Appreciating Breaks in the Routine

2023 has been a daily routine of editing, writing, sorting, and recycling. The sorting and shredding part is already tedious, so I’m switching to bookcases this week. This photo shows just one third of a bookcase that fills the entire wall. I’ve managed to clear out a bookcase outside my office over recent months, but clearly, there’s more to do. Of course, I won’t give up my favorites, but near favorites will be a tougher decision.

I’ve also enjoyed some welcoming distractions this month. One involved meeting new writers and reacquainting with others I hadn’t seen since before Covid. Our area has an organization called the Tri-City Wordsmiths. This year, I attended their annual AGM meeting, which was also a potluck social. By the time we introduced ourselves and described what we were writing, I found myself with five volunteer beta readers for my urban fantasy, which will be ready by the end of February. Honestly, I hadn’t expected such positive feedback. It also speaks to the power of networking.

The following day, I attended an interesting workshop, on psychic and magical development as research for future fantasy and paranormal novels. Next session, I’m learning about psychometry and the six ‘clairs’. Clairvoyance, claircognizance, clairsentience, and so forth. For me, January always feels like a good time to learn something new.

Last but not least, I’ve enjoyed two great visits with my granddaughters, which are always favorite distractions. 😊

How is your month going? Is your year off to a good start?

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Author: debrapurdykong

I'm a British Columbia author who's been writing for over 30 years. My volunteer experiences, criminology diploma, and security work inspired me to write the Casey Holland transit security novels set in Metro Vancouver. I'm also a part-time facilitator in Creative Writing Workshops through Port Moody's Recreation program. Feel free to contact me at dpurdykong@gmail.com

17 thoughts on “Appreciating Breaks in the Routine”

  1. Sounds like you are having a good January! Mine is going well too. I have done quite a bit of writing for my next Amanda book and have done some clearing out in my office and on my computer. So it feels good. I used to have bookshelves stuffed with books like yours. But when we moved to Spain I had to get rid of 75% of them. 😢

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    1. Clearing books is a tough job, isn’t it? And I’ve been deleting old digital files as well. One thing I forgot to mention is that I’ve also been transferring photos from my phone onto my PC and backing up onto a portable hard drive. There’s just too many to keep on my phone, so it’s a project I do while watching TV at night 🙂

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  3. That’s what I call productive and satisfying downtime, Debra! What a positive start to the new year. Mine’s been much slower paced, but I have high hopes. Of course, part of my hopes is that I can maintain what I want to accomplish at this same slow pace! 😏

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  5. Re: Your bookcase—one of the questions I asked myself when I was downsizing was, am I going to read this book again? With regards to fiction, the answer was no. That way I threw out every fiction book I had except two.

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  6. Sounds like you’re starting 2023 off on the right foot Debra, a good purse for clearing space is a good start. And that workshop on clairsentience sounds mystically fun. 🙂 x

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