“Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.”
— Virginia Woolf
Boy, I am hitting the pandemic fatigue hard the last couple of weeks. I go into more detail on my Patreon (it’s only $1 a month to subscribe!) but basically being cooped up in this house for almost a year and the constant worry about something/anything/literally everything being on fire is breaking nearly everyone I know. Even people who were super creative during lockdown (*raises hand*) are facing inspiration droughts.
My personal breakdown is manifesting in sleeping all day and staying up all night reading Harry Potter fanfiction (I don’t even like HP! But my sister is currently obsessed) or rewatching ‘Peaky Blinders’ episodes. It just hit me over the weekend that I will have spent the entirety of my my 30th year of life in quarantine. Fuck. Not how I planned to start my 30s but the concept of age truly doesn’t mean anything to me right now. Last year I planned to stay in a castle in upstate New York for my birthday – this year we booked a Getaway House cabin in the Catskills. Doesn’t it seem beautiful and relaxing? Plus it’s very secluded and COVID safe. Just hope I don’t get murdered in the wood.
Currently Reading
These days I am elbows deep in doing research reading for my novel. My stack of books I need to read to enhance my work-in-progress manuscript is overwhelming and I’ve felt a lot of anxiety over it. However this week I finally sat down and created a simple schedule for myself: Read 2 chapters of these three books (roughly 50 pages each) every day. This way I feel like I’m getting more done than just dragging my way through only one book.
In spite of all that, I am loving all the research I get to do on several different topics. I didn’t plan to write a novel that incorporated so many topics I didn’t know a lot about but as everyone says – the book writes itself. I’m just along for the ride, trying to make it the best, most accurate story possible.
Currently Watching
Besides sneaking in ‘Peaky Blinders’ episodes here and there, I’m spending a lot of time on Zoom (like everyone else). A great break was a webinar called ‘Nikola Tesla: The Man Who Sparked the Electrical Revolution’ by Prowler NYC Walking Tours by Deborah Zelcer. Deb was extremely informative during the two hours, providing a live lecture on the Futurist and the places in Manhattan and Long Island that he inhabited using Google Earth. A writer colleague, Allison, spotting it on The New York Adventure Club website. Now, if only it was safe to reopen the city because I’m dying to visit a lot of these places in person. I hope you guys are hanging in there!
Currently Listening To
I’ve finally joined the team of LoFi Beats! All of the videos by ChilledCow on YouTube are the perfect background noise for when I’m writing and reading. I mentioned this on Twitter and so many folks gave me recommendations for other stations! I love that the LoFi Girl isn’t just a picture but she’s studying along with me – it’s so cute! I hope you guys are hanging in there and I’ll see you on Twitter and Instagram!
