Life in progress

Category Archives: Life


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JusJoJan25 the 30th – Hesitation

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “hesitation,” comes to us from Wendy. Check out her blog here!

Hesitation has to be my biggest downfall. It happens on different levels.

At the smallest level, take this post, for instance.

I got the title and the first two lines ready to go almost two hours before I finally started writing what was going to be in the body of the post.

At the most critical level (of my writing and publishing career), I tend to hesitate before I publish a book, putting it off—putting off the steps to getting ready—sometimes for months, leaving me to scramble at the last minute to get everything set to go.

I’ve often thought this might be a form of self-sabotage.

And maybe it is.

But the core reason behind my hesitation is the NEED for everything to be perfect.

And it never is and never will be.

What sucks is my hesitation causes me actual physical pain.

Before I started writing this post, my heartburn was extremely painful. Now? After, like, four minutes of writing? It’s almost gone. In fact it was gone before I started writing this paragraph, but now that I’m thinking about it … (Stop thinking about it, Linda. It’s entirely stress-related.)

So yeah. I wish there was a cure for hesitation.

For perfectionism.

And for worrying about screwing up when I’ll never know if things will go smoothly unless I actually start doing them.

This woeful post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Wendy for the prompt!


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JusJoJan25 the 28th – Confusion

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “confusion,” comes to us from Dan. Check out his blog here!

Now that I’m in my sixties, I expect to get confused occasionally. Or at least my younger self expected it.

And yeah, sometimes I do.

But when I sit down to analyze why, I realize that if I’m focused on something, I don’t get confused at all. It’s when I’m thinking too many things at once.

And yeah, maybe I used to be able to juggle a thousand things in my head and not forget why I walked into the kitchen, but in my defense, I think I’m juggling three thousand at the moment.

Take my writing for instance.

In the space of ten and a half months (November 1, 2023-September 18, 2024), I wrote three novels in a series—approximately 271,000 words total. Now I’m editing two of them at the same time.

Which makes sense because although they’re about different but related main characters, the second half of Book One takes place at the same time as the first half of Book Two.

It’s all about the details. If it’s snowing on January 12th in the first book, I have to make sure it’s snowing at the same consistency on January 12th in the second book.

If information comes to light on the common enemy in both books, I have to ensure everyone is on the same page, both literally and figuratively, twice.

You can see where that might be confusing at times.

Thank goodness I have a program like Plottr to help me keep track of the timelines.

Would I have been able to keep track of all that without a program back in my twenties? Maybe. But I didn’t have all the responsibilities I have now on top of juggling two books simultaneously.

A thousand things vs. three thousand.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

This enterprising post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Dan for the prompt!


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JusJoJan25 the 27th – Glamour

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “glamorous,” comes to us from Sadje. Check out her blog here!

Myself being one of the least glamorous people I’ve ever met, I enjoy writing characters who are glamorous occasionally.

Characters who live in always clean huge houses with dozens of rooms and giant kitchens.

Characters who dress up and go to parties, balls, expensive restaurants.

Characters who go shopping for cars and furniture like it’s nothing.

Characters who wear makeup and own more than one pair of shoes …

Okay, maybe that last one is a bit close to home.

Aside from the makeup, cars, parties, balls, and restaurants, I dream of a lifestyle in which I could afford the things I write about.

I think that’s why I write it. It allows me to live vicariously through my characters.

I believe that’s what we do when we read about things we can only dream about, too.

What do you think?

This dreamy post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Sadje for the prompt!


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JusJoJan25 the 26th – Jubilee

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “jubilee,” comes to us from Liz. Check out her blog here!

I haven’t had much reason for jubilation in I can’t remember how long. We celebrate my kids’ birthdays with family dinners, and there’s the usual Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving celebrations, but something that qualifies as jubilee?

Stress is closer to the truth.

But I’m content with my quiet life.

My traveling days are likely all behind me, though it would be nice to get a weekend off. That would be reason for some jubilation after *checks calendar* five and a half years.

Seriously, I’m okay. 😊

This contented post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Liz for the prompt!


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JusJoJan25 & #SoCS the 25th – In line

This post is part of Just Jot it January and my weekly prompt, Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt and see how you can join in HERE.

You’d think that with solid goals and the steps to reach them, going after what you want and getting there would be easy. Assuming all the steps are reachable, of course.

So why is it so hard to get our desires in line with our goals? Assuming desires and goals are the same …?

Okay, let me break this down.

If I desire a cake.

My goal is getting to the store to get my cake.

The steps required are digging the car out of the driveway, clearing the snow off it, driving safely to the store and back home again with the cake.

But what if I don’t want to dig the car out?

That gets in the way of my goal, which keeps me from what I desire.

Right?

So my desires and my goal are out of line with each other.

That took a lot of brain.

And now I want cake.

Damn it.

This frustrating post is part of Just Jot it January and SoCS! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

 


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JusJoJan25 the 24th – Hobbies

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “hobbies,” comes to us from June. Check out her blog here!

As I contemplated what to write today, I realized that long before I made my hobby of writing a business, I earned money on two other hobbies.

The first was riding horses.

I got a job taking out hour-long trail rides. Made $20 a day, but it was one of the best jobs I ever had. I did it weekends, year-round for years.

And I had a job in a wool shop where I spent all my days knitting and selling what I knitted. I got really good at tucking a ball of wool under my arm and walking around, helping customers find what they needed with my needles still going a mile a minute.

I’m lucky in that none of the hobbies I’ve earned money from have made the hobby feel like work.

Have you ever turned a hobby into a job?

This nostalgic post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to June for the prompt!


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JusJoJan25 the 23rd – For emphasis

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “emphasis,” comes to us from Dar. Check out her blog here!

Among the things I still struggle with most when I write a novel is how much emphasis to put on a detail.

There’s a fine line between not mentioning something enough for it to come across as important to the story and mentioning it so much that the reader says “Enough already” and throws the book across the room in frustration.

At least that’s what I’d be tempted to do when I read a book with too much repetitiveness if I wasn’t reading on a device.

One of the most repetitive comments (there’s a twist) I leave for my editor when I send her my book is “Have you read this before?” Pertaining to details, not the whole book.

Because I’m far too close to the story to see my mistakes.

What it comes down to is emphasis is important. Repetitiveness sucks.

This geographically correct post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Dar for the prompt!


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JusJoJan25 the 21st – Contentment

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “content,” comes to us from J-Dub. Check out her blog here!

Ah, home. It’s where the heart is.

It’s where we can kick back and relax.

Unless we have kids. Or housework to do, or bills to pay.

But then, after all that’s taken care of …

we might be able to kick back and relax for ten minutes before it’s all got to be taken care of again.

But seriously, home is where I’m most content.

Content to write content for my blog …

and other things.

Between the kids and the housework and the bills, of course.

This geographically correct post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to J-Dub for the prompt!


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JusJoJan25 the 20th – Antipodal myths

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “antipodean,” comes to us from Kim. Check out her blog here!

When I was a kid, I was told the antipode (the opposite side of the planet) of where I lived was China. It’s not, and it never has been.

In fact, the antipode of Toronto (in and around where I’ve spent most of my life) is somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean, but closest to Australia.

Not that I would have known what an “antipode” was. In fact, I only learned the word two days ago from Kim!

If you want to find your antipode, you can do so here: https://www.geodatos.net/en/antipodes/

This geographically correct post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Kim for the prompt!


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JusJoJan25 the 19th – Why do you ask?

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “why,” comes to us from Willow. Check out her blog here!

Ninety percent of the phone calls I get are from people trying to sell something, convince me of something, or machines that just hang up.

And it’s frustrating.

Most of the time, if I don’t recognize the number on the screen, I pick up and say nothing. If a human says “Hello?” I’ll speak, but otherwise I listen until the caller (or machine) hangs up. Apparently (though to be honest I haven’t fact checked this), if there’s no response, they won’t call you back. And if I just let it ring, the answering service will pick up.

But then there are the ones who actually get through.

Like the machines that start talking immediately, telling you your bank account has been compromised without actually telling you which bank you deal with. I just hang up on those.

But the humans that get through? Especially the ones who know my name? Ugh.

“Is this Linda Hill?”

“Why are you asking?”

“I’m with so-and-so company and I’m calling to blah blah blah…”

“I’m not interested, thank you.”

“But this thing you can’t live without—”

“I’m not interested.”

“But—”

*click*

I’m sure they’re paid to not take no for an answer. But it’s not up to me to reward them for putting themselves in the position of being abused by their employers, knowing they’ll be abused by the people they’re calling.

I figure I’m at least saving them some time by hanging up on them.

How do you handle sales calls?

This ranty post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Willow for the prompt!