creating – Jamie DeBree

Happy Friday the 13th!

Fall is fast approaching, and with it, vacation days that will be spent on publishing tasks rather than traveling, which I’m looking forward to. I’ve enjoyed the change of pace this summer, though a lot was getting prepared, but I’m somewhat relieved to go back to not trying to fit travel into our weeks along with everything else. We may end up taking another short trip before winter, but nothing to long or intensive.

Last weekend while struggling to get everything done even though I was on a break from making dog food, I finally admitted to myself that I’ve taken on too many responsibilities here at home, and I need to either give myself more time to deal with them, or dispense with some of them. This after buying two more fish (pretty platies – pictured above) for one of my aquariums because I’d planned to merge it with the other large one, but I’m definitely not going to have the time or money to do that until early next year, and I didn’t want to look at a mostly-but-not-quite empty tank for the next six months (there were/are several khuli loaches in there, but they spend most of their time in the sand).

It’s difficult to impossible to decide what to give up. I love my aquariums, my plants (Do I need so many? No. But can I decide which ones to get rid of? Also no.), my writing, crafting, and while I don’t love cleaning so much, I need to do more of that, just because it needs to be done.

So, I’m working on figuring out how to spread things out more over the week, and do little bits every day instead of trying to do everything on the weekends. It’s definitely a process, but I think that will allow me to keep what I have, at least, and if I adjust my weekend sleep schedule to be more “normal” (*sad sigh*), I should have more time for writing and crafting things on the weekends, when I need bigger blocks of time for those things.

It also occurred to me last weekend when I was thinking about all of this, that a major theme of my life is trying to organize everything enough that I can do all the things I love, and perhaps that should have a larger focus in the books I write (or some of them, anyways). I know I’m not the only person who struggles with this, so it would be a relatable thing for readers, and it’s what I know and am constantly thinking about.

Perhaps this will be the next series idea I’ve been looking for? I’ll play with it a bit this weekend, and see what shakes out.

The Magpie novel is coming along well, and Alex hasn’t started the spooky story yet, so we should both probably keep/get moving on those. And I really want to get the print formatting done for Alex’s Death by Veggies collection for an October release. So that’s what we’re working on at the moment in publishing.

And that’s all I’ve got for this week. Until next time,

That’s it for this week! If you have a favorite thing to share, or want to recommend a book, TV show, video or podcast, comment below, email me at jamie@jamiedebree.com, or catch up with me on Facebook or Instagram.

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Variety News – September 28, 2021

On My Mind
Covid is my top concern as I sit here quarantined at my house, awaiting test results. My husband and I are both vaccinated, but obviously the vaccine isn’t one hundred percent effective, and he works in a health care facility with a lot of other staff who haven’t bothered to get vaccinated, and have been passing covid infections around like candy.

Needless to say, it was only a matter of time before he got a breakthrough infection, and he tested positive yesterday. Thank goodness for the vaccine though, because his lungs aren’t all that great on a normal day, and I’m convinced that having that primer is what’s kept him out of the hospital. He had one bad breathing day, but Mucinex seems to have knocked the gunk out of his lungs, and he’s doing much better five days in.

I went and got tested yesterday per our local health command’s guidelines. I’ve had a bit of a tight throat for the past few days, but otherwise, I feel okay. I’ve loaded myself up on herbal antivirals/anti-inflammatories for the past few nights, and have made sure to get enough sleep, and that seems to be keeping me from succumbing to anything worse. Fingers crossed I can hold it off indefinitely between the vaccine and the herbs/spices I have in my personal apothecary.

The fact that I’ll have to wear a mask indoors for 14 days even if my test comes back negative isn’t making my eyes happy at all. I think I’d rather just quarantine, but then again, I have a lot to do at work – fall is our busiest season – so…. *sigh*

There is just nothing easy about this, and it all sucks. I guess the silver lining is, there’s plenty of time to have it all done and be out of quarantine well before my eye surgery. So there’s that.

Creating
I haven’t created much lately – no writing, no crocheting, no nothing. I think it’s making me crabby. Every time I think I’m on the right track to making time for…something, I get derailed again. It’s annoying, and I wish I knew how to stop it, but I seem incapable at the moment. I do plan to get something written while I’m in quarantine. Other than blog posts and emails, I mean.

Eating
I’m eating less, and working out more, and finally starting to see results, so huzzah for that! I’m also being very careful about *what* I eat, and staying away from processed carbs. It’s not fun, but it’s working, and I’m determined. Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight is going to be crucial for me going forward, so I really do need to make that a priority.

Hopefully the discipline I’m gaining from that will spill over to other areas of my life! That’s often how it goes, I’ve found. If I can get control of one thing, I can generally “copy” that success in other areas. All I need is a toehold, so to speak.

Jamie DeBree

Writer | DBA | Dog Wrangler

Articles

A Fundamental Shift for Fall

Variety News – September 28, 2021