Getting mindful with Marvel

Also, putting myself first

💻 what I'm up to 💻

It has been a big ol’ season of change over here.

For a variety of reasons, including but 100% not limited to mental health and needing more time to write books, I stepped down from my Editor in Chief role at Nerdist. I gave that notice at the beginning of May (right after an event that happened on the day I drew The Tower tarot card) and wrapped up my full time work on May 17. Since then I’ve been working in a part time consultant role to work on some projects and ensure a smooth transition.

Instead of having a full time job that was no longer sparking joy (and hadn’t been for a while) with a part time job as an author—and by part time I mean very part time, because my mental energy for writing in my off hours had been dwindling—I now have two part time jobs and way more space for working on the many stories I want to tell. I’m just about two weeks into my new schedule, and it has already been a positive change centered in taking care of myself.

I stumbled across this Kermit at the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge and I love him

📘 my book things 📘

I have two books coming this fall and somewhere between three-four books coming next spring. If you needed more proof that projects always, always pile up somehow, there it is. I’ll be turning in edits for Thrill Ride SOON, I’ll be wrapping up some licensed IP work and then starting some other licensed IP work, I’m slowly working on rewrites of my middle grade fantasy, and then I have about a hundred things to work on next: the second book in the world of Thrill Ride, another adult rom-com that I’ve drafted 15,000 words for, an adult cozy fantasy draft I’d like to get back to, some possible historical fiction research… if someone could make more hours in the day and grant me the mental reserves to go with them, I’d appreciate it.

I’m feeling so excited about all the possibilities. While remembering balance. I don’t need to leave one state of burnout to jump into another.

One of the two books coming this fall is… Marvel Hulk Not Smash: Practice Mindfulness the Mighty Marvel Way! I wrote it, Jason Loo illustrated it (the art is AMAZING!) and it will be here October 8. It’s a nice follow-up to The Jedi Mind.

I loved going back to the pages of Marvel comics and revisiting a ton of characters for this book, as well as strengthening my own mindfulness practices along the way. I’ll have a link where you can preorder signed copies of this one soon!

📺 what I'm watching 📺

X-Men ‘97
Holy cannoli, X-Men ‘97 is excellent television. I waited for weeks to watch it because I don’t remember anything about the original animated series, but guess what? It didn’t matter. This show fucking rules. The storytelling, the music, the characters… chef’s kiss from me (and like, a lot of other people).

Jim Henson Idea Man
Ron Howard’s documentary about Jim Henson drops on Disney+ tomorrow and if you’re a fan of creativity and watching someone try shit and see what happens, please watch this. If you know a ton about Henson’s life and work, please watch this. I found it riveting and inspiring, which is unsurprising because Jim Henson was a genius. (Also I interviewed Ron Howard about the documentary on Zoom while he was at Cannes, and it was a real “pinch me” moment).

📚 what I'm reading 📚
Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
I didn’t know much more than the basics about Leonardo Da Vinci and I was led to pick up this book (e.g. borrow it from the library). I came away from the book with a more complete picture of his interests, how many things he left unfinished, and above all else, his curiosity. This man had so many questions about the world. He had a beginner’s mind at all ages and I had no idea about the breadth of his scientific explorations. Like, for example, figuring out how the aortic valve functions. He’s fascinating. Reading this makes me want to look at the world closely and with more questions in my heart.

For the Love of the Bard by Jessica Martin
This second chance romance is uber adorable. Set in Bard’s Rest, a town that throws a big Shakespeare festival each summer and leans into it (the shop names are Shakespeare puns, for example), this love story between Miranda and Adam had me SO invested. The banter is lovely. If you’re a theater kid who enjoys romance novels, read it immediately. (Bonus: when you love this one, there’s another book set in the same town!).

🐳 something whalesome 🐳
I like wholesome things and the whale emoji is cute so: whalesome!

If you don’t follow me on Instagram, you might not know I’ve become a birder. It started slowly when we got our first backyard bird feeder in 2022 and has escalated at an alarming rate in the past year. Anyway, chickadees recently nested in our yard (we got to watch them leave the nesting box for the first time and it was unreal!!) and I cleaned out their nesting box to find this impossibly soft floofy nest of moss, nary a twig in sight. The parents also kept it super clean as I didn’t see any poop and baby birds know how to poop. 🥺

And I just discovered on Monday that the bluebirds in our yard, Aragorn and Arwen, have babies in their nest box too and I can’t wait to watch the little ones grow up through careful nest monitoring (learn more at NestWatch). In fact, I get to check the nesting box for the second time later today.

🍃 creativity corner 🍃
Here I’ll share tips and tricks that are helping me write, imagine, and/or stay productive.

Ah, the beauty of a spreadsheet. Could I use some kind of program better suited for tracking edits? Probably. Does my list on a spreadsheet of what I need to address work? Yes. Then I can fill the cell with the perfect shade of gray and know it is done. If I’m feeling overwhelmed by said edits, I color code them in order of priority.

Related: why do I keep thinking of things I need to add? The list of edits keeps getting longer, though to be fair, sometimes the edit is just “choose a name for this business.”

📃 quote of the month 📃
“‘Someday’” is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you.” Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

While I do not necessarily recommend the whole book, this particular quote has suited my “doing the damn thing” vibes lately.

Please reply or comment and let me know what you’re reading and how you’re doing!