I’ve been refilling my creative well the past couple of weeks, hence the blog silence.
Major doings
A road trip through the Rockies to my old hometown Calgary to visit my husband, who is hard at work on the Ghostbusters reboot. Photos of some of the sets his crew is building are hitting the internet, so I don’t have to keep quiet anymore. Check out my Instagram page to see more road trip photos.
A lot of time spent sitting on the back deck enjoying the quiet and ruminating about what I want to accomplish, personally and professionally, before the year is up.
A major cleanup in the garden, which was fast turning into a jungle. The raspberry patch was out of control and garden boxes full of weeds. The chickens will be annoyed to find them sprouting up through their tunnel. My spring veggie beds were a bust but I’m determined to do better in fall. I’ve already got the cabbage and chard transplants in and seeding is underway for greens, peas, carrots, radishes, spinach and more, to keep us in organic veggies into winter.
A recommitment to my health. Lack of activity (writers spend too much time on their asses!), and poor eating and sleep habits were all taking a toll on my well-being. I’m back to eating keto and bought myself a Fitbit and it’s already paying off. Three weeks in, I’m down 10 lbs, have lowered my resting heart rate by six beat per minute, and said goodbye to heartburn, joint pain, and itchy, dry skin. The Fitbit is making me more conscious about how much or little I’m moving each day, and it’s fun to try to hit my targets. (If you’re doing keto, I cannot recommend the CarbManager app enough!)
A social media break, which reinforced again that while I love the connection it allows (especially with my writing compatriots), it’s also a huge time suck and puts too many voices and thoughts in my head—all to the detriment of my writing and overall daily productivity. Heading into fall, I need to be more mindful about not frittering away precious hours, and leaving more time for daydreaming and open mental landscapes.
On the horizon
The Surrey International Writers Conference is fast coming up and I’m excited to catch up with writing buddies old and new, and learning something new to improve my craft. My major focus for fall is getting my WIP into shape for a round of pitching and promoting. I’m working with my amazing critique partners to make it happen.
Back to school, a busy time for all families but also a return to a regular daily routine and uninterrupted writing time! I’m determined to be more organized this year, which keeps us all saner. This always feels more like the start of the year to me than January 1.
How’s your summer going?