Fall Focus

I'm glad it's September, even though around here it’s still hot, humid and hurricane season. This summer drained me of oomph. I feel wrung out, much like my sweaty gym clothes after a long plod on the “dreadmill.” I blame the heat. (I usually get to a point every summer where I blame the heat. For everything.)

 

So, this is me, falling forward – not very gracefully - into fall!

 

WRITING

The second session of Camp Draft did not go well: 

* The drabble I wrote and subbed received a rejection. 

* The longer short story with the road trip theme never even got out of the garage. 

* The novella is apparently no longer about a cursed island, but is instead about a deserted island because everyone on it has left due to boredom.

 

In September, I hope to 

* Get back to some flash fiction, writing and maybe subbing.

* See if I can save that cursed island. 

* Start making some strides in putting together another collection of my stories. 

 

 

READING

I’m still behind on my 2025 Goodreads Challenge, but Wally Lamb’s incredible The River is Waiting and Shari Lapena’s page-turning suspense She Didn’t See it Coming helped move me closer to my goal. 

 

 

WATCHING

My husband and I had a “28” movie marathon – we re-watched 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later before watching the new 28 Years Later. In my opinion, the first movie is still the best of the bunch by far.

 

We really enjoyed Woman of the Hour (starring Anna Kendrick) over on Netflix. A creepy thriller made even creepier because it’s based on real crimes. 

*****

 

How did your summer go? Any plans or projects for fall? How’s your oomph level? Read or watched anything lately you’d recommend?

The Summer of Getting Stuff Done

For a lot of people, summer is about having fun, relaxing and traveling. For me, this summer is about putting my head down and keeping it down. I really need to focus. Need to. Want to. Have to. My emotional, mental, physical health demands it. My writing demands it. My home and weird . . . uh, unique . . .  little family demands it. (Mrs. Larry does not care for the word "weird" in reference to her, thank you very much.) 

 

Some of what I plan to accomplish:

 

* Get at least one draft of my novella done.

* Write and submit at least two stories to markets.

* Finish the 202.2 miles challenge. Maybe start one of the 100 miles challenges.

* Do some cleaning up, de-cluttering and organizing inside and outside the house.

 

I will have some fun, including lots of reading, TV show binge-watching and movie marathon-ing.

 

In the recent free version of Austin Kleon's newsletter, he mentions some advice by poet Jane Kenyon that explains exactly what my hope is for the summer – 

 

"Be a good steward of your gifts. 

Protect your time. 

Feed your inner life. 

Avoid too much noise. 

Read good books, 

have good sentences in your ears. 

Be yourself as often as you can. 

Walk. 

Take the phone off the hook. 

Work regular hours."

*****

 

Do you have any fun summer plans? Any "productive" projects? Looking forward to any summer books, TV shows, movies?

Pasta or Progress?

I can't tell which has more holes in it – my attention span or the colander I use to drain pasta. Yum . . . pasta. Smothered in sauce, topped with cheese. Maybe some ravioli. No wait, baked ziti. And garlic bread. And . . . oh. 

 

See what I mean?

 

WRITING - 

I rearranged my office furniture in an effort to minimize distractions. So now a blank wall stares back at me every time I look over the top of my computer. This might actually be working because I wrote and subbed a flash fiction story for a contest, and I started making notes on a novella. 

 

WALKING – 

I mentioned back in January that my husband and I signed up for two virtual challenges, 100 miles each. Well, we also signed up for a third one – 202.2 miles. (Don't even ask me how this happened. I'm pretty sure my husband distracted me with cake.)

Stats so far = 

43/202.2 miles (walking only)

0/100 miles

0/100 miles

 

WATCHING – 

Movie – SCREAM (2022] aka SCREAM, "The Requel", was a fun romp down memory lane, and it made me want to re-watch the old SCREAM movies again, at least the first one.

READING - 

I'm in the middle of Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea – enjoying it so far!

*****

 

What creative project - writing or otherwise - are you working on? What do you do for exercise/fitness? Have you read or watched anything lately you enjoyed? 

Bins, Boxes, Bubble Wrap - Oh My!

Hmm, apparently in my packing frenzy, I misplaced some items: 

Creativity

Energy 

Focus

 

I didn't realize how fragile they were. I can only hope I wrapped them carefully in bubble wrap. (I know I'm not myself when I haven't played with popping all of those delightful little bubbles.) 

 

Of course, I found some things so easily they might as well have jumped out of the boxes on their own:

Anxiety

Exhaustion

Stress

 

Pfft. Isn't that always the way?

 

Really, though, I am incredibly grateful for all the good in my life and things are definitely okay overall. They're just progressing at the pace of a tortoise dozing in the sun. So, much like the bubble wrap, I'll still pop in and out, but I'm extending my blogging break a bit longer. 

*****

 

What's new with all of you? How's your summer been? Looking forward to fall? 

  

Clean Houses vs Finished Books

This is totally why I don't have any published novels to my name:

"WOMEN WITH CLEAN HOUSES

DO NOT HAVE FINISHED BOOKS."

(Joy Held)

Because you know, my house is So. Clean.

Okay, even the tortoises are laughing at that. 

Seriously, though, it's all about priorities. In the past, I got off course, got distracted. I fell for some of society's expectations. I let people and what they thought into my head. I tried to please even as I tried to be myself. My dreams and hopes suffered. My writing suffered. My spirit suffered.

Well, enough is enough. The majority of my energy and focus now goes to health/losing weight and to writing. My husband, my partner in all things, gets that. We're in this thing called life together. 

So, if the dust bunnies form an army, my husband will conquer them with the vacuum. If the laundry pile turns mountain, I'll scale it then throw in a wash. If neither of us feels like cooking, we'll hunt for hearty, healthy takeout salads. 

Now, if only we could get the tortoises to pull their weight around here . . . 

*****

How about you? Are you struggling with priorities right now? Are you balanced, focused, on track for the most part? What's working for you? How dirty does your house have to get before you surrender and get to cleaning?