"Joy Is Its Own Kind of Rebellion"

Hi friends.It's February, and some things have been happening in the world. If, like me, you're struggling to write or create or, y'know, get up in the morning because of all the things happening, I feel ya. I also wanted to share some nuggets of wisdom I've found across the interwebs lately that have helped me so far, and are proof that others are feeling the same way.Chuck Wendig is, as always, a source of merriment and truth in these insane times. Check out his newest post on why we should persevere PRECISELY because it's hard right now. I've used a quotation by him as the title of this post, because it's brilliant, and I want to always remember it.He also has guest posts on his blog by friends and colleagues, and this one by Kameron Hurley has some fantastic coping mechanisms that I will try to employ in my daily life. I can't afford a dog right now (*quiet sobbing*), but even the thought of working towards that day when I can finally provide a loving home for a pup is a source of hope for me.If anyone wants some quality nerd humor with a dash of historical perspective, check out J.D. Davies' post on what Twitter might have looked like in seventeenth-century Britain. My favorite is the Quakers contribution. Short and sweet. They really get their point across. (And Isaac Newton's tweet made me snort tea out my nose.)I love a good dose of business/life advice, and Marie Forleo always has brilliant tips (and fabulous hair and fashion). Her interview with Elizabeth Gilbert on fear and creativity is essentially a free session with the chillest therapist ever, and I've rewatched it several times and have bookmarked it for future rewatchings. I found it so inspiring. THANK YOU to Joyce for recommending it!If anyone's a Tolkien fan, I salute you, and point you towards this hilarious and fascinating group interview with the cast of the Lord of the Rings on its 15th (?????) anniversary. Side note: HOW is that possible.I also wanted to give a shout out and thank you to A.Z. Pascoe for nominating our group blog Muse in Pocket, Pen in Hand for the Blogger Recognition Award!! You're a star! I love her blog, she's such an inspiration and has such interesting perspectives on writing and publishing. And, I know I harped on and on about it in my last post, but the Muses are also such an inspiration to me. We've got lots of new content planned for the blog, so keep watch for that in the coming months.For my own resolutions and writing, I'm doing ok. Not so great on the writing front, because HOLY CRAP what is the world coming to, but I'm working on it. I've got some real-life stuff holding me back right now, which is really draining, but hopefully (PLEASE) it will be done by the end of this month. I did start outlining my Revolutionary novel, so that's exciting, and I think I'm finally making progress on it. And the other day on my walk home I had a wee little epiphany about how to solve a plot hole conundrum in HONORS that's been giving me sass. It's going to have a domino-effect on the entire book (it's essentially adding another dimension to the main character and her family), but once I implement it I think it will add a really interesting/spooky element to the novel.So that's about it for now, if you haven't checked out the newest post up on the Muses blog please do check it out, it's by Becky and it's a stunner! This month's prompt is an intriguing one about superheroes, and I'm excited to see what we all come up with.Let's all keep helping each other and doing our best. Or as Red Green always says:~M