Okay, I can finally spill the beans about what exactly I’ve been working with that mindset coach on: Barry and I have just uploaded our FIRST episode of our podcast, MFA Payday! You can listen now. We interviewed MFA grad, writer and photographer Matt Berman.

Also visit our website where you can sign up for our FREE “Pitch Your Pants Off” submission tracker, if you’re a writer. It’s customizable, an important feature.

I designed it myself, because most trackers are ugly and uninspiring. But it can’t magically submit stories for you, so…(You can do it! You can! And an attractive tracker makes everything easier, don’t you think?)

Barry created the intro and outro music for our show, yay! He’s so creative!

It’s just as well that my car has been in the shop for almost a month. It’s kept me home and focused, so I’m not complaining about that. But I’m ready to get my wheels back! Although I’m feeling a little claustrophobic, so I’m thinking I’ll just walk to my favorite coffeehouse this week to hang out.

My mindset coach has helped push me out of the mud week after week as I’ve attempted to meet my milestones to get this going, so a big shoutout to her for her patience and amazing ability to ask me just the right questions for me to see this realized.

Last Monday she had to hear me say “I don’t want to” like a whiny child when she asked what was blocking me from finishing editing episode one. (It was overwhelming, but I did it! Not perfectly, but I did it! And there are many, many steps to the process.)

I’ve had to learn so many darn things in the past few months. They weren’t difficult singly, but put together, they required lots of time and they all seemed to have a learning curve. (Still working on some things. Somehow an entire INTERVIEW disappeared from our Zoom account. Yikes. I really think that was a malfunction that had nothing to do with me, but who knows?)

Because of Barry’s busy schedule, I’ve taken on the editing, which meant learning how to “punch in” to overdub in spots, cutting bits of audio and splicing them, adding his music to the episodes, and removing filler words…you get the picture. It’s a labor of love, sure, but it’s also been a challenge. Whenever I feel overwhelmed or like I just can’t do it, I breathe, regroup, and remind myself that I can do hard things. It sounds simplistic, but that can be a real anxiety buster. That and a gin and tonic. 😉

It also helps to remember our why: we’re doing this to help MFA in Creative Writing grads learn what to do with their MFA’s. This means so much to us, helping both our friends and others. And ourselves. We truly enjoy speaking with writing “family” we never knew before. So now you know. LOL.

In other news…I’m gearing up for the release of my second novel in early January. I’m getting so excited to share my newest story with the world…lining up publicity for it, reviews, etc. And artwork, cool artwork…I can’t WAIT to share that with you soon.

Don’t tell anyone, but I’m thinking about creating a graphic novel of it as a fun freebie for my readers. Because apparently I don’t have enough going on…

Our daughter and her sweet new puppy, Oskar, visited us a few weeks ago. She’s a digital nomad and has the coolest Caravel Airstream. We loved visiting her at the campground where she set up, (yes, of course we made s’mores), as well as introducing her puppy to Desi and Lucy’s “The Long, Long Trailer” the next day at our house. (It’s one of our family’s favorite films. No wonder Mia bought a trailer!) It was a great week, but as always, it was hard to say goodbye.

Novel number three is progressing nicely. Another deadline looms mid-October. My reader has invited me to linger over scenes and take my time allowing the reader to get to know my characters. I’m taking her up on it! I’m kinda falling for these characters. Yesterday morning found me reading and re-reading a poem by a classic poet, analyzing it, wishing I had a poet friend nearby to ask questions about it. I need to be sure I understand the intent behind a poem because I want to use that intent as a driving force for a section of my novel. I think I need a “phone a poet” feature on my phone.

Oh, what I didn’t say: I am also writing another poem for my book. I feel grossly underqualified to do this, but who else is supposed to write poetry for my book? (Not me, please, not me.)

Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Here’s hoping you are well.

Copyright Drēma Drudge, 2022. All rights reserved.