July Wrap-up

Bitter Secrets Snippet

“Mo and Johan will take care of you.”

The sound of his voice directly behind her made her hands freeze before she nodded. She zipped up her bag and kept her back to him.

“If you need anything, someone can fetch it for you.”

She nodded again and fussed with the straps, willing him to walk away. What the hell was he waiting for? “You’re going to be late for your important meeting.”

He smacked her ass hard enough to make her stagger into her bags. Enraged, ass stinging, she whirled with her hand raised to give him the mother of all bitch slaps. He gripped her wrist and yanked her against him, gripping her face and holding her still as he kissed her hard, tongue invading, sparking that heat she didn’t want to acknowledge.

When he broke the kiss, he growled, “I’ll see you tonight,” before he strode away.

As she stood there staring after him, bewildered and part aroused, she spotted Sarai who mimed fainting before she hurried after her boss who strode off the plane and into the rain.

“Jack off,” she muttered.

Draft of Bitter Secrets © 2021 Mia Knight

Bitter Secrets Update

In August, I'm going to continue working on PT 2 of Bitter Secrets. This month I got stumped on quite a few pivotal scenes so I ended up bouncing around in the story, working on other scenes that were more fleshed out in my mind. In August, I'll be stringing all these scenes together and filling in the blanks, which means I have my work cut out for me. I try to work chronologically since every chapter builds upon the previous, but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way. And this was one of those months. I hope I'm able to make up for that in August.

Renting an office

I stumbled across an ad for an office in town, which got me thinking... I've always worked from home, which was fine when I lived alone, but now that I don't, I think a separate office could be the answer to everything. I inquired about the office, but unfortunately it was already taken and there's no others available. However, when I first moved back to Hawaii, I was supposed to meet up with a friend who was interested in subleasing her office since she only uses it part-time. But the pandemic happened and staying home became paramount. I reached out to her this week and was ecstatic to hear that she's still open to it! She asked what days and hours I'm looking for and I basically said I would take anything she would give me. I am hell bent on finishing this and having a separate space could do wonders for me.

I've tried to write at our local library, but I kind of look like this Jim Carrey GIF when I really start going.

My rapid and consistent typing always gains a lot of attention in public. Inevitably, someone will stop me and ask, "What are you writing?" Like, why? With my luck, I'll probably be in the middle of some risque sex scene and the lady knows my mom or something. OMG. Our local library is tiny and I know all the librarians (no context required). It's just not a place where I can get any work done.

Random Note: I recently noticed that I tilt my head to the side when I write. You know, the way people do when they're examining something? I think I just started this and I can tell I'm really in the zone because after I'm done writing, my neck hurts.

I don't know how it is for all writers, but for me, I have to be in a zen state. You have to be in the scene with the characters, not just thinking about pretty words. It takes time to settle into that state and once you're in, you want to stay in it as long as possible. The start, stop, of every day life doesn't work, so any time my friend can give me in this office, you better believe I'm going to take advantage. I hope some other space opens up eventually. It would be really nice to have my own office, but for now, I'll take what's available. I think having a separate work space is going to do wonders for me. :) Fingers crossed!

Personal Update

It's humid as hell here. By 3pm you don't really want to do anything, so I've been waking up early. Oh! My sleep schedule has changed from stumbling to bed at 3am-5am to 12pm-2am. I'm usually awake by 8am as opposed to 1pm. I noticed I'm not sleeping as deeply. It could be because of the heat, but I seem to only need around 5-6 hours as opposed to the winter when I slept 8-10 hours.

The fire is all taken care of. There's just this jet black stain across the mountain to remind us of what took place.

I have to say, leaving social media is probably one of the best things I've ever done. I was so obsessed with it and it was so damn depressing and caused me severe anxiety. I felt bombarded every time I went on. I mean, I still get quite a lot of messages, but it's manageable vs being on all these platforms and feeling like you have to post and then once you post, getting snide comments and... it was this awful cycle and not worth it for me. I've turned my attention to much more productive things--thinking more deeply about the stories, working on my websites, focusing on long-term goals, and a bunch of other things I wouldn't have felt I could fit in if I was on social media.

What's strange about this, though, is that even though I'm off social media, I still feel over stimulated. Mostly by the news. I feel like I have to be tuned in because things are changing on a daily basis and... I'm over it. The pandemic really threw me for a loop in 2020 and messed with my head, but we adjusted accordingly and tried to move forward, but... there is no forward. People can't agree on whether we should/shouldn't have masks, whether kids should/shouldn't be in school, which vaccines are effective or not... It just goes on and on and on. It's exhausting keeping up with the arbitrary regulations and I hate it. There's no standard, no order. The people in charge need to get their shit together. It's holding everyone back from living and all this fighting is hurting the next generation. I feel so bad for the kids growing up in this highly politicized, volatile environment. Being a teen is hard enough and then you have all this other crap piled on top of it. If I'm having trouble working from home, what about all these kids? How do they learn how to interact, build friendships, and really learn? It's incredibly lonely. My 6-year-old nephew didn't go to preschool or kindergarten and is going to school for the first time next week and they're not sure how many days they'll do in person schooling. Everything is so uncertain. It's crazy because once we adjust to something, everything shifts again, and we have to start from scratch. It's exhausting. My heart goes out to all the parents who just want to do what's best for their kids. Before, everyone knew what that was and now... it's all muddled up.

I'm so fucking over everything. My goal is to publish Bitter Secrets (2 books) and Carmen's books (2 or 3 books) and then take a couple months off to unwind and decompress. I've always wanted a cabin in the woods somewhere and I think I should just do it. Anyone else want to peace out and just go off into the woods and leave this bullshit behind?? Just me? Ok. LOL. I notice that the crazier things get, the more I long for a quiet, simple life.

Life has become a sci-fi movie that just won't quit.