The Green Side of Life: Spider Plants.

I have another plant to add to my collection! It’s a spider plant and it’s one of the easiest plants to grow. Mind you, I have met a couple people who have killed them, but they’re in the minority.

Spider plants are one of the top six plants for beginners. You can ignore them and they’ll grow. Over or under water them and they’ll keep going. They will let you know when it’s time to pay attention to them. The first one I had pushed itself right out of the pot, and we had to cut the pot with plyers to get the root-ball out. I love them, not only because they’re almost maintenance free, but because they can become a bushy addition, especially when they have ‘babies’. Mine is just a baby itself. You can see pictures of it HERE.

Propagating them is the easiest. When they’re ready, they’ll grow long narrow branches called a stolon, with little white flowers on the end. As the flower goes through it’s life cycle, small leaves will appear, and before you know it, you have baby plants on the end. Just take those babies, plant them in the ground and you have more spider plants! There is no pot size to determine when the flower stalks will appear, but if I recall correctly, the plant was pretty root-bound.

There is one drawback to owning spider plants. They are susceptible to mealy bugs, and once the pest is on your plant it can quickly migrate to other plants around it. Best way to keep them at bay is to pay attention to the plant, water and fertilize on a schedule. I add a bit of weak fertilizer to every water, to keep all of them healthy.

Writing Update: March, 2024.

Wow, I haven’t done one of these since October. I didn’t realize it’s been that long. Sounds about right though. When I got promoted to full time, that took away about seventy percent of my writing time. Even with my calendar I still either forgot about posts or couldn’t find a topic idea, but here goes.

Marked

Do you remember me writing this out as a script? Well, I figured there’s a better chance of people reading it than watching it as a movie, so I’ve been reformatting it into a stand-alone. I have two more movie scripts that I want to publish in the future. One is the script I was writing based on the video game Blur and the other is a near future thriller I stared during the pandemic. It’s literally a pandemic story.

Cashe

This story is coming alone nicely. I have the antagonist in custody, and now the fun part begins, because things are going to happen that will show that maybe the bad guy isn’t really the Bad Guy. Know what I mean? Things are going to happen that are impossible for the supposed antagonist to be able to do. That’s going to bring up more questions.

Zombie Book 2

I forgot how much of the original plot was in this second book, and it’s been a long haul of removing and rewriting scenes. I decided not to kill off Arlo (I like him too much), but Tamikia is out of the picture for most of the book, and the people she’s with are playing head games on her. I just wrote out a scene this month that shows just how far they’ve messed with her, and I doubt she’ll be with the group for the rest of the journey. I’m not killing her off. She still has a part to play in all of this, but I’m not sure if it’s good or bad.

Ghost Book 2

This story is messing with me. I’m not sure just how many ghosts I want in the house. Should it be just the bad one, or more? I can make this a really creepy house and have the mother wandering the halls looking for her children (which is a really good idea), but would that be too confusing for the reader? I’ll figure it out after I’ve finished the first draft.

That’s it for this month! Next month my update will include my high fantasy, another Malice update, what the character of Cashe are doing, and how my zombie novel characters are faring in their new world.    

If you’re curious to find out in more detail about the stories above, consider signing up for my newsletter HERE! Or, if you like, for $1 you can subscribe to my Patreon and read about everything from the state of mind of the characters and why they take the actions that they do, to snippets, to who knows what else! If these stories sound interesting to you, you can sign up HERE. Until next month!

The Green Side of Life: Alocasia, or Elephant Ear.

I bought this in the summer because of it’s interesting foliage. It’s just beautiful, but it wasn’t until I did some research on it that I realized it’s the same type of plant my grandmother had when I was a child, I just didn’t know it’s genus name. She didn’t have one like this. It’s leaves were a lighter green, and she had it attached to a pole.

This type of Elephant Ear plant is called Black Velvet and is the more popular because of it’s foliage (right!), and that it doesn’t grow very tall. It is known to have soft yellow flowers, but these are rare and not very showy. All varieties love a bright room, but out of direct sunlight. Because it’s a tropical, I need to keep the soil moist, but not wet, and have a high humidity around it, which is easily done by sitting it on a tray of pebbles or misting it. This is a slower growing plant that the others of it’s kind, and can take several years to mature, but never getting any larger than 18 inches or 1 ½ feet. Which is fine with me. You can find pictures of my plant HERE.

I’ll have to repot it in the spring with soil that is more appropriate. Black Velvet likes well drained soil and it’s suggested that I put it in a tropical mix of bark, sand, and loam mixed in with the soil, but after that, I can repot it every couple of years. Alocasia plants are grown from rhizomes, so it’s best to propagate when you replant.

You can find more information on the most popular varieties HERE.

A Wiccan Journey: All Wiccans are Pagans, but not all Pagans are Wiccans.

One of the first things I learned when I started following my path, is that there are many branches of Paganism, and many paths of Wicca. At first, I followed a Celtic path. Drawing on Gods and Goddess’ from Celtic lore. I felt that because of my ancestry (I have Scottish ancestors), this is the path I should be on, but as I put my readings into practise, I soon learned this method didn’t feel comfortable and I took a step back to listen to what my soul was trying to tell me. It had to be Pagan. I’ve never identified with Christian theology even though my maternal grandfather was an Anglican minister.

I stopped practicing for several months and wondered if I was ever going to find just what path I should be on. The worship of Gods and Goddesses is so prominent in all Pagan paths, that I began to feel as though I had to worship some sort of deity whether I wanted to or not. I tried again to call on the Gods, but it still felt so uncomfortable that I stopped practicing altogether. It didn’t help that there was stress in my life that I had to deal with, and this added to it.

I felt more comfortable worshiping the elements instead of deities. My altar doesn’t have statues of the Goddess and the Horned God, but rather items that represent them. I walk home at night and am conscious of the darkness around me. I grow plants in my apartment and call on their energy to help me. I utilize crystals and herbs for strength and health and am aware of the energies of the earth and living beings around me. After some research, I discovered that I’m not the only one who feels this way and soon found a path that I felt comfortable with. Then I read something, the phrase that is the title for this post, and researched several other paths. Ones that were more simple and didn’t require a constant acknowledgement to deities.

I have come to discover that I am a Hedge Witch. Everything I’ve read about it coincides with how I feel and what I’ve already been doing for years. I feel this path is more spiritually connected to me than any of the others. It’s not overly complicated and I don’t need all the tools that the other paths require. It’s simple, for lack of a better word and that’s what I love about it. Will I call upon the deities when I do spell work? I rarely cast spells for people to begin with, but when I do, I call to the Universe instead of a specific deity. This allows me to focus more on my intent instead of making sure I’m working with the right God or Goddess.

It’s renewed the excitement I first had learning my spiritual path, and with the way the world is today, we all need to find what makes our soul happy, even if it’s not what we, or others, think it should be.

The Green Side of Life: Snake Plant.

My husband wanted one of these for a very long time. He thinks they’re cool looking, and considering how easy they are to take care of, I wanted to get one too. The one we have is one of the more common. It is the variegated variety with tall, banded, stiff leaves with yellow edges. You can see pictures of it HERE.

What makes these plants so attractive, beyond their banded foliage, is the fact they tolerate low light and almost drought-like conditions. If you have a busy lifestyle, this plant don’t die if you forget to water it. I let ours to dry out a little, and have it back almost eight feet from the main window. It can survive in very low light, so it’s perfect for an office or any part of your home that has low light and needs something to brighten it up. Depending on the plant, it can grow anywhere from two feet to twelve feet, and is easy to propagate. While this is one of several perfect plants for beginners, it is toxic to animals and should be avoided if you have pets. You can learn more about it HERE.

Writing Update: November, 2023

Malice

My web series is coming along nicely and I have enough episodes to take me up to August of 2024. The majority of them are all first drafts, and close to 1,200 words, but that will increase in revisions. The plot for the next few months will be about the clan’s travel to The Quarantine Zone, and what they find. I have no idea what’s there—yet, but that priest was desperate so it can’t be good.

Cashe

I accomplished my 1k of new words on this story, as well as creating the personal history for Darina Locke, and her past relationship with the protagonist, Wheldon Rhyse. A lot of what drives her now is the result of what happened between them and I can’t wait to explore that part of the story. I’m thinking the showdown between these two will be very explosive.

Zombie Book 2

I did it. I killed off a character this month. Meh, he wasn’t that important. A one-off that was created to light a fire under Jolene’s ass. This was an easy write as the scene was already written (from the previous draft) and I just had to do some small edits to bring it in line with the rest of the plot. There’s some tension brewing between Jolene and another character, Captain Gabe Lister of the U.S military. She doesn’t trust him and he knows it. Whether or not he continues with the group past this novel is still unknown.

Ghost Book 2

I did some great word goals on this story and it’s slowly coming together. I’ve deleted all of the old story so I have nothing to revise or edit to fit into the new one, which is making it easy to work on. I’ve pulled that stunt before and was never happy with the results, and while it sets me back to write a brand new story, it’s always better in the long run.

Eva and Skye

I didn’t get a lot written on this story during it’s scheduled week simply because I had to work. It’s a slow process adding new scenes, and I have to re-read what I have, and contemplate whether or not a scene needs to be added. Each chapter has a different situation going on for the girls and while I’m trying to show both perspectives, I don’t want to put in a scene just for the sake of making sure each POV is represented.

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That’s it for this month! Next month my update will include my high fantasy, another Malice update, what the character of Cashe are doing, and how my zombie novel characters are faring in their new world.    

If you’re curious to find out in more detail about the stories above, consider signing up for my newsletter HERE! Or, if you like, for $1 you can subscribe to my Patreon and read about everything from the state of mind of the characters and why they take the actions that they do, to snippets, to who knows what else! If these stories sound interesting to you, you can sign up HERE.

Until next month!    

COVER ART REVEAL FOR DOWN FINNEGAN’S HOLLOW!

@darkeconteur

Finnegan’s Hollow Cover Reveal! #booktok #coverreveal #ghost #paranormalmysterystories

♬ original sound – Darke Conteur – Darke Conteur

Games Rule the World! Stardew Valley.

I’m changing this series up a bit. Starting today, it has a new name, but the same content.

I love city building and farm games. For me, they’re a nice way to unwind and relax after a stressful day, and a nice reward after I’ve completed a day of writing. Some of the medieval ones have great music too. I was hooked years ago when Maxis had a Sim Farm and it was great (FYI, you can still play that game online HERE), and it introduced me to the wonderful world of micro-managing games.

Stardew Valley is one of those games. It lets you grow crops,  raise livestock, fish, cook, mine, forage, socialize with the townsfolk, get married and have children. You can play with four other players online together but I’ve never done that. I like to putter around and just do my thing. Like most games, you have tasks to do for the town and mysteries to solve. Each season is one month long and there are special events that happen for each season.

When I first played this game it was limiting. You could only do so much; go so far, but in the last couple years the creator, Concerned Ape, has created some wonderful content for the game, and if you saw my repost on X then you know how excited I am for the new content that’s coming out. The best part is, it’s all FREE! There is NOTHING in this game that you have to purchase. Straight out of the box (so to speak) all the content is there. No DLC’s or upgrade purchases, and I think this is why it’s such a popular game. Check out this short video of my farm. You can find it HERE.

The same creator is working on a new game called The Haunted Chocolatier, which is said to be more exciting and eventful than Stardew Valley, and yeah, I’m going to buy that when it comes out.     

The Green Side of Life: Chinese Evergreen.

A new addition to my growing plant family, the Chinese Evergreen, also known as Aglaonema, is a wonderful shrubby plant that is very distinct with it’s eye-catching leaves. While it is considered a tropical plant that flowers, it doesn’t need as much light as other tropicals. I have mind behind other plants so it gets indirect light, the same as it would out in the wild. It will grow to be around three feet in height but it’s a slow growing plant so I don’t have to worry about it reaching it’s full potential in the near future. It also needs warmth, so where I have it is perfect. It will get the winter sun during the day, and the register is close by so it won’t freeze sitting so close to the window. It is toxic to animals but as I have no pets, we’re good.

The research I did suggest that this plant is more prone to certain diseases and insect than the other plants I have around it, so I’ll have to keep a close eye to make sure it doesn’t get infested. My biggest problem with house plants in the past were spider mites, but if I keep the air around them humid, I should be okay.

You can check out the pictures of my Chinese Evergreen HERE.

Writing Update: Sept 2023.

Autumn, autumn! It’s finally comfort food season! With the cooler weather here, I can write with the windows open and not worry about melting from the heat and humidity. I can sip on a hot beverages as I edit, and just overall enjoy my time writing.

I worked on four stories this month, running the gambit from fantasy to scifi, so let’s get started with the updates!

Eva and Skye.

Wonderful news! I have found a beta reader for this story who has given me some wonderful insights into the characters and the plot. I have the first six chapters revised and sent to her but that’s all I could do for now. I’m still working on giving the two leads very distinct voices and backgrounds and that’s taking longer than I expected. Especially for Skye. Adding in her additional scenes and making them relevant to the plot is challenging. Once all the edits and revisions are done, I will have a better idea of when I will release it.

Heir to the Alchemist.

Not much was written on this WIP because of work, but I did get a few thousand words down, so that’s not too bad. I think part of the problem is that I’m at an awkward part. It’s sort of a lull in the story. It’s boring, and I think that’s why I’m having a hard time being excited about it, but once it’s done I can get right back into the fun adventure part of it again.

Malice.

Another episode is all set to go live on Patreon, and it’s FREE! Right now it’s still at the beginning of the second adventure. The Malice clan hasn’t started off for the Quarantine Zone and there are some suspicious things going on. I’m also close to the end of what I had in script form, so starting around the new year it’ll be all new words instead of revisions on the old stuff. It the very first draft (in novel form) I wrote up to where they arrive at the monastery in the Quarantine Zone and are about to return. That’s where the fun begins. The vamps know they’re there and aren’t impressed that the thing they want the most is about to be taken away from them. If you’re curious you can read it how Aaron’s first mission with the Malice clan went, click HERE, or continue the story HERE.

Cashe.

This is my only scifi story, and it’s coming along nicely. I posted the first chapter on my Patreon but it isn’t free. Sorry. I love the feel of this story. Very grunge/dystopian. Kind of like the remake of Total Recall with Colin Farrell. Federal Agents are a part of the investigation now because the crime was committed with federal property, and my main character, Darina, needs to solve this case to survive, in more ways than one.

If you’re curious to find out in more detail about the stories above, consider signing up for my newsletter! Because I have so many stories that I’m working on, I dedicated each month to a story and go into more detail about that novel. Everything from the state of mind of the characters and why they take the actions that they do, to snippets, to who knows what. If these stories sound interesting to you, you can sign up HERE.

Until next month!