So, I Did the Thing, Bit the Bullet, Whatever, and I'm Writing an Open Letter of Sorts

Hi all! Long time no see, eh? I've been a busy bee, publishing, writing, doing all the things, and setting up my first *gasp* real newsletter. Bet you're all wondering what happened to me, eh? Grab your coffee and settle in. Let's do this thing.

This blog is handy when you need information, and according to one reader, I wasn't doing enough about providing that information. Hence the death of new posts.

I usually don't let comments get to me, but that one was particularly nasty. If you're out there reading this, commenter, congratulations! You won. I stopped blogging altogether. Now where do you get your tips and tricks or general information? Was it worth it, being nasty to someone you don't even know? You not knowing what was going on in MY life at that time and typing out that comment was the literal last straw for me.

My husband was in chemo, and I was dealing with my own medical issues that I'm not going into here because it doesn't matter. I pushed through. I'm still around, just not here where I have to listen to your crap and have no way to block you.

Here I was, busting my fingers each day on a post when I was worn out, taking time to capture screenshots and/or make how-to videos (all free and with no ads, mind you) when it was all I could do to get out of bed and stay that way each day, and I was met with your crappy words.

I can't block you from my blog because you commented here anonymously (and I didn't approve said comment). Way to be brave, hiding behind your computer screen, tearing other people down, and telling them they aren't doing enough for YOU.

But I DO have control over other things: My Facebook (I do love that block feature), my IG (same block feature), and my books. That's where I've been spending my time. Not here, where you can make me feel small.

I DID NOT STOP. I just stopped here.

Now, I've started a newsletter, because I DO miss talking with the people that matter/care and come to me for news and advice on all things bookish.

Guess what? I can block you there, too, and that was my final deciding factor in making one. Oh, and I also got super fit with the time I got back from not blogging, so that's something I guess I should thank you for. #Winning

If y'all have made it this far, thanks for being staunch supporters of my blog (unless you were that commenter). I tried to help others more than I helped myself, and my newsletter will have news from the Indie world, some musings of my own, a great book quote, and information about books that have recently released (mine and others). Perhaps I'll even drop in a review from time to time. Who knows?

You can subscribe here if you're interested.

If not, no hurt feelings, but know I won't be back here unless it's to scream about my new releases, and ALL comments will be turned off on ALL posts thereafter. I don't need that kind of negativity in my life.

I wish you all the best.

Jo out.

CRAY-Z Weeks - Updates and Such

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Holy crow, what a nutty few weeks it's been. Today's post is just a little what-not about what's been going on and why the blog has been so everloving silent. Ready? Grab your coffee (or tea), and let's get going!

So, after my London trip, I know you've noticed things have been rather quiet around here. It's hard to get back into the groove after being bombarded on all sides by people, but that wasn't the only issue. My husband was overly stressed, and he had to travel to another state to be with his father in his last few days.

Let me tell you what, trying to concentrate on anything when you wish you were with someone you love while they're going through a hard time isn't easy. I'd just come "down" from the overseas trip, and I thought I was ready to get back on the pony, when all this started.

Sad to say, my father-in-law took his last breath on September 11. I jumped right on a plane, and just returned home Saturday. Now, I sit here, wondering if I'm going to be able to get back on my schedule. I believe I'll be tweaking it today and starting fresh tomorrow. Some things worked, and others, not so much. But you never know until you try! I did well for a month or two, but a couple of things just weren't given enough time (like my blog), and I found myself scrambling to get it done in the short time I'd allotted. If you have suggestions for new topics, drop them in here.


That all changes this week. If you've been following me a while, you'll know I have two events at the end of October. I'll TRY to post during that week I'm on the road, but I'm making no promises. Keep up with my Facebook page, because I intend to have live video happening when I do my keynote speech. Yeah, it won't be me manning my device, but I promise it'll be live--October 20 at around 9am EST. WHEEEEEEEEE!!

On another note, Utterances is about 20-25k from being complete. That story is draining as hell. Very emotional. I'm gonna try like hell to have it out before Christmas. Send me good vibes! LOL!

One upside to all of this is that my road trip is with another author, Tia Bach, so we'll probably spend a good amount of time writing in the evenings. Maybe even plot new novels together. How exciting would that be? *grin*

As for events, these are my last for a lonnnnnng time. I'm only doing Roanoke Author Invasion next year, so if you wanna see me, you'll have to either come to OIBF or GLBB this year, or RAI next year. After that, I'm giving it a rest for a while and getting back to what I do best: WRITING.

November is NaNo month, and I'm planning to get back on my serial killer novel then. Anyone else going to write all the words that month?

Drop your NaNo name in the comments, and I'll give you a friend request/follow before then. Or, you can friend me here.

Well, I've chatted your ears off long enough. Time to get to revamping my schedule! That's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Midlife Crisis or Just a Good Idea?

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! Today I'm going to talk about something I've been pondering (I've been doing a lot of that, eh?). If you'd like to join in and discuss, feel free. If not, just sit back and enjoy the inner-turmoil of a nearly forty-(what?)year-old. Grab that coffee or tea, and let's get going!

As you all may know, I'm a freak about schedules. They give me order among the chaos that's life. Since about June of last year, my schedule has been all shot to hell. I blogged about a lot of it here because I needed a way to get it out/off my shoulders. Well, now, things are starting to calm down and come back to the way they should be.

So, I made a weekly schedule to accomplish some things I've been needing to do (write, business stuff with IBGW, grow a couple of my platforms, etc...) and hit it hard.

But I did something I hadn't planned for: I changed the way I eat and added an hour a day for exercise.

Yesterday, I started to think about why I did that, and I realized I'm only a week away from my fortieth birthday. Yep, that's right, I said forty. When it hit me, I had a moment of panic. There are still so many things I want to accomplish in my life. I have books out the wazoo that I want to read, write, and publish, too.

Because I have MS, this also dragged the question of how many years do I have left to do all those things? I know I don't feel like I thought a forty-year-old woman should feel. I still have the energy of a twenty-year-old cheerleader some days.

Could this be the beginning of the end, and how long will the end really take to greet me?

Thinking about that has me contemplating where I'm going with my life. Am I going to be content working on things for others forever, or do I want to dive into my work and keep breaking down conventional walls?

Was changing my eating habits just in time, or too late to make a real difference? Am I having a midlife crisis, or was all this just the sensible thing to do?

I'm a little frustrated. Like I said, there are still so many things I want to accomplish, and I feel like every tick of the clock is robbing me of another moment.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

There goes another minute of my life.

Of course, all this may be stemming from writing Utterances. I can't say a whole lot about the book right now, but I think you'll all love it when I'm done. I'm such a sucker for anything to do with the human condition and learning/surmising what makes people do the things they do and how life occurrences change the way we think.

I'm happy to say my schedule is working out fabulously though. Just look at the blog! What you can't see is that I have a clearer head, and I feel like a million bucks. Maybe it was just a good idea.

That brings me to my question of the day:
Do you ever examine your own humanity? What are your biggest goals and/or life questions? Is there anything BIG you want to accomplish before you shuffle off this mortal coil? Do you find it difficult to get a grasp on a schedule?

Talk about it!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo