At a crossroads

Not an impasse, dear ones. But most certainly a crossroads.

This is when I thank my Executive Dysfunction for being the whore it is. I've referred to this fantastic ADHD bullshit more than once. I'm stuck in neutral and: forgot about it, am looking at my phone, order a soda from Sonic, clip my toenails, pet Murphy, hop down the deepest rabbit holes that have nothing to do with nothing.

No, thanks. I don't want any.

It's hard to imagine this if you don't suffer from it. And, as someone else sagely stated, "It's not only for annoying things, good things also count."

meh

Had one of my intensive treatments on Tuesday, and it took me OUT, fam. Wednesday was also a wash. 

And I could not hate many things more.

Every moment I am away from my writing, I'm twitchy. It's my gateway drug to a happy place. Also, hell. 😂

But literally? My skin hurt. My outer stretchy covering. Pains shooting hither and thither. BAD evil headache that punished me relentlessly. I couldn't sleep because I hurt that bad.

I don't have dermis picnics. I don't write odes to my dermal casing. It's skin. FFS. 

But when that shit is painful, ain't nobody happy.

Now.

Let's regroup.

Today is a day of progress (she writes before she even attempts to open .docx). We shall venture forth and embrace the imperfections of ourselves and our surroundings. I don't know how long I'll last with the fucking temps in the 90s, and my Sanctuary is the hottest room in the house. 😑

But yea...I shall endeavor to make it work for me. Until I pass out, and Murphy has to give me oxygen.

He's a good kid.

So that's it.

My roller coaster with my mental and physical health. My absolute irritation with anything that prevents me from writing and moving upwards. 

As for the writing, it seems lately there are a lot of newbies out there. Hi!...if you're one of them. 

You don't ever pay someone to publish your book. Money should flow in the author's (and possibly agent's) direction. 

Don't buy, literally, the emails that are prevalent in today's society that praise your book to the heavens, and would you like some more information?

No. You would NOT fucking like some more information.

Block and send to spam.

You can format in .docx. To me, the easiest. Other people use Grammarly or Reedsy. I'm sure there are others. I love Word. Always have. It's free, for one. It is easy, and if you have a learning curve of some sort, then practice in it. Also, free. Paying an editor can be pricey. Trad publishing houses, of course, offer editors. Finding one for yourself could run into the thousands. Not trying to scare you. Simply letting you know. But yes, it's traumatic. 😵

You can pay someone on Fiverr to create a cover for you. Or, you can dip your toe in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Elements, or other artistic apps. I only have the Adobe because they were on sale as a 2 for 1. My short ass DOES NOT pay that kind of money for anything but MS Office Suite.

But, I use Canva. $15 a month. And I've made some great covers from simple photos thrown together. I had the HUGEST learning curve with it and almost dropped it completely. Glad I stuck with. We're friendly for now.

Real talk.

If you are only writing to give to your friends and family, please don't spend all that money on items you don't truly need. Even if you ARE writing to broadly publish, don't go upside down in your writing journey. You should never be paying out (marketing, conferences, etc.) more than you're bringing in.

Take care of yourself. And your books. And your skin...FFS.