Archive for January 2020
The Struggle Goes On
Folks, I have been battling some health issues. I don’t want to get into the nature of them just yet, partially because I don’t have a complete answer as to what in the Hell is going on.
But as I do try to blog regularly, and I haven’t been able to do so in a few months — not regularly, anyway — I figured I owed my regular readers some sort of explanation. Or at least some acknowledgment that I know I’ve not been holding up my end of the bargain with this blog.
There are many stories I’d like to talk about. Ideas I wish to express. And I keep thinking of interesting blog subjects…but the energy has not been there.
Mind, I’ve at least been able to do my regularly scheduled editing. I’ve also been able to do a bit of writing here and there (blogs, as you’ve seen, along with some fiction that you haven’t). But the fatigue has been very strong for months. And as most creative people know, if you don’t have much in the way of energy, you don’t have much to work with in order to create.
That doesn’t mean you can’t. But it makes it much harder.
And in my case, running back and forth to the doctor, while continuing on with the semblance of life as I’ve known it, has not been easy. I’ve had to use a lot of my energy for that, along with editing, and other aspects of “normal, daily living.”
I continue to do the very best I can while attempting to heal up. Some days have been much harder than others. But that isn’t going to stop me from struggling to create, and to do everything in my power to make a positive difference in this world. (Or at least not make a negative one.)
When I have a complete answer — or as close to complete as I’m likely to get — I’ll let you know more of what has been going on here. But for now, all I can tell you is that I’m going to have to keep resting a lot, and attending a ton of medical appointments — and tests.
For now, all I can tell you is this: I am struggling. But I am trying. And while I am still alive, I will do everything in my power to get back to creating and doing what I love to do.
Nothing less will suffice.
Moving Forward, Slowly…
Still dealing with some respiratory distress, as I was during this blog I wrote in 2018. My feelings remain the same. I’m glad that I am able to do what I can when I’m healthy enough to do it.
Folks, I continue to recover from the Nasty Respiratory Ailment (TM). I am much better than I was, and have completed two novel-length book edits in the past two weeks. Working on two more, too…and I have started writing a bit again, so I’m feeling much better about things overall.
That said, I wanted to talk a little bit about how sometimes being persistent means accepting the fact that you have to move more slowly than you might like. Illness does this, you see. Injury, too. And in either case, when you want to do more than you are physically capable of doing, it feels like beating your head against a brick wall.
Or maybe beating your wings against the bars of a gray, barren prison. (Whatever works as an image for you, though I definitely am more partial to the prison idea.)
It’s hard to deal with, the feeling…
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Happy New Kindle – a 0.99 cents Book Fair
It’s not too late to check these books out. I have several listed, but there are any number of interesting books here, including at least one that’s SF…give this a try!
If you found that brand new Kindle under your Christmas Tree, or the stockings was filled with Amazon Gift Cards, this Fair is just for you. Lots and lots of books on sale at 99 cents, and believe me, there’s something for any taste!
Scroll down to fill that hungry Kindle with new stories!
Please, share this post!
Happy New Kindle – a 0.99 cents Book Fair #bibliophile #bookclub #bookworm #bookblogger #bloggerstyle #bookstagram #bookislove #99cents #kindleunlimited #IReadRomance #MFRWauthor
Happy New Kindle – a 0.99 cents Book Fair #bibliophile #bookclub #bookworm #bookblogger #bloggerstyle #bookstagram #bookislove #99cents #kindleunlimited #IReadRomance #MFRWauthor
Writing in Spite of Difficulties
Folks, I just wanted to check in to let you know I’m working hard again on a novel. I don’t want to talk too much about it before I get to the three-quarters mark, but I can at least tell you I am working on it.
This is a big deal to me, because after my last novel failed to make a dent in the marketplace, I had to think seriously about what I’d do next. I wasn’t about to stop writing, but…did I want to be like the musical composer Charles Ives, where his work wasn’t truly played until after his death? Did I want to be like composer Nadia Boulanger, whose most important work wasn’t her own compositions (fine as they were) but championing her sister Lily’s, not to mention working with American composers Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson (among others)? Or could I keep going in the uncertain marketplace, and have faith, and continue on the path I’d already set for myself?
It took me over two years to figure this out, but I am continuing on my original path.
The important thing to remember here is, you have to write for yourself as much as anyone else. Yes, you hope your work will find its audience (how not?), but you have to write for yourself.
Nadia Boulanger did that, even though later she put her work aside. So did Charles Ives, who continued to write interesting music though his day job was in something else. (Insurance, I think.)
I hope I’ve learned that lesson now, and that I won’t have to learn it again.
Anyway, I’m back to working on my writing. And I do hope to have a novel done by the end of the year, along with a few short stories and maybe even finish that novella in my late husband Michael’s Atlantean Union universe…stay tuned.
10 Quick New Year’s Resolutions for 2020
It seems like everyone in the known universe is doing a “New Year’s Resolutions” post. So, I decided to do one myself…here goes!
In 2020, I resolve to…
1) Be kind, no matter what life throws at you. Life is too short to spread vitriol.
2) Forgive, but don’t necessarily forget. Forgiveness is essential for self-healing, but if you forget what someone has done and they just do it over and over again, what’s the point of that?
3) Get more quality sleep.
4) Write more, somehow.
5) Take time to enjoy nature whenever possible.
6) Speak truth to power.
7) Understand that good people can sometimes disagree, and that’s fine.
8) Enjoy the differences as well as the samenesses.
9) Laugh hard and often.
10) Watch the Brewers go deep into the playoffs. (Hey, I have no control over the last, but I figured I’d add it anyway!)
What are your New Year’s resolutions? Tell me about ’em in the comments!
Barb Caffrey's Blog 