I got a new hat

My workplace just got some new hats delivered and I got one for free! Absolutely amazing and fits perfectly. Snapback, no mesh, simple design... I'd forgotten how much I love a good hat. And with all honesty, I'd forgotten how much I love wearing a hat backwards! It was amazing to put it on and just... the way it brought everything together was really neat. It completely changed my aesthetic from, like, "Huh that dude's wierd" to "Oh cool, he's that way."

Perhaps this requires some explaining. You see, I work at a forge, which means I wear work boots. I also don't carry around sneakers, which means I wear work boots and shorts (after I'm done with work, I mean). This is an odd combination for almost anybody, especially considering that I prefer short-ish shorts (nothing crazy, just nothing below the knees). However, with a backwards hat, it suddenly becomes a style instead of "What is that guy wearing?"

Which feels nice.

Aside from that...

I'm going to start writing more! I'll drop a chapter twice a week on a project. The first one will be next Friday. Honestly, I just miss writing and I'm going to start making a habit out of it again. We'll see how it goes, but I hope to push through those first five "trash books" and start writing stuff that I'm really proud of. Of course, I'm proud of some of the stuff I write, but a lot of it is just... meh. Not amazing. That'll change with practice, though!

In that vein, I thought I'd list some of my favorite authors! These are people I love to read and respect for their writing skills (among other things, sometimes). This is fun for me and might give you some new books to read! (Remember that whole self-improvement thingy? Well, consider this part of that if you want!)

Brandon Sanderson

One of my favorite authors of all time. I love ALL of his work and I really respect the effort he puts in to the worlds and characters. His works include the Mistborn trilogy, The Stormlight Archives, Warbreaker, Tress of the Emerald Sea, the Skyward trilogy (and I think another trilogy in that world maybe?), and then a bunch of other ones I can't remember right now. In other words, he's written around a metric ton in terms of chapter count.

Sanderson's magic systems are what everyone loves (me included). They're original, interesting, and creative in a way that only Sanderson can be. Overall, I highly recommend all of his books to anyone who asks me and quite a few who don't.

Tamsyn Muir

Tamsyn Muir wrote The Locked Tomb series. I've talked about this one before. It's an AMAZING series and I am desperately waiting for the next book. Somebody wrote on Reddit that they had a prophetic dream that it would arrive on September 30th and I put that down in my calendar. Fingers are crossed.

If you read Muir, you can expect characters that wrench you in by your gut tubes and a world that is as confusing as it is desolate. The magic system is... still unclear to me, and I'm pretty sure that's an intentional choice on Muir's part. Overall, I recommend this to friends who I know will enjoy it or at least appreciate it.

JRR Tolkien

Haha, you thought I would go without mentioning the

GREATEST AUTHOR OF ALL TIME?

Of course Tolkien gets a spot! Overall, his books are too flowery for many and too poetic for some, but I find that most people who are true fans of fantasy have at least seen the movies. To be honest, the movies are such good adaptations that they can serve as a suitable "good enough" metric. At least, they can for me. Some people are sticklers for that sort of thing.

If you are unfamiliar with Tolkien's works, he wrote three primary works in Middle-Earth, which is usually considered his greatest and certainly his most popular world. These are The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. The first is remarkably similar to modern "cozy fantasy" for something written before fantasy was even really established as a genre. The Lord of the Rings is, of course, what established that genre in all its glory. The Silmarillion is a sort of bible for the other books, and all of Middle-Earth, really. It contains the origin story of the world and also a good many tales of valor and greatness and also a lot of the sad stuff that is hinted at in The Lord of the Rings. Sauron's origin story is in there, if you're curious about the Dark Lord. Regardless, Tolkein is the granddaddy of all modern fantasy, with his elves and dwarves and goblins and dragons and whatnot. He's certainly the granddaddy of DnD.

Travis Baldree

Here's where we hit somebody I haven't really talked about before. Baldree wrote Legends and Lattes, which is a VERY cozy fantasy series. I absolutely ADORE the first book (Legends and Lattes) and I loved the prequel (Bookshops and Bonedust.) And now I can officially insert a squeal of excitement because guess what?

THERE'S A THIRD BOOK!?

Oh, what's that? You thought we reserved the big text for big names? Oh, please.

Regardless, I am now EXCITED in a way that usually requires coffee, followed by donuts, followed by soda, followed by Netflix. I am VERY EXCITED.

Having taken a bit of a break, I can come back to this and actually write without chuckling in glee. It appears that while I have been off galivanting with Responsibility & Co., Travis Baldree has released a third book! The first one is, again, as I said above, absolutely amazing. Cozy fantasy is defined as low-stakes, often evocative of the feeling you get when people tell stories around a campfire.

(Note that having done this, I can confirm that telling stories around a campfire usually involves a lot more inhalation of smoke and crying of acrid tears than reading cozy fantasy does, but I digress.)

Legends and Lattes is basically "what happens after a monster-slayer settles down?" And it's a fantastic rendition. The characters are fun, easy to read, and relatively relaxed compared to the usual "if I don't do this the world perishes" that is everywhere in epic fantasy. Now, excuse me, I'm going to go check if my library has a copy, and then if my bank account can spare the difference.

oh my gosh there's a graphic novel too!!!

Other stuff

I think that's enough of my favorite authors. Honestly, I feel like I've said all of this before in some way or another. Time for something completely different! Let's do... my breakfast recipe!

Haha, if you've never pitied anybody, prepare yourself.

Put cooked chicken in a bowl. Put some beans on top. Shove it in the microwave for two minutes and thirty seconds. Eat it.

Hehe, that's what I call healthy!

Ugh, I'm out of time tooday. I wish I could write more, but I have a variety of other things to do, the most pressing of which is making lunch.

DO SOMETHING COOL TODAY! YOU DESERVE IT!

much love and peaceful wishes!