If you haven’t heard by now, I’ve decided to write yet another book in my Moving Mountains series. After the release of Hearts Unbound in April, I thought for sure I was done with this world and these characters, but I’ve been writing long enough to know that things rarely go according to plan. While I don’t have an official release date for book 6, and probably won’t until sometime in 2025, I look forward to delving back into this series with a new cast of characters and two brand new settings. Yes, we must know when to let things go, and one day I will. But today is not that day.
Finding time to write has been a challenge lately, although I’ve been trying to build a writing routine similar to the one I had before I became a PSW. Sundays used to be my designated writing days, but now I usually work on the weekends, meaning I’ve had to adjust my schedule (and my expectations) accordingly. And honestly? I’m OK with that. Working in healthcare is stressful enough without the added pressure of meeting self-imposed deadlines or “crushing” daily word count goals. I’ve finally reached the point in my writing career/journey where I no longer measure my worth by the speed at which I publish new material, but by how much joy the act of creation brings me. If I miss a day—or, hell, even an entire week—so what? The book still gets written one word at a time, just like all the books that came before it.
I’ve also been finding joy in other activities, many of which I had abandoned in order to promote my author brand. As Dan and I look forward to our wedding in November, I’ve been working on creating a photo book filled with pictures from the early years of our relationship. (Turns out, our love story is 93% cat pictures, 5% screenshots, and 2% couple selfies taken on a sugar high at midnight.) I’ve also been drawing again, something I seem to come back to whenever my life is in transition:
But mostly, I’m trying to focus on being present: watching a movie without scrolling through my phone; giving people my full attention in conversations; admiring the sunset, or sunrise, without feeling like I should be doing something else; and learning to be kinder to myself and others, because we’re all out here trying our best just to get through the day.
I know my blogs tend to be quite long, so you can expect my posts to be a bit shorter going forward. In time, I hope to get back to a place where I can juggle my online presence and my offline life in a healthy, meaningful way. Until then, I’m going to do what I do best, and that’s tell a damn good story.
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