Taking my life back...

I realized that I haven't posted in awhile. Again. I wanted to give an update on what's been going on, because I've been working very hard this year to get control back, and it's happening, though slowly. :)  

So... this year has been about taking my health back. In a lot of ways, I've done that. I had the gall bladder and ovaries removed, and those surgeries have helped a LOT. There was a cancer scare with the ovaries, but even though they were huge, there was no sign of cancer. (One was the size of a grapefruit, the other the size of a lemon, when they were removed). Since ovarian cancer runs in my family, it was a huge concern, and pretty much all I could think about until I was cleared from that. The gall bladder issues had me in so much pain and so sick all the time that I was unable to do much of anything for several months, until I got that taken care of. I know there are writers who are able to compartmentalize and escape from their issues through their writing. I am not one of those, apparently. I had so much pain in so many different areas, I pretty much existed on pain meds, sleep, and reading.

I got the MRI on my hip/back finally, but it showed nothing. Unfortunately, I'm still stuck where that's concerned, but I've accepted that it's part of life now, until we can get me to a neurologist to see if there's anything going on in that area. I'm learning to live with my limitations and adapt so that I can still do the things I love, though that means giving up other things simply because I no longer have time to do all of it. I can only sit up for an hour or two at a time before I have to go lie down and rest my hip/back (I call it my bip, just to save time), then I can sit up again for a little while longer. I have to split this time between writing, taking care of personal and writing business online, and spending time with my sweetie, because he deserves some of my 'upright time', as well. ;) I'm figuring it all out, though. I now write until I'm done with that scene, then rest, or I write until the pain drives me to bed, take copious notes while I'm lying down, then try to write like crazy when I can sit up again. It's not efficient, but it's working, so there's that. lol 

Two major things happened to derail it all earlier this year... we lost one family member to prostate cancer, and another lost his battle with depression. Those losses sent me into a writer's block that lasted nearly four months. But I've mostly dealt with that, though with the holidays coming up, it's going to be difficult without them. 

Moving on...

We'll be downsizing further, moving into a smaller/cheaper place next year, and hopefully moving back toward the mountains, if life works out for that to happen. If it doesn't, then there are other plans in the works. ;) I did my best work when we lived up there and I miss the area so very much. I need mountains and woods and babbling brooks in my life again.

This year was about taking my health back. This coming year, I'm determined to take my life back. I'm committing myself to get my Ishira sequel finished and published, as well as getting out at least three in a series of shifter books that I'm working on right now.I have seven planned so far, but I'm determined to get three FINISHED before I put out the first one, and schedule them so that they release a month apart. The first three will be as stand-alone as I can make them, but still have them in a series with an over-arching storyline, and that will end with the first three. The same 'world' and characters will be in the following books, but with different over-arching storylines for that series, and again, I'll try to get them all finished before I release any of them, so we won't have this 'five years between books' problem again. ;) That means the first one won't come out as soon (I'm almost done with it), but when I have the three done, it'll be better for all of us, I think. ;)

I need to not get distracted from this path. I need to remember that the writing is the most important thing I'm doing, and put that at the top of my priority list. That doesn't mean giving up everything else, but it does mean committing to writing more each day, no matter what, and not letting myself get distracted thinking I need to be working on other things. A few days focused on something else is okay, but I'm going to try to post my word counts daily on my Facebook page, to keep me accountable.

So if you're following me on Facebook, keep me accountable! LOL 

No nagging, but if you see a few days go by without a word count, holler at me. Honestly, as fast as I write, I should be putting out several books a year, instead of sitting here at 5 years without a sequel. It's ridiculous, and though I've had valid reasons for not getting it done, I also need to take control and make it happen in spite of some of those reasons. the other reasons have been taken care of. It's time to get serious and let me control the situation, instead of letting the situation control me. Ugh.

Heh. I think the new meds are working. ;) 

Okay... enough of that! 

It's NaNoWriMo, and I've been working on the first one in my shifter series, Mama Bear. (Working title, might not be the finished title. Not sure yet.) She's an older heroine, which a lot of people have asked for. The rest of that series will be younger folks, but she's hooking up with the crew's alpha, and he's older, too. I'm having a ball writing this one, and I'm working on Ishira at the same time. I've been waking up in the middle of the night with ideas for scenes and story details for both, rushing out to the computer to get it all down while it's fresh, and the word counts are coming up in great leaps and bounds. More importantly, the stories are coming together in ways that make my heart happy, which I hope translates to you guys loving them as much as I do! :) 

I'll try to do better at keeping up with the blog... I've felt so guilty about not finishing books that I haven't had much to say here, but I'm doing to do better about that, too. You guys deserve to know what's going on! 

So that's it, in a nutshell. Lots going on. This coming year promises to be exciting in many good ways, if I can keep it going!  I'm going to try to get more book reviews up, as well. I've discovered some new-to-me authors this year that I HAVE to share with you, so I've got plans for those. 

Keep an eye out and subscribe or keep checking back. I'm hoping to get back up to speed soon! :) 

And as always, thank you so much for your support and continued understanding. The amount of love that has poured in as I've dealt with all of this has been humbling and amazing. I have the best fans in the world, some of whom have become good friends, and I appreciate each and every one of you. <3