March 2022, comin' right up!
Updated: Feb 28, 2022
Thanks, friends, for waiting patiently while I took a hiatus of sorts from writing - found out the hard way that burnout is real. I hope you are well and that good things are happening or are in store for you soon. Here are a few of the good things happening here:
Attended the Realm Makers Winter Creativity Summit
Just last Sunday I drove to The Hideaway retreat center in Colorado Springs to spend ~3 days with fellow science fiction and fantasy writers and wonderful presenter, Allen Arnold. It was a last-minute decision to go and I'm so glad I did. I met wonderful people, was able to put faces to names of some I'd met through webinar chats over the past couple of years, and learned how to go deeper down the rabbit hole - we started the retreat with Alice in Wonderland, and one of my retreat gifts was the framed page and quote pictured in this post. I also found out I like doing late night writing sprints, walked through "the Eden journey," and noted many things to mull over, like "ten questions your novel has for you." (Such as, Where have you been?!) Ahem. The writing summit was exactly what I needed and I really appreciate the work the Realm Makers staff put into making it happen.
Taking concrete steps to broaden my horizons, get out of the Covid era-induced isolation and my natural tendencies toward introversion
A few weeks ago, I joined an Adults Adventure group through my church and went to the meet and greet. While I'm not one for winter mountain hiking with ice cleats required (that happened this weekend - I declined), I do look forward to hiking in 50+ degree weather with regular hiking shoes, biking, movie nights, and just hanging out.
I hosted my first game night the night before I left for the writing summit. It was fun. We ate a lot of rather healthy appetizers, I taught them how to play Zilch (Grandma Ermalee will be so proud), and bonus: the dogs met for the first time and got along great.
Switched from binging Netflix shows to binging The Chosen
My brother had been telling me for many months to watch The Chosen. I finally did, in December. Since then, I've watched the two seasons ~15 times. (I did say I've been binging it.) It's about the life of Jesus and his followers, and is unlike any other show. If you have wondered, what was he like? What might it have been like to live in those times? This show makes it real. If you'd like to check it out, download The Chosen app and follow the steps to cast the show to your Roku/other smart TV, or you can connect your laptop to your TV via HDMI cable and go to https://watch.angelstudios.com/thechosen. It's free. If you have Amazon Prime, you can also watch season 1 there.
Editing my novel
Yes, this means binging shows is over, but I'll still reward myself with an episode or two every now and again. (Just say no to burnout!) My first step is to print the entire novel and read it through, only marking places I need to edit - but not making the changes as I go. This will be difficult, with my long-standing compulsion to edit pretty much anything in written form. Once I've read it through, I'll start making the changes. When I've done all I can, it'll go off to an editor for all those things I don't notice anymore, being so familiar with my story.
Time to walk Chewie and then fire up the printer. If you've signed up for my newsletter, look for the next installment, soon. Take care, everyone.
