Oh man, where to begin. Maybe I should start at the end for a change. Like why I’m writing this post. So much has happened, and I know I’m hardly the only one who had a tough year. But I know my experiences are different from most people. COVID-19 hasn’t changed my life as much as for others. My husband was home more which was great. We work well together so being together 24/7 is no problem at all.
My biggest challenges were my health and writing. In March, my neck injury came back and hit me like a truck. I couldn’t think, focus, or do much with screens at all. That’s a bit of a problem when you have to edit your work. After the summer, I finally felt better. The exercises I got from the physical therapist helped me a lot, although I still get headaches regularly. It’ll take time before it’s gone.
Three weeks after that, the joints in my wrist dislocated and the cartilage in between became inflammed. The doctor saw nothing wrong and only gave me pain killers for the pain. When it happened, I thought I was going to faint from the pain. I was on the verge. This was one of the instances where I was happy my husband was home and he helped me to control the pain.
With one hand impaired and a head refusing to work like it’s supposed to, it’s hard to be a writer. Especially when your publishing schedule has been flipped because of circumstances. I wanted to publish the second and third book of the Infernal Contracts trilogy, but instead I relaunched Devil’s Deal (out now and available for 99 cents for another week) with the help of a professional editor, and the second book is with him now.
I had no time to recover completely. I had to write, I had to type. Even if my head and my hand were in pain. And that’s something I have had to get used to, to be able to work while in pain. Even when that pain is a seven on a scale of one to ten.
So no gaming for me. I had to save my screen time and my keyboard time for my books. I reduced my time on social media and discord, only focusing on what was in front of me, what had to get done. So now I was cut off from the real world because of several lockdowns and general caution because I might still be at high-risk if I catch COVID-19, and my online social life was reduced as well. Still, I didn’t feel lonely. I used to feel lonely a lot when I was younger. I also cared a lot more about what other people thought of me. I lived for their approval. I no longer do though. Maybe that helped me become more mentally resilient. And probably having my best friend with me is a big factor.
I don’t know how active I’ll be with blogging here starting the new year because my wrist still isn’t completely healed and I’ve got two books to finish before I can breath again. But I hope to be more active in the communities I’m part of. Read more blogs again, comment, get back on Discord and Twitter. Who knows.
Finger crossed that 2021 will be better in many ways.
