I'm done!!!

I can't believe it took me nearly three weeks to rewrite the ending for A Slice Of Mystery, and every minute was. so. hard, but I'm done!

In case you missed it, A Slice Of Mystery, is a cozy mystery novel partially set on an IT project (an ERP implementation project, if you want the specifics), as well as in a small town in the south of England. While the edits are done, there is still a lot of work ahead of me before the book can be released. Acknowledgements, ebook formatting, paperback formatting, info sheet for publicity, advanced readers review copies, etc, etc. I'm hoping to send you the first three chapters in December, as a little 'thank you' for being here!

In the meanwhile, the so-called "dead time" spent waiting for my car to go through its MOT was very productive - I have the core plot for book two in the Abigail Palmer series! No wifi, phone dead zone, no chores, what else was there to do?! Now, my main problem is that the MOT is a once-a-year task, so I need to find another space where I can be just as focused.

I feel like I started a lot of books this months, but hardly finished any.

A few were DNFs, but the bulk have just stalled. It could just be that I've started re-watching an old TV show (Bones, from the early noughties, do you remember it?!), or it could be that I've had too much going on to be able to focus. It's okay, I know it's only temporary, but it's still a bit frustrating!

It honestly feel like the only life-related tasks I've done this month were fighting fires! Things broke that needed to be repaired or replaced, online orders that needed to be sent back, day job-related activities, a bit of cooking, and before I knew it, the clocks had changed, and it was time to write this newsletter again!

One thing I started doing, and I was shocked to see it actually worked, is a technique to fall asleep faster. My brain doesn't ever shut up (thanks ADHD), and it's worse once I'm in bed, wanting to fall asleep. Thoughts, scenarios, things to do, everything goes through my brain, almost as if going through a sieve. Usually, this last for an hour and a half to two hours, so I'm always on the look out for new things to try that don't involve drugs.

It's actually quite simple, which was why I was convinced it wouldn't work. I've been trying it for a week (maybe two? Time blindness!), and I'd say, on average, I fall asleep in ten minutes?!

The technique (I've adapted it from a tiny article read in "Gathered"): Lying in bed ready for sleep, think of (at least) three positive things that have happened in the day.

I found that if I get to three easily, but can't think of more, I need to cycle through the same three a few times, maybe trying to expand in my head why they were positive, but then, I'm asleep! Note that "positive", for me, isn't the same as "grateful for." I'd tried gratitude lists before, and they really didn't work for me, but the positive list does...

Here's the original text: "Becky Upton, a clinical hypnotherapist, asks her clients to write down three positive things from their day before they go to sleep. 'These reflections consist of the Three P's - Positive Thinking, Positive Action, and Positive Interaction,' she explains. 'This helps stimulate the left prefrontal cortex, which is associated with solution-building, optimism and problem-solving all of which support better emotional regulation and better sleep.'"

There won't be many life news next month either, since November means writing a new novel, but I've planned for it. The freezer is full, most of the admin has been settled, and I have pushed a chunk of non-urgent, non-important tasks out to January.

My first priority at the moment is to not burn out, this means prioritising rest above everything else, and saying "no" a lot, which some people I'd considered friends don't quite understand, but that's ok.

How are you doing? Are you prioritising yourself?