Update: Life and Books (Sep 2019)

 
 

I’ll start this post by getting the bad news out of the way. My face muscle/headache problem is still not better. I’m still waiting for a neurology appointment, but they’re probably not going to find anything. So I don’t know what’s going to happen with my problem, and I don’t know what’s going to happen with my blog. It might seem foolish to try so hard to keep blogging, but this blog and the people I’ve met because of it have brought me community and support and purpose. It’s kept at bay the isolation and depression I felt because of my chronic illness before I started blogging. So it’s important to me. If I suddenly stop posting though, this is why. Hopefully it would only be temporary.

I wanted to return visits and comments to my fellow bloggers, but at this point I have over 100 comments to return visits for, and although I feel bad about it, I just can’t do it. I have read (or listened to) every single comment though, and I appreciate them all ❤️

In slightly less depressing news, drawing (as long as I do it on paper and without using references) seems to be one of the only things I can do with minimal symptoms, so here are some of my recent drawings. It’s so frustrating not being able to fix mistakes! (Sorry for just sharing a bunch of tweets, but that’s easier right now with my headache problem.)

I also did one NSFW merfolk drawing because drawing smut is fun 😛 I took the idea from drawing I saw during #mermay, but now I can’t find the tweet.

Merperson underwater with human sitting on their shoulders, swim suit dangling from human's foot

And while I’m sharing NSFW artwork, here’s one I was working on before these recent problems started. It’s incomplete with a bunch of things I still wanted to fix, but I don’t know if I’ll get to finish, so I’m just going to share it. (It’s Jacobin and Levine, two of my characters.)

Jacovine Sexy

I tried doing a cute little sketch of them sitting together and reading, but it looks nothing like them and is pretty bad, so I’m not sharing that one.

Right now I’m kind of doing #inktober, but with sketches, so follow me on Twitter if you want to see more! Here’s the thread:

Lastly, here’s a poem with a funny story of how it came to be:


Blog/Bookish Updates:

I won the Discussion Challenge giveaway and chose Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell!

 

Books I Received for Review:

Nothing this month.

 

Books I Finished:

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia LevensellerDaughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia LevensellerTuning In by Richard RobertsThe True Bastards by Jonathan FrenchThe Monster of Elendhven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

I listened to a few audiobooks (and I listened to one book using text-to-speech). Tuning In and The Monster of Elendhaven didn’t really work for me, but the Pirate King books were fun, and The True Bastards was great!

 

What I’m Loving:

This month, what I’m loving is…

The Trypod

I love The Try Guys YouTube channel, and their podcast is hilarious too!

 

In Case You Missed It:

Here are the highlights:

 
 
 
 

Talk to me!

How have you all been lately?

 
 
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Your Thoughts

 

30 thoughts on “Update: Life and Books (Sep 2019)

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  1. Greg

    Aw sorry to hear things aren’t better on the health front. I wouldn’t worry too much about the commenting thing- people understand stuff is going on, and the important thing is you take care of yourself. Hang in there! Hoping your neurology appt gives you some answers!

    Love the look of the Levenseller books- I still need to read em.

  2. Roberta R.

    That’s too bad about your most recent problem, and I really hope you won’t have to stop blogging – both because I love your content and (especially) because it brings you joy and relief! I can relate to not having other outlets in your life, though I don’t have health issues myself (not big ones, I mean), but I have a disabled husband, so my options are pretty limited all the same. There MUST be something that works for you. Don’t stop hoping, and don’t feel bad because you can’t return comments – we’re all friends here, and we understand.

    Wow, I didn’t expect such racy art LOL. Well done though!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Yeah, for some people, blogging is more of a side thing they love, so they squeeze in the time for it, but for some of us, it’s our social outlet or our creative outlet or our connection to others.

      Lol that’s why I warned and hid the art in the spoiler tags. Thanks!

  3. Sophie

    I am so sorry to hear about your pain Kristen! But I totally get why you’d want to blog as you said it helps you feel less depressed yet it’s hard when you’re in pain! I have a headache for two days now and blogging is difficult but it’s also distracting so …. I still hope that your appointment will offer a solution even if you doubt about it. Take care of you!

  4. Sam@wlabb

    It must be really frustrating waiting for the doctors to figure out how to alleviate some of your discomfort. I hope you can get some relief soon, and am glad you are still able to draw, even if it’s only on paper.

    1. Kristen Burns

      Thank you for the support and the art compliments 🙂 I’d rather do art on the computer, but drawing on paper has been pushing me out of my comfort zone, so that’s one good thing.

  5. Suzanne Williams

    Sorry to hear you’re still feeling bad. It would be my worst nightmare not to be able to read. I don’t like audio books, but if you can’t read, I guess they’re a lifesaver.
    I love your artwork – the guy with the elephant’s trunk nose does look like he hates his life lol.
    Congrats on winning Wayward Son. I have that on my TBR list too.
    Keep smiling and don’t worry about returning comments – I’ve not blogged for ages so there’s nothing to comment on.
    Sending hugs.

  6. Lola

    I am sorry to hear there’s still no improvement on the health front. Let’s hope when you finally have that neurology appointment they can find something. Can you still read physical books or is that difficult too? That’s nice you got at least some sketches done. They look great! Although that feet and hand centaur are just creepy somehow and that guy with the trunk on his face too. Yay for winning a giveaway!

  7. Flora

    I’m glad you’ve found some solace in your art. I love the drawings, Kristen, thanks for sharing them with us. I hope that good news regarding your head pain is on the horizon. XxXx

  8. ShootingStarsMag

    I’m so sorry you still aren’t feeling well. I hope the neurologist can help with something – it’s always tough when you have all these symptoms and nobody knows why or how to help. I’m glad you could read some books lately, and I love your drawings!

    -Lauren

  9. Becky @ A Fool's Ingenuity

    Sorry to hear you’re still struggling with health problems. It’s tough when what you enjoy doing actually doesn’t help with your health but I think if you limit yourself and keep everyone updated no one can fault you for not managing to respond to every comment. I think I’m with everyone when I say they manage to find something soon to help. Glad you’ve managed to do some drawing at least, even if it’s just pencil and paper, at least it’s something and I’ve been loving seeing them on Twitter.

  10. Olivia Roach

    I feel frustrated on your behalf for the lack of help you’ve been given for your problem. Even though it isn’t looking hopefully my fingers are crossed for anything from this appointment. I can’t keep up with my comments anymore >> I try and visit back and comment on their blogs, and I read every one, but don’t beat myself up if I can’t reply to them all…

  11. Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra

    I’m so sorry to hear you’re still not getting any relief from your headache problem. I hope that once you’re able to get an appointment with a neurologist that they can finally get you some answers and hopefully a solution.

  12. Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    Sorry I haven’t been by in a while to check on you. I’ve been dealing with health issues of my own (well, not of my own—my daughter was in a car accident, so I’ve been dealing with her health issues and a myriad of dr appointments!). I hope that you find some relief soon!!

    1. Kristen Burns

      No need to apologize, that’s terrible about your daughter, I hope she’s okay! I’ll have to try and get by your blog soon to see if you have any updates.