Slow Down, Little Doggie

I feel like I’m going too fast

I have been working 8 hour days on my book marketing and writing from 6-3 (with time for lunch), taking occasional breaks to answer student emails. This is a lot of work, and I feel productive. But I realized yesterday that I am missing necessary steps in getting this novel self-published.

It’s had a dev edit and complete revision, but it needs:

Another pass with a fine tooth comb.
A reload into Atticus (or Scrivener depending on which version I edit)
If I like what I see there — beta readers. If not, return to step 1
ARC (advanced reader copy) readers
Finally, publishing.

Reining myself in

Obviously, I need to slow down, and my book won’t be out by July barring a miracle with readers. But at least the book will be good.

Hard at work? Or working too hard?

I think I may be pacing myself too hard. I spend six hours straight on the computer on my days out of class (Tuesday and Thursday) catching up on work. I’m in the zone when I do it, so it’s a good thing, but the tunnel vision makes me disoriented the next morning when I have to go to work and teach those classes. It’s almost like standing up in front of a class with Zoom going is a vacation from those days of extreme focus.

It feels good to accomplish things, though. That’s the reason for the focus — it’s rewarding. It’s getting me moving, accomplishing. It’s what I like to do.

But maybe I should learn to relax more. Maybe I should get back into meditation (although that’s hard with a kitten who likes licking my nostrils.) Something to just shut off my brain …

New Years rituals. What are yours?

Do any of you have New Years’ rituals (regardless of when you celebrate the new year?)

I’ll share a few of mine. First of all, I do not go out and party New Years’ Eve, even when I was younger and could drink more than one alcoholic beverage a year. I don’t stay up till midnight these days because I turn into a pumpkin after 9 PM. But every year, my husband and I do a silent worship-sharing in the manner of Quakers to tuck the old year in to sleep.

The next day, we eat good luck foods — noodles for long life, pickled herring, black beans and greens (I love Hoppin’ John!), things like that. I think Richard is attempting Japchae, a Korean dish, this year.

I also have a ritual in which I do a little work on everything I want to accomplish this year. So, a little blogging, a little query-writing, a little work, a little play, a little walk, a little writing, a little prepping my seedling room for the winter seed-starting season, a lot of petting cats …

This is a little short today because I’m prepping for classes, which can be nerve-wracking, especially since I need to tweak some classroom material. This means you can respond with your own New Years rituals!

I love you all.