Do Dragons Eat Meat?
Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered Dawnbreaker! I’m so grateful to you all for reading my books and giving them a chance. Honestly, this is the best gift a writer can get!
I’m organizing a local book launch event. If you’re near Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, I’d love to see you! The launch will be at the Kawartha Lakes Museum in Lindsay on Saturday, March 4. It will be a drop-in type of event. More details coming soon!
Book 3 is cooking along nicely. I have a third of a draft so far and am adding to it steadily.
Winter has made a resurgence, dumping more snow and dropping the temperature, which is to be expected as we head into February. Experiencing winter will be nice for a change, since we’ve mostly had spring-like weather in January.
Last fall, I started decluttering my house and finishing the unfinished projects. I just couldn’t take the mental strain of these incomplete chores anymore. When winter hit, I turned to decluttering indoors just as soon as Christmas finished. In the past, this has been overwhelming. The decision fatigue is real, especially since I make tons of little decisions when I’m writing. But when it came to the clutter, I felt paralyzed. My kids are at that stage of life where they’re not quite moved out yet, and they haven’t started on their own families yet (if ever), so I found myself surrounded by a lot of things I was holding onto for the day they moved out and needed stuff to set up their own homes. Extra chairs, silverware, plates, bowls, etc. Plus all of their childhood toys and a good heaping of their old clothing. In addition to all of that, I had items from when my parents separated and stuff from when my dad passed away. It's a lot. My house was filled with hand-me-downs. And all of it waiting to be dealt with “later.” Guess what? It’s later. So I started working on one area in one room per day. Just one small area, like a dresser or a closet, so I don’t feel overwhelmed by the idea of having to do the entire room in one day. Having each room assigned to a day of the week means I know I will return to that room in a week. It’s not pushed to the bottom of my to-do pile to return to “later.” I also spend no more than an hour on the decluttering and cleaning of that room; it’s not an all-day task. I’m finding it easy to get rid of anything that’s worn out or garbage. Sentimental items are harder to deal with, but I don’t mind putting it aside to come back to later, knowing that I will be decluttering again in a week and in the meantime I can think about keeping the item or photographing it to preserve the memory or if I can just let it go.
I’m in love with having clear horizontal surfaces, or if not clear, then highly curated. It gives me a very calm feeling. I like knowing I can open a closet and find what I’m looking for.
I’m finally curating my life and the process is filling me with happiness.
Next week marks the half-way point between the solstice and the equinox, a time known as Imbolc, and I just learned that decluttering, or ‘spring cleaning’ is one way to celebrate or prepare for Imbolc. Happy Imbolc!
If you’re also decluttering, I’d love to hear how it’s going. Let me know in the comments!
Here’s a before and after of my desks (I forgot to get a before pic of the map-topped desk, but trust me, it was piled with stuff before):
What I’m Reading
I picked up this urban fantasy and it’s so fun. Who can resist a pest-controller when the pests are mythical creatures?? Can’t wait to get to the rest of the series!
A pest-controller with a soft heart can easily end up with an apartment full of rescues. When Kyra finds an abandoned baby dragon, she doesn’t want to bring him home, but until she hunts down the brute trying to kill all the dragons and start a civil war among the fae, she’s on babysitting duty.
Hit this link to get DRAGONS DON’T EAT MEAT today!
Have you read it? Let me know in the comments!