I know. I know.

    I redesign the blog, throw a few new posts at you, and then go off and disappear again, leaving you dangling (that is, if anybody out there is actually reading this). I know. And I'm sorry about that. To make a long story short (and put an end to whatever conspiracy theories my two or three readers might have come up with in my absence): No, I was not taken by the aliens. No, I was not told to cease and desist by strange-looking men in black suits who approached me in the middle of the night on a deserted highway and then disappeared. No, I was not eaten by a megashark or turned into a werewolf (I imagine using a keyboard with huge clawed paws would be pretty difficult, though). Here's my explanation for why I've been away so long, told vaguely enough to delight the most covert of government cover-up operatives. 
    For a while, this blog and some of my other online activities kind of fell by the wayside as I tried to focus on my potential writing career--in addition to paranoia-drenched blog posts, I also write all kinds of science, horror, and fantasy fiction (tending to jump from unfinished novel to unfinished novel, so hey, you guys aren't the only ones being left in the lurch) as well as massive amounts of poetry, not all of it about aliens, Bigfoot, and the like, and I've been sending out huge chunks of my writing at a time trying to get published SOMEWHERE, and while it's been slow going with not much results to speak of, it's still taken up most of my concentration and internet time. Compounding the issue has been that for a while, due to circumstances beyond my control, my less-than-regular internet access has been less-than-less-than-regular, meaning that what time I have managed to get I've spent with poetry, typing stuff up, and going on twitter @asubtleaurora and crying about Dean Forester and Captain Canary, which takes more out of a girl than you can imagine, and not so much researching the cryptid of the week or any lately local weirdness (not that there's been much to speak of where I'm from, anyway). And no, my internet access has not been off and on because the WiFi in my mom's basement has been on the fritz lately; you might all be surprised to know that I don't even own a functioning computer and depend on the local library for access to the online world, and it's been harder for me to get here lately. 
    (Fun fact: This is the same local library that doesn't have any season of The X-Files past season one. I'm not saying government conspiracy, but I'm saying government conspiracy.)
    Plus, I've been feeling like crap lately due to several health issues; nothing fatal, but all long, drawn-on, several chronic, and most slamming me at once, and only now am I starting to even possibly get a handle on them, which requires a lot of guess-and-check and watching-and-waiting, which doesn't help much, either. And no, before anybody asks, as far as I know these problems are not the result of either alien or government genetic experimentation, although if I start to remember anything in a series of flashbacks and/or nightmares I'll be sure to let you all know. If they let me.
    But recently, despite all the crap going on that's kept me off this delightful site, I recently received a swift kick of inspiration that's gotten me back to my roots, all the strange and mysterious things I originally started writing about and, really, missed a whole lot, and I've been writing more in the cryptid/paranormal vein in my fiction and even gone back to a story I dropped a few years ago that looks promising, and that's kind of what's gotten me back here. As I get more seriously involved in trying to finish this story and planning out a crapton more, as well as working harder to get published, I figured that I could use the weird energy I'm currently riding along on and bring it back to this blog as well--maybe it'll actually help keep me on track for once, too. My best friend/best editor/future co-writer suggested that as I keep going with my monster/cryptid/paranormal stories I tie it all in with my blog: As I research each of my new books or stories, I could post about each topic up here as well, both sharing what if anything new I'm learning as well as getting my readers involved with my fictional side (be prepared: It gets pretty dark there. Bring a flashlight or two.) and keeping them up-to-date with what I'm up to when I'm not online. It'll still probably be off-and-on activity, at least until I get my own computer/WiFi, but I'm going to try to take my friend's advice and get more involved again, and maybe one day, when I have a better setup and I'm on the road to publishing, you may even see some short stories or excerpts from my books up here, or at least find out where to find them. That's a little while away for now, but I do promise to throw more than one post a year your way from now on, so keep your eye out for them, and until then, keep your eyes on the sky--after all, in both cases, you never know what you'll see.
    And sometimes, once they're done with you, you won't even remember.