The Seated View

Some people claim there is no such thing as writer’s block. That all you have to do is sit down and keep writing and that claiming you’re blocked as just procrastination or avoidance. I beg to differ. Sometimes, it seems as if the writing part of your brain is hibernating. Writer’s block is a vicious circle. When you feel blocked, you don’t write and when you don’t write, it exacerbates the writer’s block. Writing is a muscle — the more you write, the better you get at it — and it gets atrophied when you don’t use it. Here are some tips for breaking through the block. via GIPHY Get bored If there’s a lot going on in your life — stress, chronic illness, small children, a day job — can get in the way of the creative process. Because your head is busy. I once saw a documentary about the spaces in which writers work and one man had a small beige room with a brown veneered desk facing that beige wall. Nothing else. Because distractions would do just what the...

There are many reasons I love Chronic Christmas. Working on it help me find my writing mojo again, I had a lot of fun  with it, both to creating it and talking to others about it in the months leading up to the holidays. I also very much love to cover. When Aimee Coveney of Other Design Solutions sent the first draft to me, I found myself saying "I love it ! " out loud even though there were no one else in the room. Well, except for Lucy, but she was sleeping at the time. wwith only one minor change, that first draft was the final draft So naturally I submitted it to The Book Designer's e-book Cover Design Awards for the month of December 2016. And it got a gold star! That means it was "considered for the award or ... stood out in some exemplary way." And this is just one more reason to love my little book.  

When last heard from, I was “enjoying” a bout of croup . It’s much better now, and but there are some residual effects. Namely that I can’t talk too much without getting very croaky and my voice hurting. Yes, I did say that my voice hurts. I’m finding all sorts of new terminology as a result of this experience. Another one is that I have to find out where to hold my voice in order to prevent strain. Interesting times. After trying to do some writing and having a normal day this Monday, my voice started hurting and it became very clear that I have to spend some extended time being quiet. I am not fond of this. In fact, there was some significant flailing. Because what on earth am I going to do with myself? But also, and perhaps more importantly, I work freelance. There is no such thing as vacation time, sick time, or short-term disability. It felt really important to keep working so I could avoid the starving artist stereotype. And then my brilliant sister smac...

Chronic Christmas: Surviving the Holidays with a Chronic Illness is now available in paperback on all the Am azons. Did you know I have a new book out? Could be hard to miss, what with me barely mentioning it. Okay, so I haven’t shut up about it, but it’s still theoretically possible that you might have missed the festivities. No? I wanted to tell you a bit about the background of Chronic Christmas: Surviving the Holidays with a Chronic Illness. It all started with a series of blog posts I wrote last year. In late November 2015, I got the bright idea of doing a sort of Advent calendar here on The Seated View. The goal was to help people with chronic illness experience less stress leading up to the holidays so they could actually be conscious for Christmas dinner. I enjoyed writing the posts and based on the feedback, people enjoyed reading them. After the holidays, I entertained the thought of turning it into a book for this holiday season, but then things...