slow down!

If you saw could hear that title when you saw the picture, you might be a citizen of Azeroth. So, howdy neighbor!

I was thinking about slowing down today because I’m doing one last, final edit of Spanked by the Krampus (because as a self-published author I do not know when to stop) while also working on my next project.

Now that I have a novella under my belt, I can see a lot of ways that I’ve grown as a writer. One of the biggest ones — that absolutely stems from always fun and never stressful Self Work — is learning that it’s okay to take up time and space. If I want people to be transported from this world and the stresses of their life, well, guess what? I have to create a world where my readers can safely land and explore! Hesitancy and fear get in the way of creation.

Every word I choose is an invitation. My reader has the option of abandoning my work whenever they choose, so I have to make my invitation as lovely as possible. If I can’t have faith in my words and my worlds, why on earth should my reader?

So that’s why the wise words of the adorable Pandaren people are on my mind today. That, and maybe I could use a vacation at Sunsong Ranch.