Hi, hi! I’ve finally said farewell to the old newsletter platform and its wonky formatting and moved to Substack. (That also means there’s an option to support the newsletter with a paid subscription, if you so choose at any time!) Anyway, this should be a seamless move for you. I promise, because I did something else as part of it…
…which is look at my patterns. Writing the newsletter is not so different from anything else. And it’s something I enjoy. So why did I send you a bunch of emails around the release of Not Your Average Hot Guy and then vanish? Again?
The answer is a little something called ::cough cough:: overcommitment.
I did a LOT of (mostly virtual) events during October and November for NYAHG’s launch. Well, I also had a book due during that time! Which, yeah, not great planning on my part, hahahaha, wipes brow in comic fashion. And so I was late, and then a little later. My editor understood, of course, and was great about it. But it meant that I was not just on deadline, but over deadline — even when an extension has been agreed upon, that brings a special kind of extra internal pressure that makes it all the tougher to finish.
I turned in that first draft on December 2 — of my third romcom, Mr. & Mrs. Witch, which I am so excited about! — and then jumped into writing book two of the super-fun Audible Original project I’m doing with my dearies Kami Garcia and Sam Humphries, The Youngbloods. It’s a three novella series that we pitched as “Succession, but with a family of demons trapped on Earth” and we are having a blast. So December/January/February had that going on.
In early January, edits for Mr. & Mrs. Witch dropped and were due by the end of that month. (When you push the deadline, you have to make it up in revisions! I’m always happy to do so.) I hit a temporary pause on my parts of Youngbloods 2 to do those edits, and then turned the book back in. My editor has them now! Then, it was back to Youngbloods 2, which we turned in late last week. HOORAY!
Other work during this time: Lexington Writer’s Room stuff, jury duties for the LA Times Festival of Books Bradbury Prize, and teaching a LitReactor class on goal setting.
I’m tired typing all that. Did I mention I also hate winter? With its gray haze and soul-crushing cold?
BUT now I have a slight breather. And I’m determined to do a better job with my scheduling. All these are things I want to do and need to keep doing, but I think the pandemic made me forget that time is not infinite and stack them a little too tightly on top of each other. Just because time may be theoretically available does not mean you can just keep pouring stuff into the hourglass until it overflows without then turning into an empty husk. Or something that isn’t a mixed metaphor. I exaggerate. A little.
I don’t like feeling like I’m half-assing anything. I’m a whole-ass gal. (Um. You know what I mean. Just in case you don't, I’m sticking an image at the end of this post…. And then you are assigned to go watch Parks & Recreation. I don’t make the rules.)
That includes half-assing my own mental space! So, yeah, I’m trying to get back to creating more of a separation buffer between projects in terms of what I’m working on at any given time. I’ve never been that great at jumping between projects at the same time. It typically takes me a day or two to switch back and forth. I’m also not going to be saying yes to as many optional things (sorry!), because my writing brain sees a week with mostly empty space on the calendar and it rolls around in the grass like a baby kitten. Baby kitten grass is what gets books written and turned in by deadline.
Next up for me? I just started a short story for Wild Cards editor George R. R. Martin (who is such a kind and generous editor!), because I have created a whole WC circus, because of course I have. It’s a nice little palate cleansing break I hope to knock out this weekish. And then while waiting on various rounds of edits, it’s back to a novel I’m not allowed to talk about yet but have been working on in my back brain for awhile and have a nice chunk of and plan for. (Hopefully, I’ll also get paid for some of these things in the meantime! But the betwixts and betweens of writing money is a subject for another newsletter.)
Anyway, as I mentioned, I was teaching a Lit Reactor class and one of the things that came up as a challenge for a lot of people was overcommitment. It’s tough, right? Because maybe some of those overcommitments are…LIFE. Which is crucial and not just to your writing. Maybe some of them are about building your community and supporting others.
But the truth is we can’t give our best to others if we aren’t giving it to ourselves first.
Damn.
I’m channeling someone who is not me, apparently…. perhaps a spirit from the aether (no, definitely not doing that). But…I think it’s true.
There’s a difference between juggling balls and juggling knives.* A difference between having a lot of balls in the air, effortlessly swapping them out, and feeling as if you’re caught in a vortex of knives and plates and if you drop one, just one, it’s going to be really, really bad. The truth is, balls bounce and we can all stand to break a few plates every once in awhile. That’s better than breaking ourselves.
Anyway, here’s to making space to write y’all way more often, and think about this and everything more deeply along the way.
*Did you know that the juggler who performed David Bowie’s feats in Labyrinth was a MacArthur Genius named Michael Moschen?
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BOOK STUFF
Not Your Average Hot Guy and the upcoming sequel The Date from Hell are now officially known as the Match Made in Hell series. Haven’t read NYAHG yet? You should! And if you have, dropping a review at the big river site or GR is highly appreciated.
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So happy you’re here on Substack. My daughter, Maggie, and I have been experimenting with Substack. She’s been doing a better job than I, because I’ve been overcommitted as of late, but I’m hoping to get better. You’re inspiring me!
I am on here now. Because, Gwenda.