PJL's Write Life

I really wish I could say things are turning around since my last IWSG post . I WISH. But I can't. In fact, the hits keep coming. On top of hubby still being out of a job and looking, we've had a leak in a front closet and had to have someone come assess it and the ice dams that were above it. Turns out the access points to the attic are just plain pieces of ply wood with no insulation so we've basically been heating the outside a bit all winter. Not quite sure why the inspection guy didn't note that when he did his inspection or why everyone before him just ignored that fact. But given there's still a few feet of snow on the ground (we've gotten over 180 inches of snow this winter) any repairs have to wait until. Our repair guy noted we should just do it by next October, so while it sucks, it's not an OMG we need this fixed now like our furnace last year when we bought the house. We still spent a good chunk of time with an ax hacking at the ice dams to shri...

I'm not happy with 2025. Hubby is still out of work and his unemployment is about to run out. He's gotten 2 interviews and that was before Christmas. Since then, any resume he's sent out has been ghosted. Of course, none of that matters to the bills, (and we've cut basically all non-essential stuff) so.   If anyone would like to buy some knitting or books , I'd be ever grateful. Alternatively, you all buy groceries, right? I've been using an app called Receipt Hog to earn points because every little bit helps right now. It's nice because you don't have to clip coupons like with Ibotta. If you want to check it out, they gave me a referral code and I'll get extra points. You can check it out here . It's my Endometriosis surgery anniversary . I'm at 4 years now since getting my health back. It'd be nice to say I've been crushing the writing since I don't have to deal with crippling exhaustion and pain anymore, but life keeps throwing...

I am happy to say my November writing break was a success. Now, I can't claim I wrote a ton of words, but the few I did get down, I felt excited about. I felt excited for writing. That tells me the recharge was needed. Which is funny because I really resisted doing it. I felt bad for wanting to hit pause. That was because a mixture of pressure from myself and outside pressure. Mind you, know one was pestering me to write, but listing to others talk about writing made me feel pressure to keep at it too. It was like a fear of being accused of not actually being a writer because I took a break.  I feel like that is a big problem online, too. We see others doing the thing we do and seeming to do it well, so when we don't stack up, we start guilting ourselves or impostor syndrome kicks in. We often need a constant reminder to not do that. I guess it's because the thing we might be taking a break from is something we are passionate about. We don't like the idea that, yes, we ...

Last month, I decided to take a break from writing. I had finished a collection of 200-word stories and with Christmas craft show season starting, it was perfect timing as I'd need more time to knit. As with other times when writing has taken a back seat, I expected some guilt. Or to get a bout of inspiration that drove me to write despite me declaring I was taking a break. But I didn't feel any of that. Instead, I felt... Relief. This year has been eventful. Hubby and I bought our first house. I painted almost all of the interior. I cleaned up and planted some little garden beds. I went back to work at Salvation Army and got a year around position. When school started I went back to crossing guard. Hubby lost his job and we lost health insurance and all financial security. We've had some family deaths. It's been a lot. I feel like so much has been piled on my plate. (Some of it self-inflicted, mind you.) To take something off was a relief. All year, I've been strug...

It may not be 2020 but nothing messes things up like a bout of Covid. Yup, that and an ER visit got piled on top of all the other crap life has put there . IF anyone would like to know what it feels like when you're on the verge of passing out, I can tell you. #youknowyoureawriterwhen Anyway, so yup, my October went off the rails. I'm definitely used to it happening by now . As a result, I didn't get much writing or knitting done. But it did happen. A tiny bit when I had some spare energy, which wasn't much because my body was putting most of it into fighting off Covid. I was so hungry the entire time and I slept so much. (When I could. Current CDC guidelines meant I didn't have to be negative to go back to work, so I didn't get many days off before having bosses ask when I was able to come back and that tends to trigger my people pleasing tendencies. Looking back, I feel like I should have put my foot down and said no. I did not get to rest and recover much. Th...

So, my husband got laid off at the end of September. I don't need to tell you that's bad, but it's particularly bad in our case as his job paid about, oh... 100% of the bills. And gave us health insurance. I am trying very hard to not say very mean things about his former employer. As you can imagine this has ground my writing to a near halt. I've managed a few 200-word stories, but I haven't had the mental energy to attempt another chapter of Arctic Curse . And I have been okay with that fact. I used to get eaten up by guilt whenever life got out of control and shrank my writing time. I would lament not being able to write under pressure like other writers I knew. I hung my head when I had no word counts to post on Twitter. The guilt was so heavy, and as a result, I'd write even less . Too much mental energy was being consumed by the guilt. Learning to let that guilt go and tell myself that it was okay not to write helped me to write during tough times. It was...

So, I released a book at the end of July. I bet you didn't know that because I didn't do any hype. I didn't ask for help. I just decided to hit publish and took action. The only thing I did was send a newsletter out with the announcement and shared it over on Substack Notes the next day. It was probably my best release ever. I had KU reads. I got paperback sales (people got their copy before I got my box of copies.) I sold 11 copies. And the best thing? I didn't feel like I had to beg for any of it. Usually, I put the book up for pre-order and I send out a call for help. Then I spend the next month or so sharing the book and feeling like I'm having my teeth pulled. Pre-orders trickle in and when release day rolls around, I have friends sharing the news and celebrating with me, but not much happens sale-wise. The pre-orders show a nice little spike on my dashboard, but I can't say many new sales join them. It makes for a weird day as I try not to focus too much o...