Having deleted the previous two, this marks my third attempt to write this post, not counting the number of times I've wiped paragraphs or the whole page clean. As a writer, it's easy to find a theme and put a story into the perspective of the main character. Real life? Not so much. How does one describe the past year or two years or recent handful? Challenging? Depressing? Mind-boggling? Chaotic? Insane???
Dear Reader,
The holidays are here again. I titled this post with "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" for reasons that you'll understand below. However, in case I'm not available later, I want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas (and Happy New Year and Got MLK?).
Dear Reader,
By the time this blog post reaches you, the calendar will have turned another page, and it will be October. And so it begins... the thing that has infiltrated our lives. It's everywhere, and you won't escape it. By now, most everyone has already chosen sides in a highly controversial topic. You either love it or hate it. You know what I'm talking about.
Pumpkin Spice vs The World.
I have been on the outs with my writing as of late. It was going really, really great. Really. I was on about Chapter 20 of the edits and re-calibrating my trajectory as I edited my way through. There were some major plot changes, but it was still going pretty well, and I felt that what I had so far was SOLID. Like, granite solid. I was pretty certain that any other changes to those chapters would be very minor. I could see the checkered flag waving in the distance. But then, something happened in the real world. Something that sent my writing into an out-of-control spin, hurtling through the air with the grace of a broken toilet seat.
Warning: Here thar be spoilers! Arg!
In addition to a few others, I watched the movie Midsommar this weekend. It has been on my list for a while, and it's one of those movies that you can't really get a feel for by watching the trailer. I was interested in the concept of the midsummer festival and how they were going to use that material in a horror movie. I really had no idea what to expect.
First, I finally finished the EverMerge Gnome challenge, so here is my "Duck Duck Gnome"! I felt that the Gnome challenge was very fitting since I'm still writing the Gnome Sweet Gnome series. I realize that not everyone will be impressed. 😸
It has been a strange time since I published my last book. There has been every type of distraction you can think of (a pandemic, for Pete's sake!), and I'm an easily distractible person. I had a lot of things tripping me up about the current work in progress, but I finally determined that I want it finished! Don't get me wrong. I'm actually really enjoying the writing at this point. My brain is really happy with the task and living in this other world. I mean, of course, we could ALL use a vacation from the real world right now, right? So this is the best possible scenario at this point!
If you have read my earlier posts, you know that I've been organizing my office. It was also part of a huge effort to reclaim my creative space from work, which takes up far too much mental real estate, for health benefits, to take back control of my life and space, and to get back to doing what I love.
Recently, Erin Condren ran a sale on their website, and I was able to use a first-time user coupon. I'd been admiring the gold and acrylic stapler for a long time, so I got it at a really nice discount, even with having to pay shipping.
When I got the order, it came in a huge box for a stapler. This happens sometimes. I've gotten large boxes with nothing in them but a tiny bottle of essential oil, so I didn't think too much of it until I opened the box. I was surprised at what I found!
I covered in my last post, Life Update: Organizing, that when I bought my desk and drafting table a little over a year ago, it wasn't with the thought that I'd ever have to work from home. Working from home seemed like a good thing, but it's been an eye-opener just how much bringing home work impacts my attitude and health. That being said, I've been focusing on bringing the positive and a healthy attitude back and reclaiming my personal space.
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