wittering noun
wit·ter·ing ˈwitərə̇n, -riŋ
plural-s
chiefly Scottish
: a piece of information (as a sign, token, or hint)
Etymology
Middle English (Scots) wittering, witering, from gerund of witteren, witeren to clarify, inform, teach, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse vitra to manifest, reveal, vitr wise, vita to know“Wittering.”
— “Wittering.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wittering.
to look ahead and behind
This may just be me, but I feel like I’ve been in a race against myself for the last year. No matter how I delegated my time and made breaks for yoga, walks, and just moments to breathe. No matter how on top of my “to-do” list I managed. No matter how often I told myself to just take it a day at a time. Nothing totally did away with that niggling background voice chanting: “Not enough, not enough, not enough…”
Enough of what? Enough time, maybe. I’m not totally sure myself. It’s been part of what drove me forward some days, but it’s also held me back in hindsight. I don’t like this feeling. I don’t like feeling like I’m always five steps behind where I think I should be. I’m a big lists person, and I like to reflect on those lists when planning out my weeks/months. But after the holiday season ended, I entered 2024 at a run and haven’t stopped since.
Which is probably why I decided to take a break from just about everything but my family, work, and writing for the month of January. I wasn’t exactly planning a social media and marketing hiatus. As an author, taking a marketing hiatus is a fantastic way to bury yourself. I mean that literally. Dozens of titles (or more?) are published every day, and if you aren’t constantly pumping reminders/ads about your book, then it gets buried under the sludge. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of fantastic books being published. It’s not all sludge. My point is that it feels like an uphill battle.
Now that I’ve come out on the other side of the race against myself, I realized a few things. Mainly, I don’t quite care the way I used to. So what if I’m not doing “all the things” that I should be? What works for some authors doesn’t work for others, and the trends change all the time. So what does this mean for me going forward?
While I still plan on publishing Scarred Beauty and Bound Beauty this year, I also want to pivot my mindset going forward. Starting with my original plan for Weekly Writerly Witterings. So here’s the deal I’m making with myself and with you: once a week, I will write about life, books/movies I love, and storytelling. Some weeks I’ll write more than others. No doubt there will be times when it’s gonna be a struggle to put down words. But it’s something I feel compelled to do. I hope you’ll come along on the journey with me, and let’s just see how it goes, yeah?
It’s funny that after years of trying to catch up with everyone else, I feel led to return to my roots so to speak. But I think there’s a reason for it, maybe the universe leading me in a different direction, maybe something I won’t fully understand myself until later. But for now, I’m going to write and blog and try to remember why I loved these little things so much once upon a time.
bookish updates!
- Craving Beauty hardcovers are going on sale with The Signed Bookshop at 15% off!
- The Borderlands Saga Book Trailer is going on tour with Book of Matches Media March 21st
- Scarred Beauty will now release on March 31st instead of the 1st. I needed some extra wiggle room because this book ran away from me and I’m still making additions to my current draft. Don’t worry, this is a good thing, and I’m excited to share more with y’all this coming month! For now, here’s a moodboard 😉
recent reads I’m crazy about…
Jennifer Silverwood 