Sleep has been evading me pretty hard since The Troubles started in Missoula, back in June. Here and there I get a day where it's all I want to do, or I manage to work myself hard enough that I can get a solid five hours or so, but it really is a bit of a nuisance.
I haven't had insomnia quite like this since I was a teenager--and then it wasn't so bad, because I had an early-morning seminary class to zip off to, anyway. Between the ages of 14 and 17, I averaged about 2-3 hours of sleep a night. I'm dealing with it now the way I dealt with it then: media gluttony.
I'm reading, viewing, and gaming at everything I've missed out on between Dayjob and having a social life. I watched the first two seasons of Green Arrow, along with The Roommate, in three days. It's not a record, by any means, but it's still...er, impressive, right?
I've been out and about and around, but haven't really made any friends here. I've roamed the streets for hours and hours. I've looked into activities and events for the hip youngsters in the area, and the closest thing I've been able to find involves a 20-minutes car-ride. Or, for those who sold their cars before moving, a 4.5-hour bus-ride.
I think I'm going to just have to get used to being lonely again, because it's making me all...snappy and crab-like. I know I've been taking it out on the friends who are still talking to me, and that sucks. That is a sucky thing to do. I kinda hate that.
So! Redirecting all of that energy!
Even though my computer freezes up entirely if I start laying out more than 40 wpm, writing is happening. Since deciding--along with Pestritto-on-Rye--to lay SIREN to one side for a minute (as I couldn't focus on revisions, so functional work had slowed to critical molasses levels), I've started work on a new, fun, tragedy-filled story.
It's set in the same world as SIREN, although in a different location, and several decades prior.
Two sisters are separated, and each cast into a world that goes completely against their natures--one is cast into a wild wood full of savage beasts and worse people. The other is carried off into a culture that despises her own.
Though they have no means of communicating, their stories remain connected through their common strengths as they adapt to their new worlds, while struggling not to forget who they are.
It's oodles of fun.
