Tag: depression

Categories
IWSG

#IWSG July 2018: Writing Goals and Growth

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Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click the image to learn more or sign up.

Look who forgot to schedule this post a day earlier than usual. Oh well.

Happy Independence Day USA!

Optional Monthly Question: What are your ultimate writing goals, and how have they changed over time (if at all)?

I used to want to find a way to write fulltime. That has now changed. While I still want to find more time to write, I don’t think I want to live off my writing (published books). Being a starving artist may work for some people, but I find that my creativity is restricted when it becomes a necessity. Still, I want to find a way to make a living doing something I love; something related to books, writing, and reading, but I’m not sure what that is yet. Whether I ever achieve that goal or not, I plan to keep writing whether I publish or not.

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In case you missed it, I finished my series on The Book to Screen Debate with the controversial stance that some movies can be better than the book. Click the image to read the article.

Also, over at A Small Gang Of Authors, we’re hosting a guessing game to see when we’ll reach 200,000 views. The prize is $50. Click the image to learn more.

Oh, and the IWSG Book Club is reading The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe for the months of June/July. Our discussion on July 25 will focus on description.

Now, on to the personal updates.

I have been practicing my skills as an illustrator and finding that I am greatly lacking. I will continue working on my hand drawings, but for now, I’ll stick with my computer drawings as I’m trying to release more children’s books.

I started a new job that I’m very excited about. It’s only part-time right now, but it can easily become fulltime. I’m hoping this new job will be much better for my overall mental health. Speaking of…

No one likes to hear depressing news, yet people deal with it every day. Some more than others. I’ve been dealing with a lot of changes and drama lately, and yes, I’ve been dealing with depression. I can’t imagine that everyone, at some point, doesn’t experience some form of depression, but that’s a little different from those who are chronic sufferers of it. Please be mindful that the highs and lows of life that you roll with, may be much harder for someone else to deal with. Be attentive to the words people say and don’t say. Be aware of friends who may be in need. And, please, always be supportive and not judgmental.

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So, have your writing goals changed over time?
Ever tried your hand at illustrating?
Do you think it’s possible for a movie to be better than a book?
Any words of encouragement to offer or requests for prayers or thoughts?

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Nicki Elson,
Juneta Key,
Tamara Narayan, and
Patricia Lynne!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #56).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
IWSG

#IWSG August 2017: reading/writing/editing pet peeves & other #questions

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Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click the image to learn more or sign up.

Monthly Question: What are your pet peeves when reading/writing/editing?

Since I really don’t like editing, mainly because I’m no good at self-editing, it’s all one big pet peeve to me. I don’t mind offering feedback on other people’s work, but self-editing seems like an oxymoron to me. To me, if I write something, I know what it’s supposed to sound like and look like, so I can’t see those places where the ideas in my mind and what’s on the screen or paper don’t match. I really don’t like editing.

In terms of writing, my pet peeves are interruptions and inquisitions. It drives me crazy when people won’t let me write. It’s hard enough finding those magical moments when you are motivated to write and actually have the time only to be trapped by someone else’s need to chit-chat after ages of silence. I swear it happens every time. Then there are those times when you’re writing something and people want to talk to you about what you’re writing, or they want to watch you work and get inspired or any number of annoying things to show that they are all of a sudden interested in your writing when they’ve never cared before.

As far as reading goes, while most people will go on and on about style, voice, and p.o.v., the biggest pet peeve I have is when the author has treated the reader like a simpleton. It drives me crazy when authors explain things that don’t need to be explained. I think I do this myself sometimes and I make myself so mad when I do. Gotta work on that.

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Now on to the personal updates.

I’ve been sick, again. I’m always sick, but as long as I’m not in the hospital it really isn’t that bad. I’m used to it, but it does make keeping up with schedules and plans difficult. I’ve also been losing my battle with depression lately. At least I can say that now; I’m currently in a better place. It’s what I call the bounce back. It’s difficult to talk about depression with people who don’t suffer from it because it’s an entirely different thought process; it’s emotional and it’s messy. Most people avoid those who even mention depression, which is why I rarely talk about it. But since I’m doing better at the moment and will, prayerfully, stay that way, I figured it was important to put it out there in case someone is feeling all alone in their struggle.

On a lighter note, I’ve been keeping up with my YouTube channel pretty well, but I’ve realized that I won’t grow a large following with it. With my efforts split between this and other blogs and YouTube, there’s simply no way for me to put the time and interaction into it that would take for effective growth. At this point, it’s just something else I like to do whether others join me or not.

I’ve been writing quite a bit, though I don’t feel like I’m making much progress. Still, it feels good to be writing on a regular basis. I’ll talk more about it in my WIP update on Friday, where I’ll mention how my last public appearance, for a while, went the night before. I’ll be attending “Meet the Authors” at the Central Library in Virginia Beach. At least I’ll get to show off my new business cards.

If you have a moment, I’d love for you to visit my CURIOUS QUESTIONS page and offer your two cents on the question being asked. Thanks bunches.

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So, what are some of your read/write/edit pet peeves?
Any issues you want to talk about?
Any advice for my library appearance?

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Christine Rains,
Dolarah @ Book Lover,
Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor,
Yvonne Ventresca, and
LG Keltner!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #61).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Books Fun Hops

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse #Review: My Father Didn’t Kill Himself #YA #book

The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you’ve finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same. In this way, we’ll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers. Please join us below.

So, the end of April came way faster than I was prepared for. Today, I’m prepping for the RavenCon and am feeling a bit jittery. I feel bad about not putting forth my best effort with this review so let me be clear now, this is not the full and complete review. I will be more thorough at a later time and post my complete review on Goodreads and Amazon (if they let me). Since I’m pretty much a member of the author’s, Russell Nohelty, unofficial fan club, I get a lot of his content in bulk and at discounted prices. I support almost all his Kickstarters and thus, that’s how I acquire his content whether digital or print. In any case, I’ll provide a brief review of this ebook below.

Title: My Father Didn’t Kill Himself
Author: Russell Nohelty
Genre: YA, Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 305
Reading Level: Adult
Content: R (adult content and situations, mature themes, drug and alcohol use, language, sexuality)

So first, I have issues reading YA in general so that’s not a reflection of the author’s ability to tell a story. I had trouble relating to teens with I was one, so reading about them is always a little difficult for me. With that said, this is a very hard book to read. Some of the subject matter is just painful, in an emotional way, but it’s good. Sometimes you have to be uncomfortable to really experience something that sticks with you. Overall, this is a good book I’d recommend to a select few I feel would really connect with it and benefit from it.

I give this book a 4.

If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link: Amazon

Please stop by and see what others have read 😀

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords