Hot town, summer in the city. Baby, it’s hot outside. Sumertime, and the livin’s supposed to be easy… Okay, I’m being silly and showing my age. Can you name those tunes? And who remembers that show? 🙋🏼♀️ Anyway, it’s Thursday. And I’m still fighting the urge to just ignore the revisions. Which is stupid. All these books are better than I remember. And even better now with new words and my characters as secondary, with references to things in my books. Part of me wants to blame it on the summer doldrums. It gets blazing hot, the cost of electricity quadruples during peak hours. I’m serious. It’s normally 7 cents a KWH. During peak heat emergencies, it surges up to 43 cetns a KWH. Which is…six times higher. Math is not my strong suit. Anyway, I just want to strip down to the bare necessities and go lay down under the fan and nap. But…
I write books for living. It’s not a huge living but it does help pay bills, or did until inflation and the recession, but that a different rant. Today is about making choices. I have to make the choice to work. No one can make it for me. Oh, I can feel guilty when a reader asks about the next book. And I can promise myself every day that I’m going to finish that last part (at this point about half of the last book) and then get them all shiny-bright and pretty and uploaded and then move on to the projects on the back burner but…
But it’s too hot to cook. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. But…
But then the Universe rears up and drops this into my inbox. Grrr.
****
We always have a choice. Nothing is carved in stone. Well, not everything is. Just as soon as I start making statements of absolute, someone will remind me that this or that is the exception to the rule.
You can always change how you feel, Silver, and you can always feel whatever you like.
Don’t you remember? You bought the upgraded “Superior-Deluxe, Double-Plus-Good Time-Space Package,” with a side order of “mousse,” if I recall.
Smooth,
The Universe
©www.tut.com
You can always change how you feel, Silver, and you can always feel whatever you like.
****
Yes, I am singing and humming Morris Albert’s “Feelings.” Why do you ask? All ear worms and joking aside, there’s something to this. I’m “allowed” to feel whatever. But…
But, when push comes to shove, I can also change what I feel, how I feel it, and what I do about it. Guess what. Writers are their biggest WIPs*. I need to be a harsh a taskmaster with myself as I am with my characters and plots and settings. Because, dammit, I AM a writer and I need to do my frickin’ job. So Imma gonna get right on that. Right after I have that mousse. Or some ice cream…
*Works In Progress
Silver James 
Damn straight. We control how we feel and how we react. (She says with a side-eye at the little bitch who lives in her head and ruins her best intentions at times.) Maybe if I was better at kicking that bitch to the curb, I’d get more writing done. You do what you can when you can. And fight the good fight against the mental roadblocking voices.
Gah, that sucks about your electric bill. We’re lucky not to have that kind of jump here. Yet. :fingers crossed: The heat index here is supposed to reach 110-115 today. Blerg. Hang in there. :hugs:
We’re on a program that supposedly averages out. We get really cheap prices in low use times but get kicked to higher during heat emergency hours. Our summer bills are usually $200-300 inside of $500 so it is a savings. For July? Who knows. It’s been almost four years since we had temps this high for this long. What’s bad is that the temps don’t cool off below mid-80s at night so the AC doesn’t get a break. Ugh. Hand in there!
And yeah, we definitenly need to muzzle those voices!