflation, which is still kicking everyone’s butt, even now) meant I had to choose between living on my own or going to school. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love my family. Very much. But quite frankly, having to move in with my parents to finish a degree at 40 years old? No thank you. I don’t want the degree that badly. So instead I got a new desk job, and for now I’m going to focus on just getting a decent paycheck, and maybe later I’ll take a couple of classes a year to finish that degree. I’m still practicing Japanese, but for now the dream of translating books is on the back burner.

Writing: Right, now for what everyone really wants to know. Have I been writing? Is there a new book on the horizon??? … No. But also yes? I have a WIP, and I have big ideas surrounding it. But when I dropped off the internet, I pretty much stopped writing too. Heck, I’ve not really been playing World of Warcraft lately either, which is ridiculous because the newest expansion is Dragonflight, and anyone that knows me knows that I’m obsessed with dragons. Instead, I’ve just been working on getting on my feet, setting a routine with the new job (I have to commute now, and Atlanta traffic is the worst), and just overall getting my life back in order. But I think I’m finally in the mindset to start writing again. I’m definitely ready to try writing again, hence this post. This is the beginning of what will (hopefully) be a regular writing habit – though it’ll be a mix of blog posts, the WIP, journaling, or pretty much anything to get my writing muscles working again.

So yeah: stay tuned for more shenanigans!