5 on a Friday, and a blog break

After this post, I've made the hard decision to take a break from blogging for the next few months. This year has already been A LOT from a work and family perspective, and I've spent a lot of time feeling guilty that I haven't been posting here enough. I had aimed for two posts per week, but sometimes I've only managed one post every couple of weeks. Intellectually, I KNOW that no one is sitting by their computer, waiting for my next update to drop into their feed, disappointed its delayed, but its something that hangs over me anyway. These last few weeks I've really gotten back into fiction writing (my long term goal has been to write a novel), and I've realised I can't do both blog writing and book writing in the limited time I have available at this stage of my life. I also LOVE reading and commenting on other people's blogs, and look forward to doing more of that if I don't have my own blog to keep up with too. I've loved the experience of having my own blog for the last 18 months, and think I will probably blog again down the track, when the time is right. I'm keeping the blog website up for now, and may occasionally post an update, but I'll just see how the next couple of months go. But otherwise, I'll look forward to still connecting with my amazing fellow bloggers and readers via the fabulous comments sections of all my favourite blogs :)

For my last post for now, I'll share a few things I've been loving via a 5 on a Friday:

1. Reading: Be ready when the luck happens by Ina Garten. I heard of this memoir from a fellow blogger, maybe Lisa? And borrowed it from the library. I'm enjoying it, in a relaxing kind of way. I'd never heard of the Barefoot Contessa (perhaps her fame didn't make it to Australia? Or was before my time?) But I love her quirky personality, the way she jumps headfirst into risky, intense projects (that don't always work, or at least not straight away), and the way her life hasn't been a straight line. And all the food (now I want to try to make her Perfect Roast Chicken at home). I haven't finished the book yet, so I haven't gotten to the part where she's really famous yet - I'm sure that will be fun. Side note: E and I also finished Harry Potter. We loved reading this together! We've just started on the second book together now.

2. Listening: Cal Newport's Deep Questions. I always enjoy his podcast, but lately I've found the deep dives particularly interesting/helpful. Last week he shared a fascinating story about how Walt Disney's temporary obsession with building huge model trains re-sparked his creative drive and inspired him to create Disneyland, and this week he shared his own fail at achieving and tracking metrics (daily tasks/components he wants to achieve), and tips on how to have them work for you. In particular, an obvious tip was, if you have a busy period coming up, don't have too many! But he also said don't have too many personal hobby type projects on the go. This definitely made me consider whether having two writing hobbies (blogging and writing a novel) was realistic right now.

3. Following: Murder trial of the mushroom cook. A few weeks ago I shared that I had been obsessively following the trial of Erin Patterson, who was on trial for murdering her in laws with death cap mushrooms, hidden in a Beef Wellington she fed them at a weekend lunch at her house in 2023. The bizarre circumstances meant that I wasn't the only one following this case - it garnered international attention, with the BBC and others also following the case. Anyway, the verdict came in from the jury after 6 days of deliberations, and she was found GUILTY. She still has to be sentenced, and she will probably appeal her verdict/sentence, but the daily trial updates are over, and I did feel a bit lost without that part of my day. Haha. I have to say that in a news feed filled with such insurmountable horror (Ukraine, Gaza, Texas floods, uncertain economic and political times), seeing justice delivered on a smaller scale like this is comforting, and perhaps that's another reason it was such a popular case.

4. Loving: My new car! My Electric Vehicle BYD Atto 3 is going so well. I love how smooth and quiet the car is, (yet still has guts), I love Apple Carplay (haven't had that before), I love the size and how easy it is to drive, even though as an SUV it is a bit larger than our other car. I love the safety features like 360 degree cameras and emergency braking. And I love that I can plug it in at home, using our usual electricity, to charge it. Overnight will charge about 30%. So if I let it get down to about 30%, I can then charge it over two nights to get it up to 100%. I get about 400 km out of a full charge, so about 300km before I need to charge it, which for the local driving I tend to do, is perfect. Very grateful to be in a financial position (and that government is giving generous tax breaks) to afford a new car, my first ever. I won't take it for granted.

5. Excited for: A 5 day in person commercial fiction (novel publishing) Masterclass I've booked into for next May! Its interstate so it is a BIG commitment both financially and also away from the family, but also feels so good to take a big, serious step towards this long-term goal. The Masterclass has a maximum of 20 students, and is taught by a bestselling Australian author who has written in multiple genres. The Masterclass will cover all aspects of commercial fiction writing, from the writing skills themselves all the way to getting published (a leading publisher will even attend and listen to each participant pitch their novel). SO, I have between now and May to draft a manuscript of my latest novel idea, so I can bring it along. That should be the right amount of time to achieve this goal (I wrote my previous novel draft in 10 months).

   
   

   Happy Friday everyone! Take care, and I'll be back at some stage to post again. Otherwise, you'll see me commenting on all my favourite blogs.

Note: header photo by Wix.