Merry Christmas 🎄

I hope you all have a wonderful, blissful, and full of love Christmas. This is my favorite time of the year because it reminds me of what truly matters and what my happiness relies on. 

And I just wanted to take a moment to thank every one of you, sincerely, for caring about this story I'm writing and the world I've built. I don't think I show enough how much it really means to me — because, ironically, even though I'm a writer, I've never been very good at expressing myself through words. But I'll try, and I apologize in advance for how corny it might sound but if now isn't the time for corniness, then I don't know when it is. 

Thank you. So, so very much. ♡ Numbers are, after all, just symbols on a screen, but they can hold so much meaning, and reading your comments, seeing your likes on the posts, and silent support mean the world to me. It means the world to the Rose because it gives me the tools to keep creating the story, stone by stone, column by column until, eventually, I can finish the grand cathedral. 

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I hope, from deep within my soul, that you have a wonderful time during this holiday season. That you can spend it with the ones you love, doing what you love, and making memories that'll always linger. 

I didn't make a progress report on Friday because I didn't have a single moment to sit down and write. I have family over until the 5th of January, and my days have been full of seeing faces and hearing voices I've missed terribly. Feels good to finally hug them, however. It feels amazing. 

I haven't been completely idle, though! What time I can squeeze, I spend it the Rose (usually in the early morning because, unlike most of my family, I'm an early bird 😄). Chapter One is coming along!!!!! I've finished the code for the stats page and the relationship page, and I started porting the text from the Word document to Choicescript. I'm editing as I go along — making slight changes, small improvements, and making sure everything flows as it should. 

It's actually fun 😋 I think I needed a break from pure writing. This is less... creative work and more technical, and it's allowing my brain to recharge. I scribbled some lines of chapter two in my notebook, though, so part of me is eager to move on too. xD

The goal for next week is but a simple promise: I'll rise early and keep coding. 

It's raining, the gentle pitter-patter of rain is making melodies against my windows, and the air smells faintly of caramelized sugar. My house is full and messy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

All the best to you and yours. Have a week filled with only the finest things life has to offer. ♡