Drowning is silent. There are no frantic splashes. No cries for help. There is only the weight of your body. The waves crashing over your head. The current tugging you to the depths. You grow too tired to fight. Your lungs have no air to waste on crying out. Instead you focus on that tiny little gulp you can take between the waves. You try to ignore the exhaustion settling into your bones. You know that the waves will not let you float at the surface, and if you cease fightin

I'm a person that struggles with creating and maintaining routines. I have all of these lofty ideas and goals about what I'm going to do–especially on a daily basis–and following through for a few months. Then there will be that one thing that throws off the routine, and I'm toast. The only way to combat this is to give me reasonable, achievable goals that I like . For instance, a new Sims4 pack was recently released. When this happens, they offer side quests that allow you

This is going to be a rant. There's your only warning. If you disagree and don't want to admit that your genius program is nothing more than a worthless clone, then kindly fuck right off. If you disagree but would like to see where this goes, then read on. Somehow, I think most of you will agree with me. At least every TRUE artist, musician, and writer will know exactly what I mean. Let's continue... Backstory for why I'm so pissed right now: I listen to a variety of music.

I come to you today with another bit of writing advice: love your work. Let's not kid ourselves; I don't mean that you must love everything you produce. Nor should you. A mark of an experienced author is learning to recognize when you've put crap on a page, and how to fix it. Like most things, writing is a process. What I do mean by my initial statement is: love the work that you make public. If you're posting it in serial format on a site, then be sure you're proud of the w

Unfortunately, like most authors, I can't pay my bills on my book sales. (Yet. YET!) This means that I have a day job ... or several? As it happens, I've become the Queen of Odd Jobs. Every time I think I can list them all, it turns out I find another one peeking its head up and requiring attention. So let's try to list them now. Writing This one is my number one, and has been since I was a teenager. I don't always devote the time to it that I should, but it's the one I care

Today I was scrolling Facebook. It was a bad idea. Not because it's a) too distracting (it is. It fully is. Thanks Josh & Jase for traveling Michigan in the winter. I love all of the updates.), b) full of political stuff (it's not; my algorithm is carefully trained on bookish things), or c) people ... just people. No, no, the problem with my Facebook scrolling is that people post things about their own books. Or pages provide writing prompts. Read that again... Writing PROMP

"You know you're old when..." I'm in my thirties, y'all. Remember when little kids used to think being in your thirties meant you were old? Then when you got mid-to-late twenties, you were offended? I'm in my mid-thirties. I'm not offended. I'm old. I like my pjs on by 6 o'clock, dinner done by eight, and snuggled up with my cats, dog, computer, and a comfy blanket from then til I go to bed. Leaving the house is anathema (especially this time of year), and you really learn wh

This is probably the number one question all authors get asked: what tips do you have for new writers? For so long, I was the new writer. I didn't have tips or tricks or advice to give. How should I know? Even now, I hesitate giving any kind of sales related advice, because I don't have the numbers to back up my own nonsense. As I've been thinking about it lately, I realized there were some things I did right and a lot I did wrong, but mostly what I would do over if I got th

I have one of those personalities where, if I like something, I'm going to spend a lot of time on it. Sims is a perfect example of this, since I spent pretty much two years almost exclusively playing Sims2 when I was 16 and 17. I mean, it was to the point that I was getting roughly 5 hours of sleep before I would wake up and jump right back on the game. It was strangely the most focused and hyperfixated I've ever been. I can also get like this with books. I once read a 4-book

I am so tired, and it's all my fault. So, the bf was gone for a pool tournament this weekend. (He took first place in the upper bracket in the 9 Ball tournament, if that means anything to anyone.) While he was away, my mental health was not ... well. Alas, the mask is back in place and I'm pushing through on sheer lie-ability. Turns out, this is how I survive. Anyway, I decided that, on top of my writing challenge and playing sims, I wasn't quite entertained enough. One of my