This has been a rough semester/year. I've been dealing with some mental health issues--specifically depression--physical health issues, and finishing grad school. On top of that, I've been trying to figure out my future, which has been morphing before my eyes over the past few months. Today, though, the day before my final class at Simmons, I have a fairly good idea of what the next year will look like, and I want to share it with all of you.
First of all, I will be staying in Boston in my fabulous apartment, with my great roommate. I can do this because I HAVE A JOB. A real one. A grown-up one. It's not being a full-time author, not yet, but I've promised myself that I will not let working 9-5 affect my goals or my priorities. I will use it to pay the bills while I work my way down the publication path.
My job is at the Boston Center for Independent Living as a Youth Transition Advocate, working specifically with youth between the ages of twelve and twenty-two (writing research!) I'm excited and terrified, slanting somewhat toward terrified. I've technically started trainers, but am not working with consumers, yet.
That's mostly because of my physical health issues. I've had increasing back pain for the past year or more, and they've finally diagnosted it as a severe scoliosis curve. In May, this caused a pinched nerve in my back that laid me up for most of May--I read/watched ALL of Game of Thrones/The Song of Ice and Fire--and I'm having surgery to straighten the curve on August 26th. The worst part of all of it has been that it makes sitting up (and thus writing) painful, and I use most of my sitting time for work/class. It's super-frustrating, but I'm still working on revising some things. Of course, my brain, knowing that I have no time to write new things, is giving me all kinds of ideas. *sigh*. Definitely will be doing NaNoWriMo, if not something while I recover from my surgery.
I will be going to LeakyCon this week. I'm worried about pain/stamina, but I'm determined to have a blast and
