I've been thinking about getting a tattoo.

That may seem like a strange opening sentence, considering my five-and-a-half year absence from GA, but I guess it'll do. I can always go back and edit it later.

Anyway, back to the tattoo. I've been tossing around the idea of getting a tattoo down my right forearm (my writing hand), with the first line of the very first story that I ever attempted to write on GA. I won't bore you with the details, as I doubt any of you will remember it, but I do like the idea of having a little in-joke tattooed in plain sight. Who knows, maybe I'll even meet my future husband when he walks up to me in the street and asks, "Why do you have 'It all started with a potato' tattooed on your forearm?"

Then I'll be able to tell them all about my mad writing skillz and how I used to write stories for public consumption and oh-my-god-marry-me-you-amazing-attentive-man.

Anyway, enough of that.

You're probably wondering what I've been up to for the past five-and-a-half years. The answer is: A LOT. Won't bore you with all the details, but here's a pretty reasonable snapshot:

- Put a deposit on my first house, then withdrew the offer two days later and bought a one-way ticket to London instead.
- Lived in London for two years. Worked as a barman for a while, then got sick of that and worked as a tax consultant instead.
- Did the tourist thing. Visited Dubai, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, and Spain.
- Went to Toronto for Christmas, twice. Flew from London to Toronto to surprise my best friend the first time, slept on her couch for two months the second time. Fell in love with Tim Horton's.
- Spent a couple of weeks in the States in early 2016. Did the gay pilgrimage to San Francisco, then caught the Amtrak from SF to New York. Spent time in Chicago, DC, and Boston, along the way.

I also marched in my first pride parade in London, which was pretty cool. Almost as cool as the time my live-in landlord terminated my lease because I had a boyfriend (not even joking).

And finally, I did a whole lot of writing. Hours and hours and hours of writing. In coffee shops, in bars, in airports, in aeroplanes, on trains... you name it, I probably wrote in it.

I also joined a writers group in London, and met some of the most insanely talented people on this earth. Critiqued a lot of work, did some public readings of my own, and made some lifelong friends along the way.

...which brings me to what I'm working on. I'm probably sitting on 120,000 words' worth of material right now, all in varying stages of completion. Some of it good, some of it great, some of it absolutely rubbish. Most of you probably won't care, but for the 1.15 of you that do, here's a brief rundown of my two major projects:

Project 1: Novel-length, coming-of-age, approx 60,000 words in.

Teenage protagonist makes a stupid mistake that almost kills his younger brother, and leads to the breakdown of his best friendship and the separation of his parents. With his closest relationships now in tatters, protagonist begins exploring friendships with two intriguing new characters, one of whom is harboring a dark secret.

Project 2: Novel-length, suspense/thriller, bit dystopian, approx 50,000 words in.

Twenty-something protagonist gets caught up in a biological terror attack on the Tube. Thousands die on the spot, and thousands more fall terminally ill in the aftermath, including our protagonist. Protagonist subsequently learns of an underground casino operating out of a disused Tube station, where the alleged prize on offer is a cure to his disease. We follow the protagonist as he tries to hide his illness and his participation in this dangerous underground casino from his friends and family, while he effectively plays for his life one poker hand at a time.

I might eventually get around to posting project 1, as it involves a gay protagonist. Project 2 is way too hetero for this environment, though.

Anyway, that's enough for my opening blog. Once you've finished rejoicing in the fact that I'm still alive (or simply wondering who the fuck I am), feel free to leave a comment and say hi. Give me some reading recommendations, as well. I've no idea what's good around these parts nowadays.

Later.