Hey Friends,
It’s me, Onicia — writer, comedian, human enjoying all this beautiful snow.
I know. I know! How could an island gyal like me fix her fingers to type such a thing?! But, it’s true. I am enjoying the snow. My roommates and I went sledding and have had a handful of snowball fights after we clock out from work. Have y’all heard Under This Parka by Jamie Shriner and PJ Walker? Issa bop!
In my personal life, the year has been off to a great start. So far, I’ve kept my resolution to not binge media. (Oops, I listened to 1.5 episodes of my fave podcast today. Does that count as a binge? Naaaah. Right??)
I applied for the Chicago DCASE grant. If accepted, I plan to use the money to shoot a proof of concept short for Rest in Piss, Devin Damuels. Will know in April if I got it.
Sadly (but not too sadly), my application for Next Narrative Africa Fund was rejected. Here’s a life hack: keep shooting your shot (i.e. apply to all the things) that way when rejection comes you have something else to look forward too.
The new job is going well. Self-employment is fun but nothing beats getting paid to take naps. Shout out to all the W-2 employees.
Next Saturday, I will be presenting a workshop titled, “Using Humor in Crime Fiction” to the members of Sisters in Crime—a Chicagoland based writers group for crime fiction authors. I’ll be doing an updated version of my comedy workshop Spit Takes and Bloopers. This version will feature comedy examples from crime and thriller novels.
Would you like 1-on-1 writing coaching or for me to present on how to add humor to fiction writing, shoot me an email.
Speaking of the genre, this month I read “Conviction” by Denise Mina. Ooh, it was so good. It’s not a resolution, but I guess it would be cool to read a few nonfiction books this year.
I signed up to be an election judge a gain. I hope I am placed at a polling station near my home. More importantly, I hope America ain’t on no bullshit and we vote with some sense. More more importantly I hope ICE slips on more ice and Brown and Black people are allowed to vote in peace.
This year I want to put at least 50% of my pay check towards student loans. To do that, I need to buckle down and continue my frugal jerk ways. I will be leaning on my fave deinfluencers.
That’s all I have to say today. What cool things did you do this month? See you in a few weeks!