This is a great long thread about strategies for coping with uncertainty. It touches on similiar strategies I’ve talked about here and elsewhere about how to navigate a world where every step you take feels like trying to navigate a sea of quicksand. I learned a lot the first time round when we had a […]
The Greatest Act of Resistance? Reclaiming Your Time Read More »
The GET TO WORK HURLEY podcast is a monthly rant about the hustle of making a living as a writer of All of the Things. You can support this podcast each month as a Patron or make a one-time donation. EPISODE THIRTY-FOUR: Madeline Ashby joins Kameron to talk about her latest book Glass Houses, how visiting IKEA is like writing a
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I’ve found comfort the last 10 years in looking back at historical comparisons of the last few hundred years in our history. The likelihood that I’ll survive a prolonged disruption of supply chains and civil unrest is of course quite low (I’m dead in 48 hours without meds) but knowing humans just… Become seething, mad
Adrift on the Sea of History: Hope for Realists Read More »
It’s a Brave New World at the day job today. Yesterday’s events 100% supported my decision to base story squad dynamics on my former team. You write your catharsis. (I do, anyway). I’ve always been better at processing emotion through storytelling than, say, therapy. It IS my therapy. While it’s true that you can’t make
Why Great Art Connects Us Across Time and Space (Even with Monsters) Read More »
Spent time last night on character work for my squad timeline in new #wip. “Using my difficulties” from work – smashing together personalities, reimagining petty squabbles. I know at least one author who turned tumultuous day job-inspired drama and team dynamics into a bestseller. So why not? I think this round gets me to the
On Emotional Wounds and Storytelling Read More »
Working on getting back into new book this week. Last week’s chaotic day job ate headspace. As I discovered last few months with last book, getting deep into Weird Novel headspace is fabulous way to spend These Times. I want to get grounded into this one more. Trying to think what made last click. A
Drafting a Book is Like Shopping at IKEA Read More »
This was an exceptionally stressful week at work, and I am here to remind everyone (and myself!), once again, to give everyone a little grace in our everyday lives this year of all years. Stress and uncertainty are endemic across personal and professional lives. People’s houses are literally on fire. My job has an office
When the World’s on Fire, Dig a Well Read More »
This weekend is seed organizing and inventorying weekend. I had been pining for a card catalog for this effort, but of course those are financially out of reach. So instead spouse bought these modular knockoffs and assembled them into a tower. You do have to fold the seed packets, but same energy. This was also
Embracing What We Can Control Read More »
Woke this morning thinking of my team at work and how the last six months has made us feel like a squad of soldiers trying to survive the AI wars. My next thought slotted a missing chunk of the new book into place. I have a protag with a squad, and now I have starting
Use Your Difficulties (to Make Great Art) Read More »
Back when I was pandemic drinking, it didn’t click that alcohol was causing significant sleep disruptions, and it was the sleep disruption that was making me feel stupider and made it harder to concentrate. This is also a big part of why new parents feel stupider, btw. It’s the sleep deprivation. My paternal grandfather’s only
Why the Productivity Craze is Making You Less Productive (And More Miserable) Read More »