Insecure Writers Support Group - March 2016

Good snowy morning, everyone! Today I sent my kids off to the bus stop in snow with a wind chill of 1 degree. Yep, one. Degree. Brrr. I just checked the weather on Mt. Everest and it is currently -10 degrees Fahrenheit. (But I bet the wind chill there is much, much worse.)

So that brings me to today's topic: mini-obsessions. A few months ago I read Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air about the 1996 tragedy on Everest and it blew me away. I was so bummed when I missed seeing Everest in the theaters last summer. I did rent it last week and it was so-so compared to Krakauer's book. 

But the drama of these high mountain expeditions have consumed my attention for the past several days. In 2008, there was a similar tragedy on K2 which you could watch on YouTube in various documentaries. In 2002, several climbers fell into a crevasse on Mt. Hood and one of the rescue helicopters crashed trying to help the wounded. (Documentary also on YouTube.)

What is it about these stories that is so compelling? Nobody needs to climb mountains (except the Sherpas to earn a living). It's not good for the environment. (Although trash pickup on Everest is going well.) And if a climber gets into trouble near the top of these behemoths, there isn't much the other climbers can do. 

Anyway, I need to step back and focus on my two main jobs for March. First, I'm rereading and editing several short stories to rerelease them on Amazon. So formatting is a big part of that chore, not to mention redoing the covers. Then I've got to compose my posts for the A to Z challenge for both my blog and the Parallels: Felix Was Here blog.

So long Everest, it's time to get back to scaling my mountain of stuff.

Have you ever gotten hooked on a topic unrelated to your writing? If so, what was it? Are you doing the A to Z challenge this year? Do you write all of your posts beforehand? 

Thanks again, to Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh and this month's cohosts: co-hosts today are Lauren Hennessy, Lisa Buie-Collard, Lidy,Christine Rains, and Mary Aalgaard.