I’m approaching the halfway point of my novel. By the end of March, this little book baby that I have been living with for almost two years will be here. Then, it will be time for edits, querying, and all of the things that come next. It’s daunting and exciting, and I feel wholly unqualified….
Picking back up: The toxicity of social media
I paused social media for a while. Most of you likely didn’t notice. Here’s the thing: I didn’t wake up one day and say, “I have to stop posting.” But there are moments when your body and your family and mental health take over. I’ve inadvertently done a lot of soul searching regarding social media….
Putting down things that aren’t mine to carry
I’m here to admit that I don’t know what I’m supposed to be in the eyes of the world. No matter how hard I work or how much I give it is never going to be right. I’m also here to say that I’m working every single day to not care about that anymore.
To Completion
I turned up a crazy amount of work, most of which I’d forgotten and abandoned. Some of it with good reason. Some of it deserves some attention.
Writing process transparency: My writing is garbage and also this is magnificent
I’m working on a novel. “Oh, your first novel!” No. Technically, this is my 3rd novel. I’ve written two previously, both of which were left to die an unceremonious death, stuff in a 3-ring binder, never to see the light of day again. This one, though, I have thought through. I love the characters. I…
I don’t set goals anymore.
A lot of times I start projects and set some goals and they evolve into completely different things. Then the goals dissolve. The feelings of failure set in. I am left wondering if I’m derailed or frustrated.
When it feels like failure
I’m really good at telling other people to give themselves grace. I’ve done so many things that mean so much more than a clean kitchen does. I know that. I understand that. There is a moment, though, where I’ve done a thousand things, but the one thing I ignored just stares me in the face and reminds me that I do not, in fact, have it together.
Foreword: Killing Ghosts
Killing Ghosts has been a hard process. It’s never easy to put yourself out there entirely. It’s scary and hard and I’m constantly worried what people will think. Or worse, that they won’t think about it at all.
I have no idea what I’m doing
When I was younger, I assumed that at some point I would know what I was doing. That when you got to a certain age you just…knew stuff? Now that I’m trying to write it, I’m not even sure what I thought that meant.
What it’s like putting your guts on a page
What if you are the only one to let yourself go there? What if there’s a reason you haven’t seen other people talk about this? What if this is entirely wrong and it falls flat? What if you fall flat?