Rewriting the story

It's always changing

💻 what I'm up to 💻

Welcome to summer, to the precipice of a holiday that has me feeling decidedly unpatriotic, to hot and humid days that make me wish I lived in northern Scotland (I keep Inverness on the list in my weather app and gaze at the cooler temps longingly at least once a day). At least I have afternoon and evening thunderstorms that sweep through out of nowhere, loud and messy and torrential, and leave behind clear skies, maybe a rainbow, and blooming, if battered, flowers. The petals cling and persist despite the downpours; there’s something to that.

I am both intentionally moving and intentionally stuck–trying not to race ahead, trying to linger in re-meeting myself. Flexing my muscles, seeing what sits right. What doesn’t. Regenerating through greeting the parts of me that are the most me and no longer putting on pretenses for others, or hiding parts of me for the sake of how I could be perceived.

In short, I am trying to live my best life. My most me life. Once in a while I get hung up on why I haven’t been doing this all along, but I can’t change the past, so here I am. Trying. Always trying. Always staying open to learning. Living in a state of curiosity and not assumption is actually kinda great? It’s a constant practice and not my default. Maybe it will be one day.

I hope so. I hope it for you too.

📘 my book things 📘

I am… writing. That’s all I have right now. By the end of the month, I’ll have written two first drafts–one for my Thrill Ride follow-up and one for a licensed IP non-fiction book I can’t wait to tell you about. I’ve got this (she said with a question in her voice). I am *visualizing* being on the other side of the writing but also trying to enjoy the process (I GUESS) and also visualize my upcoming weekend days and evenings on the couch with my laptop, effing up my neck beyond hope because it is not at all ergonomic, but it is where I like to write.

Also! I did an event at a local Barnes & Noble the other day and got to see Thrill Ride in a coveted front table spot!! Look at her!

📺 what I'm watching 📺

Before Sunrise

Have y’all heard of this movie from 1995 with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy? Loool. I’m slightly behind the times, but I watched this on a plane recently and it had me swooning while seated. The chemistry between these two! The longing! I thought the ending might break me a little–it probably would have if I’d seen it when it came out. But I’ve loved and lived a lot since then and I can accept it for the moment in time it is. I’m watching Before Sunset this weekend and I can’t wait.

The Pitt

Medical dramas haven’t been my thing since early seasons of ER, which is why we’re here, because Noah Wyle is… Noah Wyle. He’s taking care of business in an ER in a hoodie and Carhartts. He’s compassionate. He’s competent. The whole cast is powerful. Every episode is an hour in an ER shift and I can only watch one at a time but I’m here for it.

📚 what I'm reading 📚

Against a Wall by Cate C. Wells
I picked this one up for romance book club later in the month and it has one of the best/most convincing enemies to lovers turns ever. It’s about a woman and her high school bully, and when you start the book you’re like, no way am I gonna be rooting for this shit. And then… Glenna and Cash, I adore you. This book is funny, wholesome, hot. Love, love, love.

Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill
The way I've been itching for a new cozy fantasy... Greenteeth is about a lake monster who ends up saving a human witch who is being treated in the awful ways witches have been throughout history. Cue a magical quest between unlikely allies to defeat evil. It's charming. It's kind. It digs into mythology and unmoors it. And because I know it's a selling point for cozy fantasy for some folks, there is no romance of any kind.

🐳 something whalesome 🐳

Not so much whalesome as like, how is nature this fucking cool?! And we exist in the same world as all of it.

📃 quote of the month 📃

“You’re nobody’s rainbow. You’re nobody’s princess. You’re nobody’s doorway but your own, and the only one who gets to tell you how your story ends is you.” - Seanan McGuire, Every Heart a Doorway

My wish for all of you is that you write a piece of your story every day. ❤️‍🔥

Will any of you be at San Diego Comic-Con later this month? I’m moderating a cool panel on Sunday and maybe doing a book signing or two!