Shortly before we moved house (and moved provinces), our dear Boo passed away. She was with us for ten years and warmed our house in Calgary, warmed our laps on those cold winter days, and warmed our hearts with her inability to properly meow.
Me & the Boo. (photo: Rissa Renae)
I think the loss of Boo affected Mochi the most. Although they weren’t the best of friends, Boo was a companion and kept Mochi company. Throw in a pandemic move to another province and nine months in a tiny apartment, Mochi needed a friend.
Be it ever so tiny, it was home for nine months. (photo: Rissa Renae)
Enter: the local SPCA and two adorable furballs. Ramen and Udon (as named by the foster mum, so the names just stuck) caught our eyes and captured our hearts. Not much is known about them other than that they’re part of a bigger litter.
Udon front & centre, with “big” brother Ramen in the background (photo: Rissa Renae)
Ramen is the bigger cat and has a white stripe down his nose. As cats go, he’s normal on the surface. However, he seems to either get lost often, or he can’t find his brother, and he’ll start howling. It’s awesome at 3AM, and by awesome I mean annoying af.
Ramen takes over Mochi’s bed. (photo: Rissa Renae)
Then there’s Udon. My suspicion is he was the last kitten born, and perhaps had a bit of a difficult birth. He’s small compared to his brother, and he’s . . . well . . . let’s just say he’s special.
He sleeps sitting up, he tries to fight his own reflection, patio doors are magical barriers that he constantly runs into, and bathroom rugs are the most amazing playtoys. Not to mention no toes are safe in his presence. Also awesome at 3AM.
Udon is . . . ‘special’. (photo: Rissa Renae)
Ramen cuddles, Udon doesn’t. Ramen hates kisses, Udon gives kitty kisses like they’re going out of style. Ramen doesn’t like Mochi, but Udon sees Mochi as his best friend. The two couldn’t be more different.
They may be weird but they sure are cute. (photo: Rissa Renae)
The house somehow feels complete now–three humans, three furbabies.
Here’s to the next ten years, and hopefully more, of a house full of hair, toys, and lots of love.
Life gets in the way, at least, it did for me during the pandemic lockdowns. I suffered a roller coaster of anxiety and panic attacks at being stuck in my house (I’m an introvert and I couldn’t stand to be in my own house!). I also have the a-cursed “underlying medical conditions”, and I was certain COVID-19 would mean my demise should I catch it.
During those long days of ‘can’t stand my house but too afraid to go outside’, I also didn’t write.
We also chose to move house across the country.
We were crazy!
When the dust settled and I was back at the keyboard, I logged into my KDP account, all excited to publish the 4th Book in my Rose Cross Academy series. Upon clearing the dust off my KDP account, I came to a horrific discovery.
I couldn’t access my KDP account anymore.
After we moved, my phone number changed. Thanks to that villainous beast called Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), any attempts to log into my old KDP account required a verification code to be texted to my old number. A call to Support told me that after a year of no account activity, the Amazon side of my account had been terminated and could not be retrieved.
Keep in mind that there is zero public-facing information on how to contact KDP Support without logging into a KDP account (which I couldn’t do since KDP wanted to send an MFA code to my old phone). All links redirect to Amazon customer support. So I racked my brain at what to do about my lost books and KDP account.
Important Note: Online KDP Support will point you towards forms to fill out to prove your identity in order to change the phone number for MFA. Unfortunately, those forms require you to log into your KDP account that, in my case, wanted to send MFA to the old phone, thus providing no help to me. All civilian links for KDP Support redirect to Amazon Support, and Amazon Support is not equipped to deal with KDP issues. (It took me 5 different Amazon Support team members before I finally gave up).
Long-story-short, after trying many different things over the course of a month, I finally regained control of my previously published novels. Here’s how I did it.
Prerequisites:
An error-free formatted manuscript ready to be published to physical media (not an eBook), complete with cover matter. This is a must.
A separate email account other than the one used for the locked/lost KDP account. One can easily be obtained from Google.
An ISBN number of a published book in the old account.
Banking account info used in the old account.
Mailing address used in the old account.
Step 1: Create a new Amazon KPD account
It is true that Amazon will delete “duplicate” accounts. I’m not sure what kicks off that process on the Amazon side. What we’re going to do is create a new account, then have KDP Support merge the old account into this new account. I thought I heard a rumour there was a one-month grace period to do so, but don’t quote me on this!
Set up this new KDP account as if you were a new author just starting out, using a different email address than that used in the old account. Make sure to enter tax and banking info, and set up the account as directed.
Step 2: Publish a physical book
This is an essential step. KDP will only merge into an account with an active, published book. Yes, this can be an eBook, but the physical book is required in order to hook up the Amazon Marketplace portion of the KDP account. You can simply publish a rough draft manuscript formatted into a book template or old CreateSpace template, then bring that through to being ‘Live’ if a final draft is unavailable. The important point is to have a physical book live for the next step.
Step 3: Set up the Amazon account
Once the physical version of the book is ‘Live’, order an author copy. No worries, you don’t actually have to order the copy in the end. The point of this activity will be to get the Amazon Marketplace account set up and linked to the KDP account. I chose Amazon.com as the marketplace as the U.S. was my largest market even though I am a Canadian author.
Go through the motions of setting up the Amazon account, including adding a credit card and mailing address. Once set up, if you don’t want to purchase the author copy, simply remove the book from the cart.
Step 4: Request a call from KDP Support
Go back to the KDP Bookshelf, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, and click the “Contact Us” link.
Under “Account, taxes, and getting started”, choose “Close or merge accounts”.
Choose to be contacted by phone. Fill in the form as needed, then wait for the call back. I receive the return call in about 10 minutes.
Step 5: KDP Support will help you merge accounts
The KDP Support person will ask questions about books in the old account. They will ask for information that can personally identify the old account as yours. This verification process took about 5 minutes.
Once that has been completed, the Support person will email the address on file for the old account to seek permission to merge. At this point, the Support call will likely end. Login to the email account associated with the old KDP account. Once you receive that email from Support, simply reply to that email stating that you approve of the merge.
I waited until the next morning and found all my old books now popped up in my new account! I was so happy.
Step 6: Clean up
Whether there have been changes to the way the physical books and eBooks are linked, I wouldn’t know since I hadn’t logged into my account in about two years. I did have to re-link my eBooks to my paperbacks. This took about 24-hours to sort itself out as the eBooks stuck around individually even after I linked them.
As of writing this, all my books are back under my control, complete with all the ratings and reviews I had received. All my original short links still work as well.
What did I learn?
So the moral of this story, I guess, is to log into both the KDP and Amazon Marketplace accounts at least once a year. This is to approve or acknowledge any changes to the functionality of your books, or agree to changes in terms and conditions that may happen on either site.
When I was going through the motions of trying to reclaim my previous works, it helped that I had my copyright notice from the United States Copyright Office. I know registered copyrights are a polarizing topic to some indie authors, as your work is technically copyright as soon as you write it. My case may be different, but I was told I needed to seek permission from “the original publisher” (aka myself) in order to claim the novels in my own account. Having that physical copyright proof saved me the step of having to write and certify a publishing release statement from myself to myself, and got me immediate help with KPD during the process.
This piece of paper (redacted and cropped) saved my sanity. (photo: Author)
All in all, I’m glad to have my novels back in my control, and I’m more than happy that all the reviews and ratings came with them. I’m not as prolific at writing as I’d like to be, so I’ve set myself up a reminder to log into my accounts at least every six months to keep them active, and tend to any updates in terms of service that may be pending.
This year is going well for writing, and I’ve published 1 of 2 scheduled books already. I may not be as prolific as some of my favourite authors (Sanderson, I’m looking at you!), but I’m honing my craft to become more prolific than I have been.
Here in the Lower Mainland, it’s also cherry blossom time.
Sakura trees line a small park in Burnaby (Photo: Author)
If I were to tell you that self-publishing my 4th novel, Blood & Water, book #4 in my Rose Cross Academy series, was a slog, it would be an understatement. Although enormous self-publishing success stories can give us indie authors hope, the process is unnecessarily complicated, riddled with pitfalls, and stacked against us smaller indie authors.
Amazon and KDP. I’m looking at you.
But that’s for another post.
This post is all about prepping for Camp NaNoWriMo under the canopy of sakura that’s currently covering my new home-city.
If you’re unfamiliar with either NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) or Camp NaNo, think of it as an online community for indie writers and those looking to publish their first or next novel. NaNo offers a place to connect with fellow writers, discover local or online writing communities, and find the motivation you need to write and grow your novels and writing habits.
Fallen cherry blossoms on a brick sidewalk. (Photo: Author)
Camp NaNo is a less structured and more open version of NaNoWriMo. Think of Camp as a place for you to set your own goals and work towards them at your own pace without the stress of meeting a daily word count goal.
I use Camp NaNo as another tool in my motivational toolbox, aside from my Discord groups (which I discovered during NaNoWriMo 2021), and my Zoom group.
For April, I’m aiming to flesh out a gaslamp/low-steampunk fantasy I’m just calling “Four Crows” right now. For this story, I have a beginning, middle, and end figured out, but I haven’t decided if this will be a stand-alone or a series yet.
Morning raindrops clinging to blossoms. (Photo: Author)
Now, I’m a pantser, 100%. Sure, I can create a novel plan, but heck if I can stick with it. I’ve tried. Oh, I’ve tried to stick to an outline. The writing comes out forced, boring, and reads like I’m just going through the motions of moving characters through a story line. My pantsing brain knows that Character A needs to escape City A, hide in the forest, then travel to City B, but if I have to constrain myself to the how’s and why’s of that journey, my writing and my creativity suffers.
That being said, when I say I’m ‘prepping’ for Camp NaNo, what I mean is that I’m developing a writing strategy similar to that which I’d follow during November’s NaNoWriMo. I have a list of scenes I’d like to write in order to connect parts I’ve already written. I don’t always know how those scenes will go, but this is part of my creative process.
The tools I use may seem very rudimentary for prepping–my writing notebook and several coloured pens. I have notes on ideas, what scenes need to be written, bullet points of what I think should happen, and a list of transitions between scenes I need to figure out. During Camp NaNo, I’ll go through my notebook and check off items as they grab my interest.
A typical page in my novel notebook, blurred since all my projects are listed. (Photo: Author)
As for my other projects, I mentioned earlier I managed to self-publish my 4th novel, after much hair pulling and spew-age of expletives. That’s one book down of two I plan to publish this year! For the remainder of this year, I’m thinking three projects will be occupying my writing time.
Project #1 – This is the second book I’m planning to publish, and it is tickling the 200K word mark. Ouch. The complete manuscript is about 85% done, and I may end up splitting this book into Part 1 and Part 2, then publishing them with months of each other. I’m still going to count this as a single release since this is a single, yet massive, story. And as per my brain (since I can’t seem to write in stand-alone novel mode), I’ve already written a good amount of a sequel to this novel.
This will be in the LitRPG genre as it follows a group of people stranded inside a virtual reality RPG game after the virtual reality gear suffers a failure. Think of this as the world of online RPG’s meets Battle Royale or The Hunger Games.
Project #2 – I’ve briefly mentioned my gaslamp/low-steampunk fantasy. This is my focus for April and Camp NaNo. This story follows a young girl navigating an 1800’s-esque North America after a war over magic tore it apart. Magic has always been commonplace here. As the industrial revolution looms and people begin relying more on technology instead of magic, war breaks out. Technology and innovationare wiped out along with books and the world’s knowledge.
I’m planning some interesting villains for this novel/series–one which we’ll kinda be able to figure out early on. This antagonist will suffer a nearly fatal injury early on in the novel, but recover in time to start laying waste to the world. The other villain will be a “slow burn” villain, meaning they’ll start out as a protagonist, then as things happen to them throughout the story, will start turning evil. This character in particular has been fun to write!
The frog guardian of Cherry Blossom Garden, Burnaby. (Photo: Author)
Project #3 – Other than finishing my current YA series, The Rose Cross Academy, I’ve been shying away from YA as I haven’t been liking where the genre has been going in recent years. Many of the novel’s I’ve thumbed through rely on the same tired and unhealthy tropes, all the while still romanticizing toxic relationships, especially when it comes to female main characters. I’ve had an idea for a YA novel in the back of my mind, but have left it on the side due to the above reasons.
I am fascinated by the paranormal, so this will be another novel where ghosts and demons provide the underlying conflict. This will be an end-of-days type of novel leaning heavily on the ideas of the Biblical Apocalypse. Since I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s and gobbled up anything manga studio CLAMP put out, I’ve always had a Tokyo Babylon/X1999 tale rolling around in my head–two factions facing off over the fate of humanity: one that thinks humanity is too far gone and must be purged from the Earth, and one that thinks humanity may still have hope.
I plan to be busy this year, and I’ve already kept my fingers moving quite briskly. If Brandon Sanderson can produce four extra novels in a couple years while still cranking out best seller after best seller, I think I can at least make a sizeable dent in my “creative debt” of novel ideals.
Well, if you’re thinking the TL;DR of this post is that writing a chapter a week all month produced four chapters, well, you’d be half-right.
One of my New Years Resolutions was to work every day, in some fashion, on one or more of my writing projects. That includes everything from pounding out 10,000 words a day, to simply opening a wiki file and reading through my notes. I find that if I do something as simple as read back what I wrote previously (something older than a week), that this triggers my creativity and I’m able to write more than I set out to.
Wild crocuses blooming by the tennis court
In February, I set aside an hour in the evening every day to do “something” writing related. While all through January, the “Do Something Everyday” exercise produced good results, I thought if I could up my game to at least a brand new chapter every week, I’d be able to start a healthier writing habit than just writing something random every day.
In my January experiment, I found that I COULD NOT…
Write to a To-Do list (e.g. Finish Chapter 7, Write Chapter 10), and
Keep to a schedule of social media posts (blog, Twitter, etc)
… but I found that I COULD
Keep a running list of scenes or transitions to write, and then pick-and-choose what I wanted to write,
Write nearly full chapters if I allowed myself to bullet-point slower points (scenes or transitions), and
Use my wiki to inspire scenes or transitions.
What blog post would be complete without my goodest girl, Mochi!
So for February, I threw out what didn’t work for me, and added one more goal:
Finish one chapter a week.
That chapter could be for any writing project (I currently have four on the go. I know, bad author!). The chapter did not have to be perfect. The prose did not have to be publish-worthy. As long as said chapter was all words and no bullet points, I would consider that chapter “finished” in terms of rough draft-land.
February came to an end, and I had finished the aforementioned 4 chapters. But something pretty cool also happened. On the side as I completed a chapter and still had the writing bug in me, I continued to write. I managed to final-draft one whole novel, final-draft Part 1 of a 2nd novel, I came up with an idea for a 3rd novel (maybe/maybe not it will be a series… cuz I love my series’), and put a good dent in my high fantasy series.
A walk along the seawall in Stanley Park, downtown Vancouver
As for word count, I didn’t really blow any of my old records out of the water. I’d say I was writing NaNoWriMo-level word counts every day.
Round about the time I was writing this post, one of my favourite authors, Brandon Sanderson, announced his next Kickstarter–because somehow he found time to write four “extra” novels (aside from the million-other novels he wrote)–and pretty much broke the internet when it comes to the self-publishing sphere. I think as authors, we all strive to be as prolific as authors such as Sanderson, Koontz, and King who can crank out multiple novels in a year. It’s impressive when one of these prolific authors pops up one day and goes “Hey guys, guess what I did?” Needless to say, several of us are very jealous.
I think that also lit a bit of a fire under my bum as well. I’ve mentioned before I was hoping to make a “big leap” from self-publishing one novel a year to a whole TWO NOVELS A YEAR, but now I’m wondering if I can step up a little more. (High fantasy series, I’m looking at you!)
A view off the edge of the world from Grouse Mountain, Vancouver
Now it’s March and I’m heading into the month with a new passion, a new determination, and a hotter flame under my bum. Formatting the eBook for my next release is slowly sucking the life out of me (seriously, who thought it would take this LONG!), and I’m acquiring ISBN numbers like Pokemon. The keyboard is calling me, and the muses are coming out of their winter hiding. This spring is looking promising.
I know some say it’s not necessarily a good thing to have multiple projects on the go, but my brain doesn’t think linearly, nor does it think in-universe. So, we’ll see what I can crank out for March. At least another 5 chapters. Hopefully all in the same novel.
Being an author, a love of old books comes with the territory. The yellowing pages, the artwork on the covers, the smell of old print. And there’s something odd about holding a thing in your hands that’s older than you are.
Spring is springing in the Lower Mainland. This is usually the time of year when I get the itch to not only rearrange, but to go expanding on my collections (aka time to buy books!).
Moss grows all year round here.
I’ve picked through the used bookstores in Calgary, so now it was time to begin the invasion of local used bookstores in our new hometown. Metro-Vancouver had a ton of them to choose from, and I had a long weekend calling my name.
Used books are like a treasure hunt for me. I have my collections that I always strive to add to, although they’re all in storage at the moment. I have pictures on my phone to reference, that way I can still collect even if I don’t have shelves to fill (yet).
The first book I found was a missing volume in my Time Life Books: The Enchanted World collection. They’re not necessarily rare or old (late 1980’s), I just like them. I collect them because of the fairy tales and mythology theme of the series. Of the 21-book series, I have 18. And today I got to add a 19th book to that collection: Spells and Bindings.
Mochi is not too happy about being used as a book prop.
In addition to finding neat books, when in used bookstores I have a handful of authors I look for to see if I can add some old editions of their novels: Jordan, McCaffrey (specifically the Pern series), Williams, and Tolkien.
This time around, I found a paperback version of The Hobbit I didn’t have!
Here it is, in all it’s … glory?
The cover is–let’s be honest–hideous. But that’s kinda what I liked about it. Unique doesn’t always mean good, but I didn’t have this version, so I was willing to look past the my-five-year-old-drew-this cover. For $6, what did I have to lose?
Once we move (which is hopefully in 2 months), I’ll be able to unite this guy with the other old paperback Tolkien books I have from the 60’s and 70’s.
What is this, and why is it touching me?
I was a bit surprised to see this version was from the early 70’s, and the more research I did, the more I found this version is considered rare due to the *ahem* unique cover, which was drawn by Tolkien himself.
The 1974 version is the 3rd Edition (and last edition) of this cover art, which began printing in 1966. I’m somewhat surprised the cover design held on that long!
For now, these two treasures will be packed safely in an old delivery box for transportation to it’s new home. I’m counting the sleeps until we get to start packing for that move. Although moving is such a pain, I’m more excited to get into our forever home.
This view is why we moved here (downtown Vancouver from the Shipyards District)
Until we move, I’m going to spend my nights designing my bookshelves for the new house, and maybe I’ll acquire a few more books along the way.
Let’s see. We had horrible murder hornets, horrible fires in Australia, horrible police shootings, horrible explosions, and presidents acting like horrible children.
Oh yeah, and that coronavirus thing.
With 2020 coming to a close (thankfully), I’ would like to hope I can look back on 2020 and say I’ve accomplished much. Well, you know what they say about hope, right?
In Canada, we were put into lockdown in March. Overnight, my “office job” became my “couch job”. That’s okay, though. I’m used to computer-ing on the couch. After all, this is where I’ve written and published my first three novels. Going off the fact Shakespeare wrote some of his best works while in quarantine during the bubonic plague, I thought I should at least be able to get my fourth novel out the door. Right?
Right??
Me and my workspace (aka, my couch)
Well, here it is December. I literally have not been into my office in nine months, and I’m not joking. My corner of Canada has been in strict lockdown to the point where we can be fined or even sent to jail for having a Christmas party. (Again. No joke). I leave my house for essentials only, because if crowds gave me the willies before COVID, they are a frickin’ hive of pestilence and disease now! Amazon has become my shopping destination of choice, food delivery apps keep the family from eating each other, and walking the dog is like a get-out-of-jail-free card.
I’ve been stuck at home for nine f’ing months, and what have I written?
Ten virtual cookies if you know this meme!
Well, I shouldn’t be too hard on myself. Given the state of the world, my anxiety has been through the roof. Although the dreaded panic attacks have been few, and the ocular migraines have been even fewer, I have developed mild claustrophobia. There have been those heart-pounding times where I’ve gotta get the crap outta the house or I’ll suffocate. Thankfully Mochi loves extra walkies. And I think she also knows when I’m having my moments because she gets super cuddly. We’ll snuggle on the couch and watch Netflix until I calm down. Of course, now she’s so used to getting pets and cuddles while I’m working, she thinks she can have them whenever she wants. So, we’re still learning.
Why work when you can pet me?
I have managed to start a new series—a fantasy series I’m planning on crafting into a multi-book epic fantasy set in a world that underwent an industrial revolution, promptly started a war, then lost all that revolutionary knowledge. The kicker is everyone can use magic in some form or another. Crafting that world has kept me busy. I’d say this is steampunk The Wheel of Time meets Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire.
My “trapped in a video game” novel has also received some love over the endless months of lockdown. I’m thinking of splitting it into two books . . . more of a “Video Game Novel, Part I” and “Video Game Novel, Part II” sort of deal, since the point where the manuscript breaks into the next novel by no means makes a cohesive story, nor does it allow the first “book” to tie up any plot threads. The manuscript is creeping up on 300K words. Seeing what my 120K YA novel looked like coming out of KDP, a novel at 300K would not only be a door stop, but a ridiculous doorstop at that. I got this idea from SAO and Alice in Borderland manga’s (Netflix has a live action adaptation of Alice, so you should go watch it RIGHT NOW!) Same premise as both: players are stuck in a game while the game is trying to kill them.
I’m a purist, so you get the Japanese trailer. Ha!
And the third novel I’m working on outside of my published series . . . well, how do I explain this one? I got the idea from a music video, of all things, and in all truth, the music video has nothing to do with the novel. I’d describe this idea as Pacific Rim meets Mad Max. (Like I said, nothing to do with the video… which bee-tee-dubs is NCT 127’s Superhuman). There’s the “giant robots” element of Pacific Rim, the post-apocalyptic collapse of society elements of Mad Max, and they’re all tied together by, who else, the United States military.
Yeah, work those welder’s gloves, Haechan!
I have, of course, been working on my 4th novel like a good little writer. The cover design is coming along, and the story itself is 75% written. About 50% of that has been self-edited, and primed and pretty for my editor to utterly destroy.
All the pieces I need are here. The real hurdle is finding the motivation. Lately it’s not so much a question of me just sitting down and writing, it’s more a question of wanting to write. Some days, I look at the file names and throw an adult temper tantrum because I just don’t want to write! The good thing is, tho, when I do manage to sit down an write, I pump out 10K-20K in a day. I go into ‘go away, leave me alone, I’m writing’ mode. Now I just need to figure out how to get more of the motivations and less of the temper tantrums.
With the holidays fast approaching, I think I’ll ask Santa for a streak of creativity and perhaps a strong cup of coffee. I hope that’s not asking too much of the jolly ol’ man. After all, there will be no milk and cookies to be had, at least in Canada. Sharing food is now taboo even though COVID isn’t a food-borne illness.
Until next time, keep bundled safely in your homes and keep your “social distance”. After all, people are scary when it’s NOT a pandemic. Or maybe that’s just my anti-social-ness talking.
I’ve been quiet lately – a bit of an oddity for me, I’ll admit. Since Christmas, a lot has happened and my writing has had to take a backseat to life’s curveballs.
Yeah, it’s a football. Technicality
I live in Alberta, Canada in the major Oil & Gas city of the west – Calgary. My area of specialty is waste processing in the midstream market (delivering oil and gas to the pipelines to be taken to the refineries). Even though I technically work in environmental services, our main stream of business comes from the Oil & Gas sector. And with the price of a barrel of oil similar to the cost of milk in the grocery store, no one’s completing projects that need the magic wand of environmental services.
To that, add my own health issues, health issues with my family, and even health issues with my cat, Meow Mix. To quote the vernacular, the beginning of the year sucked.
I won’t bore you with my family’s health issues as they’re more nuisances than threats to well-being or life, but I’ll highlight the others.
First off, my cat. Poor Meow Mix had 14 teeth pulled. She’s a Maine Coon, and her breed has a tendency towards a genetic oddity where her immune system will start to reabsorb her teeth. She’s no longer the ferocious hunter of birds outside the glass windows of the sanctuary that is our home. She now stalks cooked ground chicken and canned cat food. Poor, expensive girl.
And then there’s me. And perhaps I’ll go into everything in a separate post, but for now I’ll just highlight. Given the poor economy and the hit oil-rich Alberta is taking, life has been stressful, needless to say. And all that stress brought to the surface a condition that runs in my family: depression.
I was diagnosed with secondary insomnia brought on by generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder. On the surface, you may think anxiety is the opposite of depression, but they are in fact closely related. Both are the result of low feel-good enzymes in the brain called serotonin. In some, abnormal serotonin results in depression, in some like me, the serotonin imbalance equates to troubles making decisions on how to deal with the simplest things. To put it perspective, my anxiety got so bad I was having panic attacks when the meeting reminder popped up on my compute,r and I could no longer drive a car.
I joke about it openly with friends – I say “I always thought I was crazy” but this is in fact a serious issue if left untreated. I was on the road to ulcers (I already had terrible stomach pains and had troubles eating), I clenched my teeth all the time which resulted in fracturing a few teeth, and there were a couple times I had to pull my car of the road because I just couldn’t breathe. I knew something was wrong but I just didn’t know what. I did know depression ran in my family, but I thought “I’m not depressed – I don’t feel down or hopeless, I don’t feel like the world has given up on me. I just can’t sleep because I’m worrying about stupid little things, and I can’t get through the day without panicking over something.
So without going into too much details in this post, I’ll end the personal update there for now. I’m getting back into the swing of things and writing again. The Rose Cross Academy Book 2 – Grimms and Garms, is a hair’s breath away from a completed draft of which I can send off to my editor. The draft is over 100,000 words, yikes! Risers and Dreamers just eeked over the finish line with 83,000 words. To add to that I’ve been thinking up a couple other stories and writing bits and pieces of those, as well as dusting off some previous work’s I’ve written. I have my NaNoWriMo 2015 project – a collection of short stories in the horror genre – which I’d like to put up on Wattpad or someplace so others can read them. The stories need some serious TLC before they’re publicly consumable.
Me vs. Book
I’m slowly trying to get back into the swing of things. I’ve been posting on Instagram and that’s been all I can focus on lately. Hopefully once I get over this speedbump in life, things will get back to normal and I’ll be able to get back into the social media swing. I published in December and pretty much disappeared off the face of the earth: not the greatest marketing strategy when you’re trying to sell books, right!
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