Eight months goes by way too fast. I promised I’d post more regularly but here we are. What I keep telling myself is we’re all just doing the best we can, but each time I do, I commit to trying again. Because I haven’t posted in such a long time this is going to be a longer post and a bit stream of consciousness written. You’ve been warned.

First and foremost, I’ve been spending the better part of the past eight months getting into new projects and writing. There’s a few reasons for that. My go-to coping mechanism when times are hard is staying busy. And what better way to stay busy than doing things I love? So I signed up for a couple of short story projects on top of co-writing books with author Amir Lane, my own books, and other prior writing project commitments. It’s a bit of an unhealthy coping mechanism, and I’m working on finding balance. But my struggle is your gain, and I’m really unbearable excited to be working on everything.

More about that in a minute though.

My second  reason was I woke up one day with a goal. The goal was to not talk myself out of things. As long as the request wasn’t unreasonable I couldn’t turn things down out of fear, anxiety or general feelings of inadequacy. I had to take risks and give myself permission to fail. And something wonderful and unbelievable happened.

I was asked to lend my voice to a side character for a new podcast show created by author Laura Morrison. That show is called Space Mantis and the character’s name is Celia. And I have to tell you, I’m so happy I agreed to try and gave myself permission to be bad at something because it has been amazing. I have so much fun recording lines and bringing life to Celia.

I don’t know if I’m doing a bad job at it. I still have those fears and insecurities, but it has been great to try something new and have this experience. The first episode is up on Apple and Spotify and pretty much everywhere else you might like to listen to podcasts, so maybe you can give it a listen and let me know?

Life is a cycle and things aren’t always good. The writing community lost a cover model and friend, Nathan Weller, back in May. I thought of Nathan as a friend and now, well, the world just feels a little less bright. The world lost Chadwick Boseman, and as of yesterday, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And all around the world is lessened.

Personally, sometimes it’s difficult for me to see beyond losses and bad days, but that’s when I try to focus on reasons to be grateful. I focus on reasons to keep going.

I‘m grateful I get to work on dream projects right now. The books I’m writing with Amir are incredible. They’re the kind of books I always wanted to write. And I just know, beyond any of my doubts or insecurities, that readers are going to love them. They’re angsty and gritty, funny and full of magic. They’re full of us. Our writing styles, our humor, and so much hard work. We’ve put years into these books, and Amir keeps me motivated, focused and patient enough to wait on releasing our books until they’re the best they can be. As soon as I can tell you more, I will. For now, we’re scheduled for next year.

Next year is also when the Black Spot Books anthology, Dead of Winter, is coming out. January 26, 2021 exactly. I was lucky enough to be included in the anthology along with their authors and I’m so excited. I love my story and its characters. I hope you do, too. I’ll be doing a separate post about Dead of Winter so keep your eye out for it.

Today though an even earlier release is going up for pre-order.

You might not know this, but my favorite holiday is Halloween. Every year I like to do something nice for myself during the month of October to celebrate it. Sometimes that’s ordering food I like and marathoning my favorite Halloween movies, buying myself some new spooky jewelry or decor.  This year, I did something different. Remember those writing projects I signed up for? Yeah, I signed up for a Halloween anthology.

Book release. On my favorite holiday. Best idea ever!

It’s called Witchy Wonders and it’s being published by Blue Crescent Books. There’s twenty authors involved so Amazon had to be contacted so we all can be linked, but it’ll up on my Amazon author page soon. In the meantime, you can still pre-order it or add it on Goodreads. I’m probably going to do a separate post about this too.

Other than all that, I’m working hard and trying to do what my friend Raina suggested and extend myself some grace. It’s something she texted me right before I started writing this post and it sounded like a good reminder for all of us since things have been so difficult. Plus, Raina is one of the wisest and kindest people I know so I value her judgement. You can check out more of her words and advice if you want by visiting her blog here.

I think that’s it for today. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below. I love hearing your feedback. Until next time, be well. Do good. Extend yourself some grace.