News

20
Feb

Year of Consistency – Week 6

Time for my weekly check-in!

Writing: I started writing the MG! I don’t know if it will work out, but right now I really love the idea. I don’t want to talk about it too much because I want to keep this as purely fun and pressure-free as possible. I’m not showing anyone till I get a bunch of pages! But I talked about the premise with some writer friends at dinner last night and their excitement was really heartening.

Reading: I finished EVERY DAY, which was really interesting. Now I’m reading BRIGHT BEFORE SUNRISE by my friend Tiffany Schmidt. It just came out yesterday and it’s so so good. Tiffany writes great relationships – not just romances (though she does bring the swoon) but fantastic families, too. I’m actually about to go to bed and read, and I may very well be up late finishing it! And I’m hoping to get lots of reading done next week on my retreat!

Promo/Business: I’ve done a bunch of organizational stuff for upcoming travel and signings, and I’m all caught up on reader emails again! I also ordered new bookmarks for the whole trilogy, which I will (hopefully) have in time for NYC Teen Book Fest!

Health: I walked for four hours last week! This week I’ve been stepping it up to walk 75-80 minutes instead of 65. I’m feeling really good about that; I’m hoping to eventually get to the point where I walk for 90 minutes most mornings while I do email and social media. It’s the best thing I’ve done to help manage my anxiety. And I’ve been sticking with my diet, eating more mindfully, even though I’ve totally wanted to comfort-eat sometimes!

Cooking: I made Soup #7 last week – a sundried tomato soup with lump crab. I love crab and tomato both separately and together, so while it was a bit pricey, it was really yummy! This week I’m making a veggie “stone soup” – we’ll see how it goes! I also discovered low-carb wraps and Laughing Cow Light Chipotle + Queso wedges, which are amazing, so I’ve been making burritos with beans and salsa and brown rice. I’ve also been rocking elementary school lunches – fake chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries!

Social/Other: We were snowbound Thursday & Friday with 6″ of snow – which was really relaxing. The Playwright’s class got canceled on Thurs and mine got canceled on Friday, so we got pizza and watched the Olympics and played some board games for Valentine’s Day. We got Jaipur from friends and have been really into that, Ticket to Ride, and Lost Cities lately. But the rest of last week was SO BUSY  – Monday I had book club, Tues I went to Shut Up & Write (a local YA writers’ discussion that I help organize every other month – this month’s topic was Diversity in YA) Wed I went to Marissa Meyer’s signing for CRESS, Saturday I went to see the play S has been dramaturging, and Sunday I met some friends for lunch at the National Gallery. That’s kind of A LOT of leaving the house and not wearing yoga pants, guys! It was all pretty fun but I’ve been turtling this week.

How about you? Are you on track for your 2014 goals?

5 Responses

  1. sarahappifanie

    Sounds like a good week! 🙂 I'm in NC and the weather is so up and down that I've had a TON of migraines, so I haven't accomplished much of anything. Alas. Hanging in and getting back into working out at least!

    1. I hope you're feeling better, Sarah! I'm hoping for warm, sunny weather in NC for the next week – bc I'm flying in tomorrow for a weeklong retreat! It's at the beach and I SO want to be able to walk every day. *fingers crossed*

      1. sarahappifanie

        I can't even remember what the weather is supposed to be like next week! The weather forecasters here are pretty awful so I just stopped absorbing the info 🙂 I hope the weather cooperates!!

  2. Amy Butler Greenfield

    This all sounds wonderful, Jess! So happy that you're writing something you love. One of my key goals has been to get more sleep. It takes self-discipline to wind down early and not try to get a few more things done, but it makes such a difference to how I feel the next day, and that's helping me keep on track.

    1. Thanks so much, Amy! You know, my natural tendency is to stay up writing until 3 or 4 or 5, I've always been such a night owl, but then my brain is whirring and I don't sleep until dawn and I'm a mess the next day. It's just not sustainable. So now I'm trying to read awhile before bed and be asleep by 2 or 3 at the latest so I can get up by 11 – which is still pretty nontraditional but workable for me right now! I'm wishing you lots of sleep too!

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