This Blog is Not Dead
So first off, sorry for the long absence. Hopefully this blog will explain a little bit of what has been going on. As some of you will know I have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders since I was a child and depression since my early 20s. After a full mental breakdown 8 years ago, I had to take a step back. To re-evaluate my life and decide how to move forward.
But it turns out that breakdown wasn’t just my anxiety stressors hitting critical, it was Autistic Burnout. My discovery of this term started me down a road of self-discovery and into private health services I couldn’t actually afford in order to get it confirmed that I am Autistic. It’s been there all of my life but unfortunately it wasn’t picked up until I started to relate with family members who have been diagnosed Autistic and their experiences. I just thought I was broken, that I didn’t fit in cause I was made wrong.
I know now, that isn’t the truth at all. I am neurodivergent in a world that tends to be hostile to those like me. But what does this have to do with my blog and writing going forward? Well, this blog has always really been a way for me to engage with my special interests and communicate them in a way I enjoy. That won’t be changing, but I won’t be doing a set topic schedule ever again.
This doesn’t mean there will not be regular, scheduled blogs. I want to aim for a monthly blog, the 27th of the month if possible, on a topic I choose after the previous blog is published. This blog has always been a way for me to discuss my passions in a way that’s both constructive and preferable.
It will also be a way for me to keep you updated on two projects I’m working on as well. The first is my debut YA novel currently called “The Super Losers” about a group of three teens who go to a superhero school but also have disabilities. It will look at the idea that even if you have super powers, you still might not have the easiest time and in fact wish that those powers were something else. As you can tell this project is very early days and the title is just there because I needed it to have a name beyond “YA Novel”.
The second is a poetry collection I’m putting together currently called “Poems my Grandfather Inspired” all themed around a poem my grandfather wrote back in 1965 called “Rhyming Nonsense”. I have mentioned before that my grandfather was my hero, inspiration and biggest supporter. I’ve been writing poetry for as long as I can remember and want to use this theme to pull together some of my more fun and lighthearted poetry while paying tribute to the man who inspired it.
So what does this mean for now? For now it means deadlines might change as I navigate my life with better understanding of my own limitations and strengths. It means that I’m actively forcing myself to work on projects I’ve been dabbling with by making them set targets to meet (and with this tentative soft-announcement). It also means that I’ll see you guys on 27th to discuss Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, a book I’m finally getting around to reading after a long reading slump.