Getting in to Anthologies and mischief!

Fig. I have an anthology under my belt now, and what the heck does that saying mean anyway? Ohp: The expression 'under one’s belt' first came into use in the late 1700s-early 1800s, and was used as the expression of a tally of how many alcoholic beverages one had consumed. Thank you grammarist.com! But I don't drink.

Quite possibly not being anything more than I am ambitious--to the point where I'd probably dissolve into a handful of red snowflakes without the trait--I would be classified by one writer as a villain (Shakespeare), and another as a Slytherin (double-villain), but am, IRL, just a neurodivergent woman.

I would argue that women, whose work is often pushed out, claimed, or overlooked, should consider ambition a guiding light rather than a fatal character flaw. Implied in it is the kind of grit necessary to create, and create, and create some more. And because I hold this opinion, my creative life is currently a smoking traffic jam.

Somewhere around the time I sent an oil painting to a gallery opening show, and started writing for a second (!) anthology, I began to understand I was in over my head. Currently, I'm staring down the barrel of an online art auction in 3 weeks, another 10k word short-story due, one novel finished, and a second at ~30K words, and two covers sitting in my inbox, one of which is the next installment in the Folded Earth series, title and all.

I am... overcommitted! By way of warning, I've been sick for 5 days, and just too exhausted to even think of how to handle the situation. What do I need?

1. Time to make an themed watercolour portrait for art auction.

2. Time to re-read and copyedit the 7th book in the Cardinal Machines series.

3. Time to finish, edit, and format novel Legends Never Die for Kindle Vella.

4. Time to write, edit, and publish the next installment in the Folded Earth series.

5. A drink of water.

I can handle the last one. I'm pretty sure. I also need to do business coursework, writing coursework, marketing for On Beauty (with brilliant artist Jenny Boot and Rajae), and managing a full time job. So, why not throw entering into book anthologies into the mix? Just to see if that will be enough to make me crack? (Quick hint - It will be.)

Only when you LOVE what you do this much, do you let it fully kick your @$$ as I've done since the start of this year.

So far, this year.

I'm aware there will have to be some changes to scale back the workload (no, I'm not seriously looking at YouTube. Yes I have one, but it's for audiogram storage), but quite honestly, I love creating, so it's hard to dial it back. However, if you think all this somehow means I've forgotten about you, think again. I adore the people on my blog and site. You cheer me up, and motivate me. Those of you who were with me long ago, when I was working out how to write fiction? Who do a first read my books? You are my squad. If you're on this page and wondering what rabbit hole I crawled down at the beginning of the year, you're precious.

So, here are some links that will explain far better than I might be able to, what I've been up to. - Writing a book with Jenny and Rajae Jenny Boot (@jennyboot2) • Instagram photos and videos

- Doing a podcast with Lady Rowan / Lauren Eason https://bit.ly/LaurenEasonTracyEire

- Being in this art show Stories • Instagram with this painting Tracy Eire (@tracyeire) • Instagram photos and videos.

- Writing this anthology with a handful of writers https://bit.ly/DragonLadies

- Writing, editing, and publishing a Kindle Vella novel (no one will see till Vella goes live).

Fig. Sneak-peek of Vella, in case you're not all about book betas! Here's a glimpse how the author site looks.

So, I wanted to tell you all that I'm thinking of you, as I motor the odd landscape of writing and making artwork.

Oh! I forgot one! I made a short foray back into digital art to paint a character cover for Legends Never Die, and show freckly Petal Knight, Shean Aldain (and let me tell you, freckles are hard folks)! Here's a peek at how this one came out! (Yes I'm much rustier than Shean's armour!)

There will more updates from me, but thank you for your patience already! Please let me know if you have any questions. I have a new short story in the Fairies in Jars anthology book coming soon, and, like 'The Haunting of Luna Bryne' in the Dragon Ladies book, it's not your average fairy. Meanwhile, I'll endeavour to do better with updates! Thank you!