Sunday Snippet: The Muzzy Edition

Mushy mind—it’s a thing and wow, do I have it right now. I have a very bad case of mind mush—my ability to focus and function is seriously out of whack. I’m not sure if it’s pandemic weariness or spring fever or the sinus infection I’m nursing right now, but for some reason, my brain is muddled. Fact is, I’m just not able to focus on much of anything right now. My grandmother used to say she was muzzy—isn’t that a great word? I’m muzzy.

My writer friend, Anne Stuart, often quotes Anne Lamott’s story about a time when her little brother was overwhelmed with a science project cataloguing birds that he’d put off. The night before it was due, he said to his father, “How will I ever get this all done?” His dad smiled and answered, “Bird by bird, Son, bird by bird.”

I’ve got five and half books to write for Tule Publishing in the next two years and my heart frequently stops at the thought. I’m about 24K words into Max’s book, which is coming along and I know where it want it to go; we just need to get there…by April 25. To that end, I’m back to my old standby of a writing method—getting up early in the morning and writing before Husband wakes up, before I check social media or email, before coffee even. That worked for the Four Irish Brothers Winery series and for the first book in this one. I’m counting on it working here as I write this second book. I’m also sprinting with Liz and with my Tule author pals regularly—that really helps. Bird by bird.

I have editing gigs to take care of—the retainer clients and the gigs that come in when I begin to worry that no gigs will come in. There’s homeschooling Grandboy and helping Husband with yard stuff and working around pandemic restrictions and thinking about opening the cottage in another month or so. On the wonderful news front, Liz and I planned our first writing retreat since fall of 2019. Can. Not. Wait.

But still, today, I’m muzzy.

This isn’t aging, right? I mean sometimes life stuff gets in the way of writing stuff and writing stuff gets in the way of life stuff, but this isn’t aging. No… I’m just muzzy right now, that’s all.

Stay well, stay safe, and most off all, mes amies, stay grateful,