Hello again, Trying to do FOUR things at once, Instagram that Beast, and Barcelona.

It’s been a while . . .

Dear Gentle Reader,

(Yes, I’ve been watching the new Bridgerton in my spare time when I plop into bed.)

Please excuse my absence.

I haven’t written a piece in a while, which was never the plan but became a necessity. And before I start writing at regular intervals again, I wanted to reach out first and say hello, and how are you, and I’ve missed the lovely community here (especially my 90-Day Novel Group).

I’ve had an intense spring, I was:

A) Working with a lot of writers on their manuscripts (which I adore and is a joy).

B) Searching for a new agent (which is like a full time job and a story for another day).

C) Revising a book that has felt like an albatross for ages now, that was due to my editor and I still have yet to hand it in.

D) Revising yet another book to go on submission.

E) Just trying to hold down the fort at home these days, plus now every spring I have the double whammy of both anniversaries of the deaths of my parents within one week of each other.

F) Oh and I had my memoir come out, WISHFUL THINKING.

And I just got to a point where I couldn’t do yet another thing on top.

Which brings me to a small note I want to make:

I cannot do more four things at once.

Though on my list up there I count six. And that’s not even really a full list because, I mean, email? So you can see where all my plans to write on Substack fell apart, since four is already way too many for me to juggle.

I did spend a lot of spring—as I pressured myself to keep all these balls in the air and seeing them—berating myself for not managing to manage all of the above plus writing on Substack weekly. And just feeling, frankly, like I needed six hours extra in each day. And wondering how did we all get to a place where we are constantly juggling too much?

In the end, I had to prioritize: my home life/sanity/grieving, trying to work on my own books and those of my clients, which both bring me happiness and steadiness and emotional well-being since working on people’s books feels vocational to me.

But I’m back now, on Substack, and planning to write regularly again. Forgive me for my long silence (please).

Instagram that beast again.

Also, I am trying to post on Instagram again—trying and mostly failing again. The reason is that I have a rom-com coming out on July 23rd (which I’m very excited about—I really loved writing this novel!), STEFI AND THE SPANISH PRINCE.

And Harper (my publisher) really wants me to post about Barcelona since that’s where it takes place. And Barcelona is also my happiness so I am trying to do what they want. But so far in several months I’ve only posted once and that was last week (ha!). And it wasn’t of Barcelona, it was a photo Emma Gannon and I because I was lucky enough to get to see her a couple of times while she’s in NYC and I love talking writing with her, among other things. See her chronicle of her time there at The Hyphen.

Speaking of Barcelona:

I am back there for now, and it is my favorite place in the universe, so I think that’s why I’ve finally felt like I can write on Substack again—it brings me peace to be here, good solid sleep, the yummiest food, and I love my workspace here (see above photo).

So, here I am again. Seemingly still trying to do many things at once like everyone else, but feeling a bit less pulled in a hundred directions. I do miss writing about writing though, so, stay tuned for more this summer—I’ve got a long list of pieces I want to publish here about, among other things, book promotion, the hunt for a new agent, writing tutorials (how to get a reader turning pages, how to write a sex scene, installment two, the different between a YA novel and a novel for Adults and why sometimes people have trouble telling the difference, among many other things.)

Hope you are well and surviving—

Donna