Checking In 67: 06.22.2023

So, apparently I’m averaging 9 weeks between posts now… yeah. This one is going to be short because I need to get to editing, but I’m doing it!

New Steps

I am deep in revisions for Forge and Vine, and the struggle is real. When you get into a flow state, it’s great. Things roll out. You make progress. I usually do pretty good during drafting, but this whole editing thing is not the same. It often feels like it has to be pulled out inch by inch and splinter by splinter. I seem to discover more that needs to be done every time I sit down with it. I am a little frustrated and into the part of it that feels like I’m working backward. But I am trying to plug away a little at a time. In fact, right before I started writing this, I was plugging away on it a bit. Not for very long, but for a bit. Little by little.

In a few weeks I’ll be in Louisville, KY at the Imaginarium Convention. I’m getting really excited about it. It is my first big convention, and it should be a great time. I’m looking forward to networking with other authors and hopefully getting some knowledge at the same time.

The Breakdown

It helps me to watch others struggle when I’m struggling myself… is that normal? Does that make me a sadist a little? Maybe, but I feel like a lot of people feel this way, and honestly it helps to know you aren’t the only one. I have been watching a lot of other writers’ YouTube channels just to feel like I’m part of the club. Honestly, there is such a mystique to the idea of a writer. The idea of what happens and how it happens and when it happens. But it’s all bunk. It is hard. All of it. The actual process is the furthest thing from glamourous, but it is necessary.

Living Life

I’m entering another phase of wanting to really work on eating healthier and moving my body. So, I’ve been focusing as much as possible on that while also trying to focus on my writing… it hasn’t’ been going well. I’m still liking the Lifesum app, so that is something. The experts say not to overwhelm yourself with a ton of changes and to just focus on one thing at a time, but that doesn’t work in the real world. The entire world does not stop and become perfect, so I can focus my energy solely on my one big goal for the month. I need to do well at work while plugging away at my writing and doing all the adulting stuff amid trying to change habits to promote all the health and wellness stuff. Besides that, even if you do successfully change the one big thing, it ultimately affects everything else, so it turns your entire life upside down, no matter how slowly you creep.

Also, we got a cat. Her name is Zoey. She is sweet and lovey and eats like she’s starving to death every time we feed her, so we have to measure how much food we put down so she doesn’t overeat.

Disclaimer: I wrote the first paragraph draft of this almost two weeks ago, got interrupted and never got back to finish this… so… yeah. I haven’t made much more progress on my writing since I wrote this. In fact, I haven’t even sat down to work at all. But, I’m in the chair today. So, go me.

Until next time, stay safe, be happy and read, read, read.

As always, thanks for checking out the site, and I hope everyone is doing well. If you feel so inclined, check out my social media and if you wouldn’t mind like/follow/subscribe and any other verb they use.