Hi guys! Merry Christmas!
New Steps
I’ve been looking into formatting software. Vellum is considered the premier software to use, but it is only for Macs, with no plans to go to IBM/Android. The purchase price is around $200, which is for eBook formatting only. If you want to be able to do print as well, the price is $250. This price includes all updates. For someone who already owns a Mac, this is probably the best choice, but I am not a Mac person. I have never been a Mac person, and I can’t see switching just so I can use this program. I am IBM all the way, so this is not an option for me. Not to mention, Macs are EXPENSIVE.
I found another software program called Atticus. It is $147, which includes all future updates. You can use it online or download it through chrome. They are planning ambitious additions to the program in the future, and I think this could be a viable choice for me.
I’m on track to publish a short story by my birthday, which is what prompted me to start looking into the formatting software. Now, I’m trying to decide which one. I want to focus on one because I think I can only afford to have one cover created at a time. I have several stories that are basically done that I can choose from in a variety of genres and levels of explicitness. I feel like it’s a big decision. This will be the first fiction I’ve published, so I want to set the correct tone.
Am I overthinking this? Probably. It's amazing how many things get me to drag my feet.
The Breakdown
The F*ck It Diet, by Caroline Dooner
In the last several years, there has been a growing push to banish diet culture because it promotes unattainable body types and unhealthy attitudes toward food. It has been championed by several organizations such as Health at Every Size and the National Eating Disorders Association. This book along with others talk about how to break away from the fears and behaviors that are detrimental to having a healthy relationship with food.
In the first part of the book, she beats you to death with information about the famine/feast cycle that most diets inspire. Restricting calories or the types of foods you ‘allow’ yourself to consume sends your body into starvation mode. That, in turn, sends us into a bulking stage once the restriction disappears. That is when people tend to gain back all the weight they lost and, usually, plus some. She says to stop this all you need to do is eat. Eat! Eat! Eat as much as your body wants (she had to have said this at least a hundred times). Don’t worry, you will gain weight. She makes no promises that the weight will melt off. This is not a book about weight loss. It is about trusting your body and to stop obsessing about food.
I don’t think I am the audience she is talking to. She specifically addresses those who are always looking for the next big diet and who are constantly thinking and worrying about food and what they are eating. I have only done a couple diets in my life. I tend to eat whatever I want. But I am concerned about emotional eating and using food as a crutch. That is something I do. She addresses that later in the book, but I haven’t gotten that far yet, so it remains to be seen how much it will help me.
Living Life
I am a list maker. Always have been. I am also a chronic everything-at-once type person. Let me give you an example.
I am cleaning and organizing my desk. I run across a Christmas card I received from my aunt, which reminded me I should write her a letter. So, I start to write a letter. In the middle, it occurs to me that I might not have stamps or envelopes. I got up to make sure I had some. Found envelopes in my drawer. The stamps were hanging on the frig, next to the white board which has our grocery list. I remembered we needed sugar. I wrote that down, and next thing I know, I’m making a full grocery list. I stop in the middle, thinking if I’m going to do this, I need look at the meal plan first. I go back to my desk to grab my bullet journal. At which point I see the half-finished letter and sit down to finish it.
It happens at least once a day. The sessions always end by me talking out loud to myself saying “Mel stop, finish what you were doing.” I eventually get everything done, but certainly not in the most efficient way.
To that end, I sat down today and made a list (you didn’t think I had a point, did you?) of everything I want to get caught up, worked on, or completed in the four days I have off around Christmas. My family doesn’t really do anything special for Christmas, so it's just another day for us. Which reminds me, I need to get groceries today because the stores will be closed tomorrow. <heavy sigh>
I’ve been procrastinating a lot of stuff the last couple weeks… months… years. There are things that have been sitting on my master to do list for a long time. Obviously, I can’t do everything in four days, but I can knock off one of the old timers and a bunch of the more pressing things.
As always, thanks for checking out the site, and I hope everyone is doing well. If you feel so inclined, check out my social media.
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