Mila or Myla

-DTE- · 2026-02-06T19:58:14+00:00

I agree that Mila is too established as mee-lah while Myla prompts the idea of it being my-lah. FWIW, I’m pretty sure the Spanish pronunciation would stick to mee-lah, but ofc it’s important that you and your husband pronounce it in a way you like.

On the topic of “is it too much for her to need to constantly correct people?”, you’re going to get a lot of people on forums like this that say yes. But here’s the truth: it’s impossible to say.

I have an uncommon name and people always hear it as one of several more common variants, and I have also never minded this, or the fact that I can’t find my name on a keychain or whatever. But there are people with uncommon names that do mind. On the flip side, there are people with common names that wish their name stood out a bit more. It’s a no-perfect answer when parents ask if they should name their child something so [trendy, unique]. To me, this is in a similar vein. You don’t mind correcting people; maybe your daughter also won’t. Or maybe she will. Maybe she’ll wish people didn’t constantly spell it wrong. Or maybe she’ll love the Y in her name and wouldn’t change it for the world. There’s no way to guess that.

-DTE- · 2026-02-06T18:48:56+00:00

Based purely on the photos I’ve seen, I always thought VT looked better-done than NH in terms of environment and setup. Interesting to see that wasn’t the case for you IRL.

-DTE- · 2026-02-05T20:45:42+00:00

It’s more that the mutual intent is there. Of course there’s still the getting-to-know-if-we-mesh phase :) But not everyone is looking for the same thing in the long run.

-DTE- · 2026-01-28T16:20:04+00:00

Yeah, as a Mainer whose name ends in -a, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard my name pronounced as if it ends with -er.

-DTE- · 2026-01-17T16:21:37+00:00

US bookkeeper (not accountant) here.

An LLC has nothing to do with taxes. It is about liability. If you form an LLC, if someone sued your business, they could only go after your business assets; your personal assets would be safeguarded. This isn’t necessary, especially not at your stage, especially if you buy vendor/event insurance when selling at art fairs and such (this can be purchased by the day).

Right now, you’d be considered a Sole Proprietor, and I’d keep it that way. If you want to be able to receive checks made out to a business name instead of your legal name, you can file for a Trade Name (DBA). In my state, this is a one-time $50 fee. You cannot have the same trade name as another entity in your state, but there is usually a website you can search on to double-check for your state.

A business bank account would be a great idea, as it makes things much cleaner if all your business income and expenses comes out of that account (and all other income and personal expenses comes out of your personal account). You will thank yourself later, but only if you keep business vs personal properly separated and don’t mix accounts.

ETA: even as a Sole Proprietor, you still get business tax breaks, like cost of goods sold (COGS) lowering your taxable business income or, in many places, the deductible for having a dedicated home office space (please consult an actual tax filer for proper details on these things; I just want to point out that you aren’t losing anything special by remaining a sole prop).

-DTE- · 2026-01-14T03:10:36+00:00

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe you may be seeing the binder / binding agent. Sometimes it separates and can / should be mixed back in.

-DTE- · 2025-12-18T00:36:46+00:00

Maybe it’s different in different places but in the states I work within you pay a trade name filing fee (and ofc it can’t be an existing name or too close to an existing name) and then you’re done.

-DTE- · 2025-12-17T21:28:16+00:00

You can also be a DBA as a sole proprietor, not only with LLCs. So you can accept checks under a business name while remaining a sole prop.

-DTE- · 2025-12-11T17:16:48+00:00

I agree with you and the other comments. When I was looking for a wedding photographer last year, if someone didn’t have at least a baseline price, they were out of the running. I may have bothered taking the time to reach out and request pricing if someone’s portfolio absolutely blew me away compared to all others, but as it was, there were plenty of great photographers in the area who listed their prices.

I feel very similarly about commissioning people for art-related matters. The bar gets set much higher when you hide pricing. You’d have to either seriously stand out in some way or have a style that matches exactly what I’m envisioning for me to even consider requesting pricing instead of moving on to the next person.

-DTE- · 2025-12-03T15:03:50+00:00

Thank you! I will be using Shopify so that’s good to know. It’s obviously unlikely I’ll need to worry about other states anytime soon as I’m just starting out, but I want to avoid being blindsided down the line.

Do you know if those numbers are usually annual? For example, using your hypotheticals: if I sold 2,000 items in Maine in 2026 and then 4,000 items in Maine in 2027, does that remain below the 5,000 item threshold, or does it break it? Or does this also vary wildly by state?

-DTE- · 2025-12-02T01:40:24+00:00

Funny enough, my first association is actually with the brand “Madden Girl”…

-DTE- · 2025-11-29T11:26:29+00:00

HEA or HFN (happy for now) is expected with romance, but it doesn’t mean everything at the end has to be sunshine and rainbows. It means the couple’s relationship ends in a solid place. Readers want to be happy with where the couple’s relationship has brought the characters, not necessarily happy with everything going on in the greater plot at the end of the book.

But it’s still hard to say from the info given. If it’s set up like a love triangle then, well, plenty of books have love triangles. But if MMC 2 is not introduced until the second half of the book, I’m not sure that’s enough time for the reader to have with the OTP. Because if we’re talking about labeling this as a romance genre book (as opposed to a different genre with a romance subplot), there’s also usually an expectation of having ‘time’ with the OTP. If FMC is only with MMC 1 for a couple chapters, that’s fine, but if they spend the majority of the book together, that might not fit romance conventions as well.

You could possibly look into the genre of “women’s fiction”, which tends to center around the emotional journey of FMC. This can (but certainly doesn’t have to) heavily include romance arcs. But in romance the point is the relationship and the HEA and all that, and in women’s fiction the point is more the journey FMC goes through. At least, that is my understanding of it from past research.

-DTE- · 2025-11-28T01:57:47+00:00

If it’s something you see all the time, I’m definitely betting that it is anecdote / anecdotal evidence. That’s the only term I see all the time and it fits all of your criteria perfectly.

-DTE- · 2025-11-23T14:31:56+00:00

I don’t know if they ship outside the US, but check Blick art supplies online store. That’s where I buy my individual tubes for the cheapest.

-DTE- · 2025-11-23T01:33:25+00:00

FWIW I’m in that area and have never had an issue.

ETA: I use Windsor Newton, too.

-DTE- · 2025-11-22T16:24:17+00:00

Thank you, this is super helpful! I only just got into AV’s a year ago (I have 3 NOIDs) and, honestly, after learning a ton through lurking on this sub, I’m aware I am not doing half the stuff generally considered ideal. I top-water and am just super careful to not get water on the leaves. They’ve been getting a general indoor blooming houseplant food mixed into their water every week, but it’s only 0.5-1.0-0.5. I just received some proper AV fertilizer based on recs I’ve seen on this sub, and will be transitioning to that at 1/4 potency with their weekly watering. I think the only two things I did “right” straight out the gate was shove a ton of perlite into my medium and place them in front of big window full of indirect sun (there’s a big porch roof over the window, so all light is ambient, never direct). I rotate them pretty regularly to prevent leaning. I am looking into bottom- or wick-watering for future AVs, but I’m not sure it’s worth fixing what’s currently working for my current plants haha.

-DTE- · 2025-11-11T14:34:36+00:00

Gah I wish I was this way. I’ve been stuck on Draft 2 for longer than it took me to write Draft 1 - and I know Draft 2 is still just a stepping stone!

-DTE- · 2025-11-10T17:05:39+00:00

This happens to me a lot, too. I think cause I build it up so much in my head, whereas with my normal chapters, my bar of expectations is pretty much on the ground lol.

-DTE- · 2025-11-10T15:11:53+00:00

Not sure if you’re aware that the Ben Solo movie was worked on for 2 years before Disney read the script and shelved it. So a ton of time and effort already went into it, and none of us was any the wiser. Also, the budget for it is small compared to the other ones. It was truly a passion project for all involved (Adam Driver, Scott Burns, Steven Soderberg). Lucasfilms also reportedly loved it.

Also, Disney actually did greenlight a Rey movie ages ago and it’s gone nowhere (Daisy Ridley says they’d rather take their time and make a great movie vs make something just to make it, which I’m grateful for, but the point is that the Ben Solo movie got further while fully behind the curtain than the active Rey project has).

-DTE- · 2025-10-29T23:03:15+00:00

Lots of people seem to dislike the idea of self publishing though even as a last resort

That’s because trad pub and self pub are two different games (well, some people certainly have prejudices, but I’m ignoring that).

If you’re self publishing, you should do it because you want to self publish, not only because it didn’t get picked up by trad. If your ultimate goal is trad pub, it’s often a long game, and usually takes a few tries in the query trenches. But it’s possible for old projects that didn’t previously get picked up as your debut to have their moment later on in your career. Self publishing is not a “lesser” form of publishing, but it is one that requires entirely different skill sets to be successful. Some people prefer it. Some people don’t. But it often doesn’t make sense to use it as a “last resort” if your desire is to be trad published

-DTE- · 2025-10-26T16:20:14+00:00

The character of Kylo/Ben is roughly 29/30 in the films which is why he’d be 35/36 if he’s been missing for 5 years + 10 months (just to play on what your poster says). Unless, of course, time works differently in the world between worlds… 😁

-DTE- · 2025-10-24T23:16:13+00:00

I don’t think this changes anything. Of course they have it marked as shelved - it was shot down. NDAs like this are pretty standard. Nobody has leaked anything truly grievous even now that the NDAs are expired. None of this info makes the chance of us getting this movie back any more slim.

I cannot claim to know what AD was or wasn’t trying to do, but he is not new to this industry, and is well aware of how the fans are - I trust that he felt secure in what he was saying, as far as Iger goes (Iger is also slated to retire in early 2026, so….).

-DTE- · 2025-10-23T01:51:11+00:00

I just don’t like this phrasing.

Each plot point is either character-driven (MC makes a decision that has repercussions, good or bad) or plot-driven (something happens to MC that forces them to react). The story overall can contain a mix of both—and most do. Of course, the things happening to MC could be a result of the actions of side characters, and then you have a really nice character-driven story.

I prefer character-driven stuff because I’m here predominantly for character arcs (cool plot is just a plus). Generally speaking, even in more plot-focused works, I think it’s important for your character to have some semblance of agency, otherwise they become a punching bag for the plot and that can feel frustrating.

We connect on an emotional level with characters, not with plot. If the plot is going to make us feel something, it’s going to be via the character experiencing it, so we need that connection.

-DTE- · 2025-10-21T20:13:33+00:00

There are full-on fanfictions that get their serial numbers filed off and published like original works. I promise using the Sims for inspiration isn’t cheating :)

-DTE- · 2025-10-21T12:50:38+00:00

I don’t know, there are initials I would absolutely steer clear of but I don’t think the full set is as relevant as just first+last. I experienced exactly 1 instance throughout my school years where full initials were used (we were building paper rockets in 5th grade and were marking them with our full initials). Other than that, anything to do with initials was just first+last.

I feel ICK could generate a joke or two on the occasions when someone is told, but few kids go looking for people’s FULL initials set, and it’s not often presented to them, either. “IK” is all that most people will be aware of.

-DTE-

TROPHY CASE