Author Journey (January 20, 2025)

Author Journey 2025 01 20 The Otaku Author

It’s been five weeks since my last Author Journey since I took a break to focus on the 30 Days of Anime. That means I should have a lot to discuss, but I’ve got nothing… thanks for reading…

Author Journey (January 20, 2025)

What happened?

In theory, I took a month off for the holidays where I could relax and enjoy myself. Maybe, catch up on some anime and manga. The reality was quite different. I did have some time to spend with family over the holidays, but resting and relaxing was not something that happened. In fact, I haven’t watched an episode of anime since December 15, 2024… I got through the pandemic thanks to forcing myself to watch an episode a day regardless of how tired I was which should give you an idea of how things went recently. Basically, it was a lot of real-life family events and that has left me exhausted. Amazingly, I managed to keep up with the 30 Days of Anime which I was able to fit in around my busy life. Hopefully, that will start to settle down soon, but there are no guarantees just yet… as if there ever are!

Chained Soldier Episode 3 Kyouka relaxed

How is it going?

1. Health

I’ve actually taken more time off work to focus on the family so that has alleviated some of the pressure. It should give me more time to work on making sure everyone is getting better meals, more sleep, and the house is cleaner. That’s right, the house-MANager is back. The main metric that I’m tracking for health is my daily distance walking/running. Last year, I averaged 7.6 km a day. At the moment, I’m at 7.8 km for 2025 so a slight increase, although the last week was 8.4 km so I’m trending in the right direction.

2. Writing

I started writing this week and managed to squeeze in a couple of short sprints. I’m only at 717 words so there’s a long way to go before the first draft is finished. If I can keep doing a writing sprint here and there while things are at their most hectic, I should be able to build on that when things calm down. I’m estimating that the first draft should be around 80 thousand words, so I’ve got a way to go, but it’s all progress.

3. Art

I’ve not done any drawings yet, but I think I will see that change this week. I had been playing around with my iPad and drawing with an Apple Pen, but I think things are going to be quicker if I go back to using a pencil for the first drafts. It’s far more familiar to me and I can always upload them later to do the inking digitally.

Chillin in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers Episode 4 Balirossa concerned she threatened the Dark Lord

4. Watching

As I stated earlier in the post, I haven’t seen anything in far too long. Like the drawing, I’m hoping that this week will see the end of that drought. This is easily the longest that I’ve gone without watching any anime in ten years.

5. Reading

I have done some reading which is good because I may have bought myself more books over the holidays and my to-be-read pile has grown again. I read volume nine of Solo Leveling, volume one of Gunbured x Sisters, and volume sixteen of Parallel Paradise. Given the anime situation at the moment and the fact that I’d like to have more posts ready before I start reviewing a series, I’m going to focus on manga for the next couple of weeks while I get things in order elsewhere.

6. Blogging

Today is the twentieth day of 2025 and this is my twentieth post of 2025 so I’m exactly where I had hoped to be. I have a couple of posts scheduled for this week and will be looking to write up at least another seven. If I can get more in then great as I’d love to rebuild my buffer of scheduled posts. That’s one of the reasons I’m holding off on posting any anime reviews too. They will be back soon though, so worry not.

Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 8 Gojou chill

What are you planning?

In the coming week, I have four new manga series starting which is pretty exciting. I mentioned Gunbured x Sisters earlier in the post and that is indeed one of the four. Another is a series that I have seen the anime for. One series has an anime currently airing and the final series is one that I have never heard of but thought looked cool. On top of that, I’m going to keep chipping away at my word count for the first draft of my novel. I’m going to start with some simple character sketches for my drawing. And finally, I hope to start running again which will also coincide with being able to watch anime. That said, there are still a lot of things to organise at home, but the more I deal with the easier it will become… I hope!

So, there’s been some progress on my goals even though I only finalised them two days ago and I know where I need to put my focus to get the outstanding goals moving. As I said, in my Goals for 2025 post, I’ve kept things simple and achievable. I’m not going to rush things and create more stress than I need to. This year, I want to keep things as chilled as possible. Thanks for reading!


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