Surprise! Kickstarter Pre-launch!!!

Follow along to pre-order my series finale and get special editions!

🎉 CELEBRATING 🎉

Surprise!!!!! (No, the baby isn’t here yet... although I am 39 weeks pregnant, so any day now)

But my Kickstarter pre-launch page is here!!! AHHH!

FOLLOW THE KICKSTARTER HERE!

Backstory: The final book in my series (When Death Is Shattered) will release in 2027. To celebrate, I’m releasing special editions through a Kickstarter this summer (probably July). A few weeks ago, as my due date was getting closer, I had the thought “Oooooh, I should pre-launch my Kickstarter before the baby gets here.”

As a therapist, I love the mindset that sometimes we should try to notice intrusive, irrational thoughts and allow them to come and go like a wave. I clearly did not do that 😀

But I’m so glad I took this step because it means one less thing to do once baby gets here (and all I will want to be doing is cuddling)!

I’d LOVE IT if you followed my Kickstarter pre-launch page!!!! By following, you’ll get notified when my Kickstarter goes live. It’s a simple task for you, but having followers makes a huge difference for authors!

What should you expect on my Kickstarter page??

• Graphics that I spent a long time making!!

• My original art of the Fates + lots of info about my books!

• Reward tiers to complete series with original cover (ebook and paperback)

• Reward tiers for the SPECIAL EDITION paperbacks & hardcovers

More to come in the upcoming months, including my final cover! I’m proud of myself for this first big step!

A note for authors: if you ever want to run a Kickstarter for your books, I highly suggest the book “Kickstarter for Authors.” It was recommended to me several times before I finally decided to spend then $10 (TEN WHOLE DOLLARS?!) on the ebook. It is WELL worth the $10. Kickstarter has a lot to it, and this book very thoughtfully maps it all out, giving you helpful guidance to tackle such a big project.

😫 STRUGGLING 😫

HEYYYY I sent When Death Is Shattered to my beta readers!!!!

Wait, isn’t that another celebration?? Not a struggle?

But this belongs in the struggling section because sending off my manuscript means that now I’m in a creative lull. I have an old NaNoWriMo sci-fi standalone project I want to jump back into soon... but with everything going on, I’m not ready quite yet.

Which ALSO means my brain doesn’t have a good distraction right now.

My biggest challenge with not having a creative mental outlet right now is that it’s hard to just BE with my thoughts. When I’m drafting or editing, I can think about my next scene during downtime. But without that, my mind gets race-y and stuck.

I talked in my last newsletter about how I’m spending this month observing what gets in the way of my ability to be present. The answer is becoming very clear: my own brain is not fun to be present with.

🧠 LEARNING 🧠

That transitions me nicely into what I’m LEARNING because hooray, hooray, I’m not just sitting in the struggle.

I’m g r o w i n g! 😀

This has been such a season of learning. Learning about running a private practice, learning about raising a baby, and learning about the idea of being present.

(You’d think after getting my master’s in psych and six years as a mental health clinician, I’d be decent at mindfulness but…)

In a FUN coincidence - I realized I had signed up for a two-day mindfulness training for therapists a while back, and I now have access to the virtual recording!

A few takeaways/reminders that aren’t related to writing:

• I am MOST present with mindfulness practices that help me connect with my five senses. And I’m much better at it when following a guided meditation than when trying to do it on my own.

• We get a sense of “busyness” when we focus on what we’re not doing right now. If we’re only focused on the task immediately in front of us, we don’t feel busy because we’re just doing that one thing. But when we start thinking about everything we’re NOT doing (the to-do list, the next thing on the schedule), that’s when busyness takes over. Maybe this seems obvious, but this was really impactful for me!

• Sometimes we can use mindfulness to avoid present emotions and struggles - when we do this, we’re missing the point. Mindfulness can help us stay WITH difficult emotions, observe them, and allow them to come and go without needing to engage with them. This was a nice reminder for my “being present” challenge - I want to build my ability to be present with anxiety and stress without letting it control me.

And the big takeaway related to my writing:

• Writing could be considered a “distraction,” but it also helps me enjoy the present moment and connect to my reality more. If I have to choose between (a) ruminating about stressful things and (b) creating a scene in my brain that reflects my emotions and thoughts about the world... I feel like (b) helps me be better process my life and connect with real things in meaningful ways. Sometimes an “escape” can actually be a form of deep, reflective self-connection.

🧘‍♀️ RESTING 🧘‍♀️

Watching:

• Brooklyn 99 (rewatch)

• AP Bio (it’s so funny)

• The Pitt - new season!

Recent reads I loved:

• Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult

• These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant

• This Poison Heart by Kaylnn Bayron

• Currently reading and almost done!!! It’s so good - Killed by True Love’s Kiss by Haley Bono

Regulating: Being 39 weeks pregnant means I’m trying hard to focus on my self-care!

• Dealing with insomnia by getting out of bed to stretch, read, and tidy. After some of these calming and productive activities, I can eventually fall back asleep on the couch!

• I listen to my body to know when it wants to walk, stretch, sit on the yoga ball, squat, move, etc. Sometimes I just want to lay around all day, but I ALWAYS feel better after moving.

• 9:30am - 11:30am is my hardest part of the day because if I’m not intentional about having a second breakfast (lol), then I’ll just end up eating a bunch of chocolate. This especially happens when I get into a task and then don’t want to pull myself away to eat. This is not just a pregnancy thing, I have always been this way. So I will keep working on being more proactive with healthy snacks and mini-meals BEFORE I get sucked into a task and become a chocolate fiend.

I’m sure next time I send a newsletter, I’ll have a baby!!! Stay tuned, because I’ll be running an ebook deal after baby gets here where each of my first three books will be only $.99!

Kickstarter link one more time :D

And Substack subscribe link: