Fill-Her Post. Not dirty.

The other day was my birthday, and I didn’t post anything about it, partly because I had that Hunger Games post I had been sitting on for a while, and partly because there isn’t a whole lot to say regarding birthdays after a certain point. I didn’t really do anything; the boyfriend and I are tight-up for money right now, and he had to work anyway, so I spent the day finishing up some of the organizing around the apartment between playing old video games all day. It was kind of nice, really, the sort of do-nothing day that you need every once in a while, especially when next week, my brother and his family will be visiting, so that’ll eat up a good chunk of time and resources (time and resources that will be well spent, of course).

Despite everything being pretty much settled in the new apartment, I still haven’t quite managed to get a good grip on my new routine. There was a week when my schedule was off at work due to a coworker helping out at a new store in Minnesota, but, for the most part, I’ve been getting closing shifts, which allows for me to utilize my mornigs. I’ve been getting a lot of reading done and plowing forward to “catch up” to get Fearless to where Heartless was at this time last year, but I haven’t been able to work social media and blog posts in there. Overall, I’m not too concerned. It’s not the end of the world if I go a week or two without a post, especially if I’m getting writig done, but I do feel a disconnect from the community that I’d really like to gain back. There’s an incredible amount of support out here, and it’s too valuable to simply let fall by the wayside.

Because of that, I’m thinking of stepping into RoW80 again. I know a round just ended since I still follow the group and several of the participants, and it always worked as such a good way to get me structured and focused and “back in the game.” It’s what I used way back when to finally get a book out into the world, and it might be what I need to get myself back into the momentum I had then.

I need to take a good look at how things are progressing and hold myself more accountable. I may have two stories short listed right now, but I haven’t created many new stories to throw out into the ether for a while. I used to be so much better about watching contests and places to submit, and you get into this cycle of falling out of it. But I have to keep trying and get back into a rhythm that produces effectively, and isn’t just me pissing around for funsies. This is a job; I have to make sure I’m treating it like one.