Are you ever afraid to take the next step, whatever step that is?

Happy October! True confessions time. Wall of NO. Cozy up & Read.

Photo by Martin Katler for Unsplash

I am a big scaredy cat.

I am. The moment I start planning something new no matter what, it’s like Fear and her buddy, Anxiety show up, sit me down, and tell me in the sternest of voices:

“NO!!!”

Then I build a giant “Wall of NO,” with excuses and procrastination. That is one honking, huge wall of NO:

This wall has room for more but I was tired of adding all the mean stuff.

The Wall started up last month as I contemplated adding to Z Words!!

I had some big dreams and just like that, the Wall starts talking to me: No way kiddo, you’ve never done anything like that before… who do you think you are?

Tell me you sit down to work every day and cheerfully Just. Do. It.

You don’t check your email? Play Wordle? Nope?

Get another cup of coffee? Who? You? Never!

ahhhh I envy you!

I’m not too fond of Wordle. But I play other word puzzle games, make more coffee, play with the cats, and oy vay! the email.

The step I’ve been wanting to take with Z Words is to start adding more content (and potentially value) for you who are reading this.

And so naturally, I’ve gotten a cold, been deprived of sleep, allowed my self-esteem to crash, and stripped myself of good work habits, so I can continually say “No I can’t do it… I JUST CAN’T!!”

Time to tear the Wall of NO down again.

The way I do this is to pretend I’m one of those people who can sit down and do it.

I think the bigger versions of Z Words might have to wait until the New Year, but for now, here’s this amazing offer:

I lowered the initial yearly and monthly price for subscriptions, but starting in 2024, only the monthly post will be free. All other content throughout the month will be for paid subscribers.

If you’re a new reader, this is for you: A Cozy Up and Read special of 20% off the price of yearly subscriptions FOREVER. If you are renewing, do it now and you’ll get that price FOREVER! This offer is open until the end of the year.

If you’ve been hesitant about subscribing, now would be a great time to do it.

Hector & Alex are cozy, but alas! unable to read.

NaNoWriMo is coming.

NaNoWriMo is National Writing Month. In the 30 days of November, you attempt to write a novel of at least 50,000 words. That means you have to write at least 1,667 words a day.

For some people that’s a piece of cake. For others, it’s a soul-searing struggle. This year, in November, I’m going to attempt to write at least the skeletal framework of a novel during NaNoWriMo. It is going to be a sequel to one of my other NaNo novels, which means it will be poorly written.

Don’t worry. Don’t edit!

During NaNoWriMo, I send my inner editor someplace far away, where she can’t slow me down because she’s too busy rearranging shelves in Dewey Decimal order.

And actually, that’s a good technique for starting any draft. Don’t even look at your writing as you pour your thoughts onto the page.

I’ll do some editing and share what I’m writing with you.

Oscar update:

We went to Niagara Falls for vacation in August. During this vacation, Oscar told us that when we got back, he wanted to be more independent and not have dinner with us every Sunday.

This was terrifying, anxiety-producing, sorrowful, and the most joyful thing I’d heard from Oscar lately.

I love that he was proclaiming his independence.

But I’m mourning part of my own identity as Mom and co-provider of Sunday dinner and Columbo. Oh well. Another reminder to let go and let my son, Oscar, be who he is.

So, just one more thing… I’m not crying… it’s just my allergies…