Hey everyone. If this is your main place to get news from me, I am sorry. Every month, my wonderful PA tells me “you need to do your blog post” and every time she does, I go “I’ll get to it when I’m done with A, B, C, D, E, and F””. Two months in a row (June and July), I wrote blog posts that I couldn’t bring myself to share with the public. Nope. Couldn’t do it. Both were incredibly personal and rambling and messy.
Not that this one won’t be but I’ll try to keep it semi-book related at least.
So I’m going to start with BOOK NEWS!
The website needs an update, but the problem lies in that I haven’t gotten pre-orders up for the next few books after Echoed Defiance. I’m waiting on the cover art for The Champion’s Ruin (Age of the Andinna 6) and I’m just getting started on Kaliya 3 (expect a pre-order before the end of September, maybe even in a few days as I begin writing.) Then I move on to writing Jacky Leon 5, hopefully in October and I’ll have a pre-order pretty quickly for yall. But really, the biggest problem?
Writing is hard. And I know that many people already think so but for a few months, I’ve been searching for deeper answers to some of my particular issues with focusing on large tasks, sitting for long periods, hyper-focus or a complete lack of focus, and more (if all of this sounds like something familiar, don’t worry. It did to me too!). When I was really young (elementary school), some teachers realized I had a problem. When I was younger (early twenties), I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and they explained… some problems, but not all or even most. Well, I finally bit the bullet and got an assessment done. Turns out I have ADHD, which is something I have been on and off thinking about much of my life. I either convinced myself it wasn’t the issue or some psychologist had some excuse about women or adults not having it, etc and how I really only had depression and anxiety (This happens to people more often than it should) but I finally have an answer and I’m looking for a doctor to begin treatment ideas so that I can function more reliably in my day to day life.
This includes just sitting down and writing these stories brewing in my head. I don’t get writer’s block where I can’t figure out my plot line. I get writer’s block when I really want to do something and my brain just won’t let me. If something big or small is happening around me, I can hyper-focus on the issue and lose the ability to function in other areas of my life.
I don’t think I need to make a list, but 2020 has been a year of “wow, it never stops, does it?”. From world events to things going on in my home (that I bought this year), it became nearly impossible to focus. I always had these issues but my coping mechanisms could work through them. It became impossible this year.
This isn’t just writing. It’s been every part of my work and personal life. I need to send out giveaways. I need to repair small things around my house. Do my laundry. Wash the dishes. Keep any sort of schedule in my life. WRITE BLOG POSTS! (and look at that, brought it back to the beginning)
But now there’s new hope. For me and my books, and all of you waiting on news and pre-orders and more (thank you for continuing to support me). For my husband, who knows my brain works at either top speed, refusing to take a break, or completely shuts down (he’s amazing). For my friends, who know I am a disaster and tolerate me anyway (love y’all).
So there’s my update. See you all next time.