The list of things to do in the writing life never seems to get smaller. Not only that, but as you move forward and learn more about what you can do to improve your writing and further your career, you can’t help but run into things you probably should have done earlier.

Much earlier.

It is what it is. Maybe it was a mistake not to submit my book to booklife ages ago. I knew about it (through my inevitable research), but for one reason or other didn’t follow through. More research this week reminded me of it. Ooops. But nobody died. I can get around to it this week, or maybe next: my new job is kicking my ass (in the best and most rewarding way – I’m enjoying being a nurse again!), and my best friend is arriving tomorrow to do the same thing playing pool. Life is busy, but good. I’m writing around the margins and making progress, but the list of other things to do to promote the existing book, to get ready for the next one, can seem a tad overwhelming when you have a limited time budget.

So you know what I’m going to do?

Nothing.

Or rather, I’m going to sleep on it. Sleep has for me always transformed difficult situations into doable ones. To try to keep pushing at something when you are frazzled, physically, mentally, emotionally, rarely does you, or the task you are trying to perform, any good. Better to stop, restore yourself, and look again when you are refreshed. It is amazing what one night’s sleep can do for me. Of course sometimes problems persist into the night, thoughts and worries to gnaw at you and rob you of the thing you need most. That sucks. Insomnia is no joke, and I have nothing but sympathy, and some limited empathy for those that have suffered it significantly. I’ve been sleep-deprived before (because I was dumb and didn’t buy black out curtains when working night shift. For two years. That was some stubborn laziness right there!) and I know how difficult it made life in general: the horror of needing desperately to sleep and being unable to is something I remember with unpleasant clarity, and is not something I’d care to repeat!

I’ve set a lot of targets for myself recently, and there is a great deal to do, but all of the things I have to do are things I love, or am excited about. (Who doesn’t want to geek out at a Comic Con??) But sometimes, despite how much fun a task can be, you just need to down tools and stack some Z’s and get back to it later.

Today is one of those days. The pillow calls!

101 and counting. No that isn’t going to be a thing.