So I am part of a writing group that meets on Tuesday evenings. I love these ladies and have been making huge progress on Madamn thanks to their input. One piece of advice I'm constantly getting is more description. It is a first draft, so I was mostly sketching out the storyline, so that makes sense. 

But after a few rounds with the group, each chapter is getting some real depth and I'm super happy with it by them the time I'm finished. However, it's a bit slower, we've only gone over chapters one and two as well as the Prologue and Epilogue. We are currently in chapter three.

Anywho, during this week's gathering, there was a lot of discussion around Em's mother, Eulalie (pronounced OO-la-lee). I shared a bit of her back story as to why she is the way she is... and they wanted more. 

So now I have a tiny side quest going on, where I'm going to start writing a novella with Eulalie's story. She really is such a fascinating character to learn about and write. She was only ten years old during the French Revolution. She married and had children young, so I have tried to portray her with unresolved trauma and PTSD, which was also not a thing at the time, and just as misunderstood as what is now Tourette syndrome that her daughter deals with.

I don't want to make this a full series, so this will be s short little precursor. I love that the characters I am creating are getting such a response from the readers, but I have other incredible women I want to write about and lots of characters to create. But I do think this will be a fun side project to infuse some new energy in to a project that is feeling a bit stalled and dull to me. 

Glitchy

Hello there friend!

Sorry I missed Saturday, I tried and tried, but apparently either Blogger was down, or there was some other tech glitches. So you get a midweek post instead! 

But I've decided I need to get my life together when it comes to working on Madamn. I feel like most of my life has been pretty glitchy. I try and wake up in the mornings, but end up sleeping an extra hour. I make plans, but life interrupts and says, "sorry, try again."

However, I've noticed that I have been pretty wishy-washy in my commitments to begin with. So now I'm setting things in stone and making a firm commitment. I have given myself deadlines and have gotten the ball rolling so that I can keep those.

I've finally hired a developmental editor and am doing a ton of rewrites. 

The thing is, life is still throwing things at me. I've had a ton of pain already this week, lots of meetings popping up, and work getting all sorts of crazy. 

I've noticed the more committed I am, the more these outside forces slow down.

However, today is not the day for these things to slow down. Which means I'm off to get some writing done!

Thanks for being here!

Hello Again

Oh hey there friend. Sorry I missed last week. It had been a long, rough week and I didn't have the bandwidth to do much at all, much less do any writing. 

Thankfully, a weekend of good rest did wonders, and an easier week at work means I am back!!

So lots of good news, this week I filled my Reader's Escape! This is the 4th time I've run this retreat and it has grown each year, but this is the first time I've sold out.

And I still have people asking about it! So I'm considering doing another one in August. Would you come if I did? Comment and let me know.

More good news, I've felt so good this week, meaning my health is improving. After last year and all the issues I had, it's exciting to finally feel like I'm on the mend and improving. 

I had a wonderful experience this week where I saw a mentor of mine speaking on stage and I was so excited to chat with him afterwards. However, I woke up before that actually happened. 

But it left me feeling... grounded. Grateful. Centered. Peaceful. 

This mentor is someone I worked with from about 2016/2017 ish until about 2019. He was the first mentor I really invested in a lot. He introduced me to some awesome key players in my life. Once, he noticed I was having a bad day and he even called me.

However, at the time, I was inconsolable. And then a few months later, my brother was murdered, which put me in a deep, dark hole. 

I haven't actually talked to this mentor since that last phone call in 2019, so he never knew how helpful it really was or how grateful I was for it.

He has gone on to do big things and is virtually untouchable at this point. So I have no way to really communicate with him without spending more than I am comfortable with. So I wrote a letter to him in my journal.

I wished him well and I love seeing him succeed and create such an awesome life for him and his family. I'll always be a fan and cheer him on. 

However, in the past few years, I've noticed a big change in me. One that is no longer wanting to hustle. I'm still doing the same things, but at my own, much slower, pace. 

It's comfortable. Peaceful. Happy. 

I've been studying the biological difference between men and women, and while his program is effective, it is certainly better suited for men. 

The more I lean into my own unique talents and abilities as a woman, I see more success. And it's a much more broad sense of success. 

Not only do I see more book sales, which is awesome and what I was trying to achieve working with this mentor, but I see greater health, I see deeper relationships, I see more of who I actually want to be.

Meaning, in a way, this was actually a bit of a break up letter. 

So it's been a great couple of weeks for me. I hope they have been wonderful for you as well.

And I'm excited to see where this week takes me!