The things that stopped me

I’ve had a post in drafts for a few weeks now and I keep meaning to finish it but I’m so easily distracted. So in lieu of actually getting on with it, here is a list of all the things that stopped me instead:

This epic thread of Lady Gaga’s finest moments

The Rest is History podcast - I came for the 6-parter on Titanic and stayed for Tom Hanks and Martin Luther, which led to …

A medieval-catholic-indulgences-shaped-rabbit-hole which has got me thinking about something fantasy I might write.

Illustration from the Jensky Codex, 1490s Czech Manuscript. Wikimedia Commons. A LOT to unpack here.

And all this happened as I finally relented and let my youngest talk me into starting TotK. OHMYGOD I rode on a dragon. It’s a miracle I got any work done tbh. I know you know already but this game is a revelation to me. It’s just so beautiful and calming (apart from when it’s very stressful and I fall off things or drop koroks in rivers)

I also hit the 35K mark with my newest first draft. This is something I’m writing just for fun, as I’m in between projects, and it’s so fun and refreshing to write so freely. There’s something about it that feels indulgent, like something I’d reluctantly call a ‘guilty pleasure’ (because sod that guilt, it’s simply pleasure … a bit like playing Zelda instead of putting out the bins), and that has helped the words flow. I’ve not written anything this quickly for years (I started it on April 4th). Now trying to get it all down before I lose the passion and my mind wanders onto something else!

In books, I started reading “a very popular book” and I’m halfway through and still wondering why it’s so popular. I mean it’s not terrible (apart from the first couple of chapters which were so boring I nearly stopped there) but it’s not original, not very well written, and REALLY needed more editing. Should I continue? Or is life too short for TikTok books?

Let me know in the comments which popular books you’ve enjoyed and what is stopping you from writing this week!

And, if you’ve read this far and you’d like to support this author/editor, you can buy my books anywhere books are sold; here’s a handy link to my Bookshop UK page:https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/emmaread . Leaving a review on Amazon is always super helpful to your favourite authors too, even if you haven’t bought the book there. It does magical things to the visibility algorithm and puts our books in front of fresh eyes. And, if you didn’t know, borrowing the book from your local (UK) library helps authors too, via the Public Lending Right scheme - yep we get paid per book borrowed, so go ahead and take out all your fave authors’ books!

I’ll finish that other post soon I promise, bye!

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