I don't know as I would call it a ritual but I discovered I trim my nails before tackling my WIP. I don't do it on purpose. I've noticed a perk though when I'm writing. My fingers perform nimble acrobatics across the keyboard without the nuisance of long nails slowing me down. I haven't tested to discover if my storytelling or perhaps my spelling and grammar is improved by nail length. But I'm sure my word count explodes on the pages. How about you?
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My Memoir vs COVID-19 by J.Q. Rose
When the news of the coronavirus made headlines and restrictions were imposed, I did not accept the reality of the moment. We were in Florida for the winter, but shutting down the beaches and bars in Florida had no effect on my life. Then the governor's decisions did start leaking into my life.
- No more than ten people in a group.
- No restaurants open for breakfast after church and no more church services in the building.
- No getting together at friends' homes for pegs and jokers board games and delicious party food.
Each order beat a chink in the armor I had put on to protect myself and my feelings about the reality of this life-changing pandemic for me and the entire world.
A community-wide yard sale in our over 55+ park scheduled for Saturday, March 21 really brought home the fact how serious this disease was. Our friends wanted to participate in the yard sale, so they brought their items over to our house and I added some of our "white elephants" to their tables they had set up in our carport.
After finishing the displays of goods, my friend and I hopped in the car a list of the addresses of sales scheduled to be open on that Saturday. We noticed only a few cars and golf carts were out and about. Unusual for the first hours of yard sailing day. I drove and my friend navigated to the next stop. We were surprised at how many people had opted out of participating in the sale fearing the Coronavirus could be spread throughout our senior community.
On our way back to our house, we discussed how people were accepting the precautions. That was the eye-opening moment when we knew it was time to get serious about the impact this virus could have on our community.
I accepted the changes and kept up with housework and writing, looking forward to our trip back north in April. Then, the rumors about traveling out of Florida flew through the snowbird community--borders closed, no rest areas open, no places to eat along the highways that we would travel on to get home. When Florida closed its borders to anyone traveling from states highly infected with the disease, we decided we'd better get OUT of Florida while we could and get back IN to Michigan before they banned travel from Florida. Everything was up in the air, not knowing what stories from locals were true and how much of the media coverage could be trusted.
I never agonize over packing up to move back north. We've moved from this place in Florida every spring since 2006. But this year, my brain was scattered. I couldn't decide what to pack, how to pack, what to bring on a trip where I feared no restrooms and no food would be available. And would the gas stations be open for us along the highways when we needed them? My heart is pounding even now just remembering the anxiety I felt that week before we left on the 22-hour trip north. I wasn't crazy about spending the night in a motel not knowing how carefully they sanitized it, so we decided to spend just one night on the road rather than two.
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Downtown Atlanta,Georgia, April 5,2020
Eerie scene driving through the city which is usually bumper to bumper and stop and go traffic |
Thankfully, the trip was smooth and easy. Light traffic on the Interstate meant no traffic jams as we sped through the big cities. Gas stations were open all the way along the route. The rest areas were open so most of the time I was the only one in the ladies' room--just me and 20 toilets. The motel in Kentucky was clean. In fact, the clerk who greeted us sanitized the pen GT used before and after he signed the papers and the desktop where we signed in.
We arrived safely home in the late afternoon of the second day on the road. Our daughter and son-in-law had the electric and heat on, so the refrigerator was cold and ready to load up with food and the house was warm and comfortable. I sighed a relief we were home.
I tried to settle into our normal life, again with housework and writing, but I couldn't focus on the memoir I was trying to finish for a June release. Evidently, other authors had the same problem because our thoughtful publisher, Jude Pittman, sent a note on the authors' group FB page that she understood it was a difficult time for authors to get their books ready for publishing in 2020. So if we needed to re-schedule to a later date, we could. I blew off the idea. That pandemic was not going to interfere with my writing.
However, after realizing I just couldn't focus on writing the best book I could for BWL Publishing and for my readers, I finally asked Jude to re-schedule. I felt horrible about changing the release date since I had shouted about it so much. But when Jude said she could re-schedule the release to January 2021, I felt the cloud of anxiety lift and float away.
I know many of you are dealing with stress, anxiety, sadness and loss brought on by this devastating event. You are not alone. Reach out for help because we all need help getting through this, but getting through this, we will!
After all, this is the Insecure Writers Support Group--there for each other in supporting our writing efforts. After many years of taking part in the group, I have witnessed the caring and kindness offered to each other than just writing.
Please leave a comment below with a helpful tip on how you focus on your writing during stressful times. Thank you.
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Lighten Up with Time Out While Staying In: 5 Quirky Short Stories
I put together a collection of five quirky stories to give you a break from the burden of dealing with so many challenges. So Take a Break. Download these approximately 1000 word stories which were originally published on this blog for the Storytime Blog Hop.
You are not signing up for anything other than having some time to escape reality!
I've had a lot of fun re-visiting and revising the stories for you. Sit back, laugh or gasp for a few minutes.
You deserve it.
We will get through this difficult time. I think we'll be surprised at how many things will change for the better as a result.
Hugs from J.Q. Rose
The May edition of the Rose Courier will be delivered next week. Still time to have it delivered to your inbox. Click the image in the sidebar or click here to sign up for all the news and giveaways from J.Q. Rose. Thank you.
