Category: Uncategorized

Photo by Jackson Simmer on Unsplash

Hello Family, Friends, and Fans!

First of all, thank you to all of you for supporting me so far on this journey. I really appreciate your support and interest in my writing and my life.

There are some changes afoot. Big changes. And in light of these changes, I will no longer be writing and making weekly blog posts here.

Why? Because I am publishing Poseidon’s Pearl, Book One in The Poseidon’s Object Serie on Kindle Vella.

Those of you who see me on social media may be familiar with this post already, but I have the cover image below for your pleasure, designed by May Dawney Designs.

HOW DOES KINDLE VELLA WORK?

1. I will publish weekly “episodes” (aka chapters) of my novel, Poseidon’s Pearl.

2. The first three chapters are FREE. Then, you buy tokens to get the following chapters. This way, if you don’t like my book for any reason, you don’t have to continue to read it.

3. Buying tokens is inexpensive. You can get 200 tokens for $2, which will get you approximately 4-8 episodes.

4. After the last chapter has been available on Kindle Vella for at least 30 days, I can publish the book in both paperback and ebook format.

HOW KINDLE VELLA HELPS YOU AS A READER:

1. It lets you get a taste of my writing, and you get to decide if you want to keep reading my book or decide to DNF(Do Not Finish) it.

2. Since you get my book in weekly updates, it gives you less wait time between my books.

3. If you like the book enough to want to reread it, or you want to wait until the whole book is out, I will publish the book on Kindle Unlimited as an e-book. Or you could get a paperback copy.

HOW KINDLE VELLA HELPS ME AS A WRITER:

1. It tells me if readers like my work, if there is interest, etc.

2. It gives me time to work on the next book, so I can complete them and make them the best quality they can be before publishing them, also in this same format.

3. I get your feedback on each chapter in the form of a thumbs up, a favorite token, or a comment.

4. Kindle Vella allows me to build my reader base.

5. I can do one last read-through of each chapter so you get the highest quality writing I can manage.

The Prologue will be available for your reading pleasure for FREE on February 28th, 2023! Mark your calendars!

Each episode after that will publish once weekly, every Tuesday. This is why I will be discontinuing these weekly blog posts in favor of weekly chapters or “episodes.”

If you missed it, here is the cover for the ebook! Kindle Vella will use the same image, but it had to be cropped.

If you made it here, thank you! I appreciate all of you.

Until next time, F3s!

What does mental health mean to me? 
Taken literally, it’s having a healthy mind. 
But what does that entail? 

Basic functioning, of course. 
Hygiene, jobs, leisure, and responsibilities. 
A contributing member of society and familial units. 
Cooking, cleaning, caring for others. 
The Basics. 

Then, we go deeper, to 
healthy relationships and habits. 

How? 

Your relationship with yourself comes
first and foremost. 
Others come and go, 
but you always deal with yourself. 

So why don’t we make it easier? 

Loving yourself and who you are will make life much easier— 
and more enjoyable, too. 

After (or let’s face it, sometimes as) you learn to 
love yourself, 
you’ll find friends along the way. 
Like-minded people. 

Get healthy with yourself (or start that journey,) 
and others will naturally join you. 

Every day you make choices. 
It’s not a one-time thing. 

One choice. Every day. To 
love yourself. 

How?

Figuring out the lies we tell ourselves, 
challenging them, and 
replacing them with a new, healthier thought or truth. 

Recognize that feelings are not Truth. 

Truth is this: 
We are all human, and as such, 
we have certain things we are entitled to. 

Love and belonging. 
We are all worthy of these things. 

Grace when we make mistakes. 
We are human and imperfect. 
Shit happens. 
And when it does— 
either we are too hard on ourselves, or 
others are too hard on us. 
We all deserve grace and understanding. 

And the final Truth? 

We are enough exactly as we are. 
Oh, there’s always room for improvement. 
But the key to happiness lies not 
in the future we strive towards, nor 
the past we replay, but 
in the present moment. 

Breathe. Feel the air expand your lungs. 
Enjoy the feeling of being simply 
Alive. 

Love yourself and you will believe Truth. 
Knowing Truth makes basic functioning less of a chore. 

Others are drawn towards Truth-seekers 
and often relationships— both 
platonic and romantic— 
benefit from the foundation of 
Worthiness. 

And it all starts with:
Love. 

Three Important Messages

First, I would like to congratulate everyone for making it through this pandemic so far, and to give my condolences to those who have lost someone during this time. It’s been a long two years.

Second, I would like to address my absence. Like so many, the pandemic has affected my mental health, and there were some external circumstances that impacted me even more. I had to take a break from writing, editing, social media, school, Write of Passion, and other areas of my life.

Third, I want to say that I am easing myself back to productivity and taking baby steps to make sure I’m addressing my health, both mental and physical, and energy levels. I have accepted that I will never be consistent when posting here, and that’s okay.

Thanks to all of you who have continued to support me through this time and who continue to return to my site and take the time to read these. You truly keep me going. Welcome to all of you who are new! I’m glad you’re here and I hope you’ll return to read my work.

Future Plans

I am making some tentative plans for my writing career.

First, I am revamping Write of Passion to become a small press that publishes anthologies. Yes, that means we are doing away with the quarterly journal and working towards releasing one anthology per year. It was a tough decision, but what it came down to was that the people who kept it running in my absence worked super hard and it was taking a toll on them.

As someone who understands mental health, I figured the best path forward was to lighten the load for everyone at Write of Passion.

Second, I am attempting to establish a routine for myself. I have two themes per day that I will focus on. Today was school and writing, which means I did my schoolwork for the day and am now focusing on updating my author biography, website, and blog.

I also have plans to edit the first draft of Poseidon’s Pearl today, and over the next few weeks, hopefully complete it. I will not be releasing it soon, as it will need to go to the editor first and I want to stockpile a few manuscripts before I publish them so I can keep up with a regular release schedule so there isn’t pressure to finish a book on a certain timeline and I have some wiggle room for my mental health.

I am going back to college to complete my Bachelor’s in Creative Writing and then have plans to apply for the MBA program so I can bring Write of Passion to the next level, as well as my writing. I am taking business courses in undergrad as free electives.

A Note On Productivity

I’m not planning too far ahead and will take each day as it comes. A friend of mine reminded me that productivity is based on what you can do right now. It has nothing to do with what you could or should be able to do based on history.

Be kind to yourself, cut yourself some slack, and take care of your mental health.