Falling into the work
So long summer
I noticed a big change last week: it’s now dark out when I get up at 5am. The weather turned colder too, and while I have to admit it felt good to put a sweater on, I’m sad to see the end of the longer summer days.
It was a highly productive summer for me. While I had a lot of legal video work, I finished revisions for my next novel. I put out three new products: a camping logbook, a memoir workbook, and my latest, a prompt journal designed to help you move through any blocks in your way.
The intent of Unfunk Your Mind is to give you space to clear the chaos. When you are feeling melancholy or uninspired and those big feelings have nowhere to go, pick up this journal and just open to any page. It might distract you, help heal you, and force your brain to think of anything other than The Big Issue.
I had so much fun putting these guidebooks/journals together. It was a fantastic distraction from the heavy work of editing a novel. Coming up with prompts, working on the interior of the camping journal, and transforming my memoir course into book form was challenging, but fun. I felt like I was still creating even though I wasn’t writing prose.
Now that fall is upon us, I’ll be more focussed on novels. The cooler days are more conducive to dedicated time at the keyboard. I’m less tempted by afternoon bike rides, or strolling markets.
I’m also doing something new and scary. I’ve been accepted into a 10-month manuscript project. Starting this week, I’ll be meeting once a week with a small group of other writers, workshopping our pages as we move a novel into completion. I know writers who have done this and every single one has reported that it was so amazing for their writing craft and personal growth. I’m really looking forward to 38 weeks of focussed work and constructive criticism. It’s going to be intense, but honestly, I am happiest when I’m in a room full of other writers. These are my people.
If you want to have a look at my summer products, the memoirs, or my middle grade novels, everything is on my website. Perhaps you need some gifts…101 days until Christmas.
Don’t hurt me…
xo Dana
What I’m reading
I read Charmaine Wilkerson’s Black Cake two years ago and it was a solid 4-star read. I was invited to read the ARC for Good Dirt and it was an easy yes. I’ve only just cracked it open and I am already getting lost in the story. Spectacular cover, too.