Hey all, Sam here.
September was a crazy month. It didn’t feel like I had a lot going on, at least not until the last week, and looking back at everything to finish up this post it doesn’t feel like I accomplished all that much. That is a bit frustrating, honestly, but I should expect it at this point. The past couple of years have not been very productive or consistent for me when it comes to this blog…or reading….or writing.
Something needs to change, but I don’t know what, so I probably need to take some time to figure out a new path (hopefully a better path for myself) going forward. I have no idea what that is going to look like though, or how long it will take to implement it, so I guess for now I’ll just work on trying to do a little catch up for all the things I’ve let slip lately.
Anyway, let’s just go ahead and talk about what I read, wrote, blogged, and did in the month of September…even though we’re already a third of the way through October. This post should have been up a week ago.
Reading
It was a rather slow reading month this time around. I only managed to finish six books, but according to my Goodreads Reading Challenge, I’m like 13 books ahead of schedule, so I guess I’m not doing too bad for the year. I miss the years when I had already adjusted my reading goal one or two times by this point, but I have at least read 90 books so far in 2026 and some of those have been pretty hefty tomes.
Of the books I completed in September, four of them were NetGalley reads, so I’m going to try and get those reviews finished and posted soon.
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman narrated by Jeff Hays — 4 stars
Twig’s Traveling Tomes by Gryffin Murphy — 4 stars
Morfran, Dark Lord Reformed by S.B. West — 3.5 stars
Meet Cute Magic by Morgan Elizabeth — 4 stars
The Blue Moon Cafe & 24-Hour Occult Emporium by Lexie Sharabianlou — 4 stars
How to Juggle Ballads & Blades by Jess Galaxie — 4 stars
Writing
Let’s see….the Fall 2026 Write Brave Challenge runs September 15 thru October 15….and I have written basically nothing (and that’s at the time of typing this section up, which is unfortunately October 10). I guess I should have expected this. Every time I decide to do one of these writing challenges and I tell the people around me that my plan is to work on one of my writing projects for the duration of the writing challenge….of course that’s when everyone wants to plan and do all kinds of other things.
I should honestly probably be better about enforcing boundaries around writing time. I continually cave to go hang out with friends and play games or go for walks or share a meal or whatever activity is suggested. And then I end up drained and if I manage to open a notebook or pull up the doc on my computer, I just stare at the page, unable to add any words to the story that is continually plotting and somewhat drafting itself in my head.
I don’t know. I”m going to try to do PaWriCo again this year, and I’m probably going to sign up for November, December, and January. So far 2026 has absolutely NOT been the year of creativity and writing for me. But it would be nice to have something to show in my wrap-up at the end of the year, so hopefully the words will end up on the page for PaWriCo.
Blogging
I had wanted to have so many more posts up this month. I had like seven book review drafts half-prepared and I just didn’t find the time to get them finished and scheduled. So those are still in my drafts currently and I’m going to try and get last bits of them written so they can be posted finally. I really truly do need to get myself better organized and on top of things when it comes to the blog. I have so many books and board games I want to talk about, and since I still can’t manage to record myself talking about these things in a video format, the blog is all I have.
Fall 2026 Write Brave Challenge
October 2026 Spooky Fall Reading Challenge
Trips/Conventions
We didn’t get busy with trips and conventions until the end of September, and it all started with getting to work just one day of Cincinnati Comic Expo with my friend Sarah of Mousai Crafts. I definitely ended up buying a couple book sleeves from her (and basically commissioned her to make me a protective sleeve for my Freewrite as well). You should check out her shop.
After the long day at the convention center, we went back to our hotel to rest because the Ohio Renaissance Festival was planned for the next day. But, due to the number of photos I chose to share in this section of the recap, I’ll talk about the Ren Faire in a minute. First I want to talk about after the fun day of festival shenanigans, and that is that we drove up to the German Village area of Columbus, OH, and went to Schmidt’s Sausage Haus for a jumbo cream puff (which was absolutely delicious), and then we went to the Book Loft so I could pick up a signed copy of Happy Snacking, Don’t Die by Alexis Nikole Nelson (AKA BlackForager)…and a few other books, because I definitely can’t just buy one book while exploring a store with 32 rooms of books.
Okay, jumping back to our one day fun of the Ohio Renaissance Festival. It was Highland Weekend. We got to see old favorites like The Swordsmen, the Kamikaze Fireflies, and the Joust, but we were really there because Jacques Ze Whipper had a two-weekend appearance at ORF. It is why we decided to celebrate our five-year wedding anniversary a full month early.
Not shown in photos here is the absolute variety of delicious food and drink we enjoyed during the day. David also stocked up on beard and skin care products at Modern Viking Beard Co, and I added another corset from Damsel in this Dress to my collection.
It was an incredible day, and we had a great time, but there were so many shows and shops and food stalls that we did not get to, so it’s really sad that we only had one day to indulge in everything. But we are already talking about doing a full weekend Ren Faire excursion next year.
We ended our end of the month trip with a four night cabin trip in Hocking Hills. The cabin was a beautiful location that was only about a ten minute drive to some of our favorite hiking trails as well as town. It was a much needed break from our usual routine and surroundings. Every day we went for another hike: Ash Cave, Cedar Falls, Rock House, Conkles Hollow…and each was a wonderful experience of being surrounded by nature and getting lost in the sights and sounds and just feel of being away from everything.
Aside from the hiking, we spent our time making delicious food, sitting by the campfire, soaking in the hot tub, watching a few movies, and playing a few board games. I took a whole bunch of books with me, and only managed to finish one (and an audiobook while traveling), so it wasn’t a very productive reading trip, but that’s okay.
All right, well that’s all from me for today. Thanks so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.
