I mentioned in an earlier post how I was considering mirroring my workflow and writing plans to the seasons. If I were following that now, I would be planning and writing in the fall and winter.
I still love that idea and expect to return to it—but not just yet. First, I need to bring The AI Anomaly into the world.
I was trying to take my time with the writing, but this story wants out and it wants out now. I guess birthing stories is like birthing babies in that respect. When the gestation is done, the baby is coming. No point in resisting it, eh?
So, I’ve shifted my focus into making this happen sooner rather than later. I’m not trying to burn myself out in the process. My goal is to write 2–3 chapters a day (on weekdays) until I have a solid draft. Once that’s complete, I’ll be able to confidently announce a release date. That way, I’ll have plenty of time for editing and feedback from beta readers.
I’m looking forward to it—and I hope you are too. This “kid” is special to me.
I’ve mentioned in other posts that I grew up as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints (LDS). My siblings and I were read Bible stories and learned lots of church songs. We used to go to the “Old Folks Home” occasionally and make crafts with and sing for the elderly there. Growing up this way actually had a positive impact on my character.
Some things may have changed since I was a teen, but back in my day, when you started high school, you also began Seminary. Each morning before school, you’d go to the church and have an hour of scripture study. My family lived too far away to do that, so my older sister and I had to stay after church on Sundays and get our lessons and study then. I memorized many, many scriptures in those days!
However, a lot didn’t sit right with me, and it started to feel like a lie when I said the words, “I’d like to bear my testimony. I know this church is true…”
By the way, this isn’t a church-bashing post. I wanted you to get a feel for my history with this type of thing. I have always thought of myself as a Christian. I try to live the way I think that means to live as that is what makes the most sense for me.
Returning to Scripture with a New Perspective
Ever since I published Sentenced last year, I’ve encountered situations, interactions, and information that has me wanting to hone up on my scripture knowledge. If someone references something, I want to know firsthand what the good book actually said.
So, I’ve been reading the Bible the past couple of weeks. I’m in the Old Testament now. Then, I’ll move into the New Testament. And, I’ll head over to the Book of Mormon.
Unsettling Observations from the Old Testament
I have to admit that the Old Testament is incredibly disturbing. As a kid, I was entertained by the child-friendly versions of stories like Noah, Moses and the Red Sea, David and Goliath, Jonah and the Whale, etc. I know I read the Bible as a teen, and various portions of it at different times in my adult life, but reading it right now…DUDE.
Some things I’ve noted thus far:
God loves the smell of barbecue.
People raised cattle/sheep or warred with each other. Apparently, there was nothing else to do. Oh, maybe there was one other thing – have a crapload of wives!
Being a woman in those days must have been a nightmare.
Then there’s that part where King Saul tells David he can marry his daughter for the price of 100 foreskins. David goes over and beyond and brings in 200 hundred foreskins! Can you imagine what that looked like in progress – a bunch of dead men getting their penises scalped?
(Hopefully, God doesn’t smote me for being cheeky.)
A Random Thought on Spiritual Evolution
I’m not even sure why I’m mentioning all this now, other than it seems to represent some sort of shift. It feels like I’m going deeper into the roots of what shaped me as a person. The violence and anger of this history stands out to me.
None of this is intended to criticize what is written in the Bible. For me, it is an interesting experience to come to it with all the life experience I have now as a new lens to view what is there.
Sometimes I think about the concept that “Everything that is, is right now. It can be no other way.” It partly suggests an acceptance to what is actually in front of you. It also makes me think about all time happening at once – with only a vibrational shift separating us from other timelines.
And I wonder…what if the healing that we do for ourselves now as the human species is what allowed Jesus to show up for us? By doing this work now, we are unlocking our potential throughout and across time.
Hopefully, this won’t be considered blasphemous. I’m on my journey will you all, too.
I’m really enjoying how things are unfolding this past week.
Writing Progress on The AI Anomaly
First off, I’ve officially started writing The AI Anomaly! I’m only one chapter in, but progress is progress—and this is the part I love. Once I get into the scenes and start thinking about what the reader needs to see and hear, the story threads begin to reveal themselves in surprising and exciting ways. It’s a whole different beast from outlining.
I’d love to have a solid draft completed by the end of June. I plan to share some snippets in my weekly newsletter as I mosey along, so sign up if you haven’t already…
Launching the “Experiment Lab” for Self-Growth
My friend Dave Baldwin and I are brainstorming a new project—an “experiment lab” website where self-growth seekers can join us in 30-day challenges to stretch toward their next level. If you’re like us, you’ve probably read a mountain of books and started more programs than you’ve finished. This “lab” will be a playful motivational space to take action and actually implement some of those ideas together.
Sound interesting? We’ve created a tentative website for it with a place to sign up for updates. Check it out!
Teaching Aids and Potential Book Club Questions
I’ve also been developing teaching aids for my middle-grade and teen books. That felt like a no-brainer. But now I’m wondering if I should add some discussion questions to the back of Goddess Game—for book clubs or friends who read it together.
What do you think? Would you use them? Let me know in the comments below.
Creative Play Time
I spent a lovely afternoon this past Friday crafting with one of my nieces. We pulled out the polymer clay and tools and spent half a day making things. We talked about everything from random kid stuff to surprisingly deep topics. It reminded me that writing may not be my only creative calling—maybe I’ll end up connecting with young creators in other ways too.
I love the fact that my husband and I (and my father-in-law) were able to get so much accomplished over our staycation that I wrote about last week. It allowed me to get back into my workflow without all those unfinished projects lurking in the background (and being stacked in boxes in the living room). My creative motor has been revving with new perspective.
Nature Knows Best?
Last week I mentioned an idea that I had about allowing my creative life to mirror nature. This idea has apparently been on my mind a bit as I also came across it in a draft of a letter I was writing to a penpal. I realize that, not only is this a feasible idea, it takes a lot of pressure off having to do all the things all the time. If I allow everything to have a season and not try to figure out how to do a little of everything every day, then life makes more sense to me.
Anybody else feeling this way? Or, am I the last person to figure this out?
Structure Without the Strain
That doesn’t mean that I am giving up on consistent action or habits. It just means that I intend to maintain the daily ones that help me have the energy and clarity of mind I need to do what I want to do. The other actions that relate more to actually creating will shift throughout the year as priorities change.
I feel like I sound vague, here. So, this is what I have in mind:
Since we’re currently in May and will soon be moving into the summer months, I intend to use this time be more social, to make connections, finish up smaller projects, and gorge on reading and learning new things. I feel like summer is a time of abundance and doing the necessary things to propagate continued existence.
In Fall, I will begin outlining and planning books for the next year. It is also a time of clearing things out such as selling inventory.
Winter is the time of writing. I don’t like to be out and about in the cold, anyway. The idea of a lovely hibernation where I write and prepare for the new year seems lovely.
Spring is the time of releasing new books and then shifting back into summer mode.
I have a more detailed plan, of course, but that is the overall idea. I would love this to be the structure for my life. However, we’ll see how putting it into action actually works out. Wish me luck.
Does anyone else have a plan like this? How has it worked out?
Whew. April? Gone. Vanished. Vaporized into a cloud of productivity and (mildly itchy) yardwork.
Here’s a peek at what filled the days:
Spent hours upon hours in online classes
Revamped my website—consolidated, streamlined, and now everything’s in one place
Took a staycation with my husband where we tackled house projects like champs (my father-in-law flew in to help with his mighty expertise)
House Projects Completed
o Took down old, starting-to-rot back deck to reveal nice brick steps underneath.
o Replaced four light fixtures and a ceiling fan inside the house
o We had an electrician add an outside outlet at the back of the house (strangely, we didn’t have one – it is an older house, though). He also added some GFL outlets in the kitchen and bathroom. We feel so much safer now!
o We installed a new range hood. So shiny, so nice.
o We added handrails to the steps at our side door and back door.
o Our neighbors let us cut down a dead tree in their yard that looked like it was going to fall over our fence. It was covered in all the vines: poison ivy, Virginia creeper, greenbriers. Thankfully, I only got a little poison ivy on my forearm! It’s still a bit itchy…
o Did some other landscaping and yard cleanup.
o Cleaned out the dryer vent.
o Had the AC maintenance guy do the annual service.
o Added an 8-ft vinyl fence panel in the space between our chainlink fence and the house (it was originally where the edge of the deck was and we needed to close it off so our dog woudn’t take his crusade against squirrels out into the neighborhood.
o Replaced an old toilet seat
o Installed a pull-up bar
We also picked strawberries at a local farm, played games, went out to some local shops, and enjoyed making and eating good food together.
But…
In the midst of all this growing and improvement, I lost some of the structures I had in place to keep various writing and art projects moving along. I’ve neglected posting anything for weeks.
I suppose sometimes life is like that.
A Seasonal Rhythm?
I had a thought over the past few weeks that it would be cool to mirror my life and workload to nature.
Over winter, I could write and work on creative projects with the intent of bringing them into the world during the spring.
I could shift to light creative projects in summer and fall with a focus on making sales and preparing for the upcoming winter.
I would also use the spring and summer to read and learn as much as possible because I love how that feeds my brain and creativity.
I’m not sure how feasible this idea is, but it might be worth exploring.
Back to the Writing
For now, I’m reviewing my project list and making a new plan for the rest of the year. I’m also getting back into the writing groove.
I have been working out some plot points the past couple of months for the “The AI Anomaly.” I have also been struggling with how I want to tell this story. I think it has to maintain some similarity to “The Resurrection Incident,” but mayhap there is enough wiggle room to shift the format in a way that makes it fun for me to write and, hopefully, for the reader to read.
I still love the story and am excited to get it out in the world. Time to make it happen.
I’ve been working on my next book, The AI Anomaly, and developing the story outline has been really stretching my ideas about humanity’s potential for evolution and what’s next.
My exploratory morning pages have churned out things that I didn’t even know were nesting in my inner workings.
This is a good place to be. I feel like I am on the right track with my habits and goals and I’m excited about how the story is growing.
“The Calm Before the Storm”
I had a fleeting thought this morning that I have felt this way before and then chaos ensued and I got knocked down or distracted or something got in the way of my progress. I thought, “Maybe this is the calm before the storm.”
I have thought that many times before.
I have had an expectation in the past of something negative balancing out my good. This train of thought presents a life where I am at the mercy of things happening to me and around me to determine how I feel about life at the moment.
Calm as a Choice
Even though that programming continues to pop up and test me, I know better. I have had enough experience to understand that I am in control of how I feel in any situation even if I am not in control of the situation.
This self-control is the calm. I enjoy this quiet place within myself. Focus and productivity grow out of it.
I’m not always perfect at maintaining my calm, but I have been working on daily habits to help me stay present to it.
It is a work in progress that I am happy to continue.
I am embracing the calm as my normal and there is no storm unless I allow it.
