Insecure Writer's Support Group (or how to be a super-hero) and Question of the Month

Hello. Do not adjust your calendar. I've found a way to travel into the future by 4 days. I'm sending a report on my insecurities back to Saturday in order to save the planet.

That's a lie. I'm not going to be around next Wednesday. I'll be prepping for a trip. TO SAVE THE PLANET! (No, not really.)

What's bugging me about my writing? I'm not doing enough of it. After dedicating the month of April to the A to Z blogfest, May was supposed to be the month I would dive back in and start a new novel. It didn't happen.

What did happen were 4 blog posts (all blogfests) and another round of edits on my historical novel. Plus I read four or so novels by fellow bloggers and reviewed at least one so far.

May wasn't a total disaster, but I didn't work hard enough to promote the collection of short stories during their price reduction. Plus I found typos in the darn thing. Still! I need to go over one of the stories again with a fine tooth comb before further marketing attempts. Or maybe that's just a excuse. Forget maybe. It's definitely an excuse. A few reviews trickled in and they were positive, so that was great.

I want to work super-hard on something, but I lack focus. What do I really want to accomplish? The opening draft of the new novel or research for the new short story that will be due October first? I pushed off starting the last short story to the last second and it wasn't pretty. I don't want to repeat that business.

There's also a 12-year accumulation of clutter in this hovel screaming for organization. Will that unpleasantness be ignored for another season? Another year? And the yard. What a mess! Weeds, dandelions, ferocious fanged beasts! Oh wait. That's the cat. He can stay.

And what about my appalling new habit of staying up late to watch Netflix? Not cool. Serious writing is not possible at the end of the day. My children drain every available ounce of energy from me by the time they're tucked in. But I could read. I could blog. The worst part is how staying up late leads to the temptation to nap away precious hours the following afternoon. It must stop! Is there a 12-step program to wean yourself off TV-binging?

Okay, time to get fired up! Time to take charge! Time to . . . put off everything because of aforementioned trip. (Slumps over desk in defeat.)

How is your summer shaping up? Ready to tackle a big project, like saving the pla--okay, that's got to stop--or take time off?

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And now for Michael G. D'Agostino's Question of the Month:

If your house caught on fire, what's the one thing you'd grab before running out?

Assuming my kids and cats were safe, the thing I would grab would most likely be my laptop. Considering that most of my writing is backed-up, I'm not sure why this is the object I'd pick, but there you go. Maybe I should grab one of my paintings instead. Or wait, I should take pictures of my paintings, but nah. It's not the same.

This is a monthly blog hop, so please join us!

(There will be a delay until I can fully participate in the June's Question of the Month and IWSG, obviously. But next month, I'm going to save the planet be a  IWSG cohost.)