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Shanna Swendson

@shannaswendson.bsky.social

1.6K followers 430 following 5.1K posts

Novelist and nerd. Author of the Enchanted, Inc. series and a lot of other stuff. http://shannaswendson.com/

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · Oct 24

Since I've been gaining new followers and we can now pin posts, I think an introduction is in order. Hi, I'm Shanna, and I write various flavors of fantasy: contemporary humorous, portal, steampunk, paranormal mystery, and currently doing cottagecore cozy.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 7h

And I was starving because it turns out they do a full church service for a funeral. Methodist funerals tend to be pretty quick, but this went through the whole liturgy. Now watch me get my days mixed up because I'll think today was Sunday.

Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 7h

During the funeral, the grandkids talked a lot about how good the lady's chocolate chip cookies were, so I was craving cookies by the time I got home. Plus, I did a lot of walking. While I was out, I hit the bank and then did early voting for the state races.

Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 7h

I am grateful to my past self for making up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough and putting it in the fridge this morning so that when I came back from the funeral, I just had to scoop some onto a pan and put it in the oven while I changed clothes, then I had hot cookies.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 12h

One nice thing about this church is that the choir loft is the balcony at the rear of the church, so the singers aren't visible to the congregation and I don't have to worry about how I'm dressed.

Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 12h

Today's is just singing hymns to support the congregational singing, not doing an ensemble or solo. I never met the person whose funeral it is, but she was in her 90s and was apparently much beloved in the community, so she seems to have had a long, good life.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 12h

Today I'm getting back into my old "hobby" of singing for funerals. Really, it's more community service, as I don't do it for fun (other than in the sense that I enjoy singing). But when you're in choir and have a flexible schedule, they sometimes need singers for funeral services.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 14h

I woke this morning overflowing with ideas for the book I'm replotting. I had to run for a notebook to write everything down before I forgot them. And they were actually good ideas, not the kind of ideas that seem brilliant until you wake fully and write them down, and then they make no sense.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 1d

I ended up staying home because I was starving at 5 and the spaghetti supper didn't start until 6. I made mac and cheese, throwing in some broccoli and ham to make it more of a meal.

Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 1d

I didn't plan anything for dinner tonight, but there's a spaghetti supper at church. Is getting dressed (and probably showered because I cut the lawn this afternoon) and going downtown less effort than cooking something?

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 1d

I'd forgotten that Stellan Starsgård was in this. His grand duke character had a similar voice/tone to Luthen in slightly smarmy shopkeeper mode when dealing with royals/the public, which I found highly amusing. Was he running a rebellion behind the scenes?

Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 1d

As I recall, the movie was pretty successful, both critically and commercially, so I wonder why they went from this to doing just about shot-by-shot remakes of the animated movies. I guess with the newer movies they went farther from the fairy tale, so there was less room to play.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 1d

There are some nods to the animated version, like the names of the stepfamily and the animals, but the characters are different, the story is structured somewhat differently, almost everything looks different, the only use of the original music is in the closing credits.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 1d

Last night, I rewatched the Kenneth Branagh Cinderella (one of my comfort movies). It's ironic that the movie that started the wave of live-action remakes of Disney animated classics wasn't actually a remake of the animated classic. It's an entirely different movie based on the same fairy tale.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 2d

I went through a phase of watching all the "farm" series, the Victorian Farm, Tudor Monastery Farm, Edwardian Farm, WWII Farm, etc., when I went through an overwhelmed time. It ended up being good book research material, but it was also soothing. I also love Tony Robinson's Walks series.

Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 2d

I have just completed a task which has been on my to-do list for literally two years. I think I deserve chocolate.

Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 2d

Then I decided to move halfway across the country, so in the past couple of years I've been spending a lot while income was down. Now the new "normal" has arrived. I need to be prudent, but I don't have to be building a fund. I can live a little.

Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 2d

I've been saving money for a house for about 10 years, since I started thinking of selling my condo and getting a house in the same neighborhood. That meant all my spare money went into the house fund and I wasn't buying stuff.

Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 2d

More thinking on this ... I was doing the budgeting now that the dust has mostly cleared from buying the house, moving, and getting set up and I have a better idea of what my expenses are going to look like in this place, and it's going to require a big mental shift.

Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 2d

If you don't have that kind of cash up front, then it's a lot more expensive to live. As it is, I'm feeling a lot better about my current income now. It's definitely not "wealth" income, but it more than covers my basic needs, with a little left over.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 2d

Not having a mortgage or rent means I can actually live pretty comfortably on not a lot of money. I do need to have pockets of money for maintenance, since this is an old house, but it's still not monthly rent. I'm trying to put "rent" money into savings for things like a new roof.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 2d

I was fortunate that I was able to buy a house pretty cheap decades ago during a real estate bust, pay off the mortgage early (thanks to a movie option), sell it when that became an expensive area, and then pay cash for a house in a less expensive area.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 2d

I was just doing some budgeting, and it seems that the Vimes Boot theory of economics (rich people actually spend less on boots because they can afford to buy a good pair up front than poor people who have to keep replacing cheap boots) also applies to housing.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 2d

At the moment, I'm getting dangerously close to developing a serious parasocial relationship with Lucy Worsley. I used to follow her on FB and I got the impression we'd get along very well. She's my TV history BFF, and watching her stuff is like hanging out with a friend.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 2d

I've watched some of them, but I mostly like them in conjunction with some other documentary on the same subject, since those take place in the present, and I want more context on the history part instead of just digging up stuff.

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Shanna Swendson @shannaswendson.bsky.social · 3d

Yes, that's one I've considered doing at least a part of, maybe not going all the way to the top, but at least some of the way up the coast.