Hello, Friends,
Perhaps you’ve noticed that I’m missing from the interwebs and social media. No, my information has not be compromised by a team of kittens or hamster hackers. Rather, I got tired of consuming information that was often false, or made me angry, or even distracted. My writing was starting to suffer. I no longer cared what my high school nemesis or exes were up to. I didn’t need to see what everyone was eating for breakfast (though it always looked delicious).
If you’ve read The Ten Fantastic Fails of Rory O’Leary, you know that anxiety (and depression) have been part of my life since I was a teenager. All the noise from social media was making me anxious. I realized I had the power to turn it off.
And so I did.
Am I less anxious? Nope.
Am I writing more? Nope.
But my brain feels quieter than it has in years. I’m reading poetry (mostly r.h. Sin right now) instead of Twitter before bed. I went on vacation with BB to rural Georgia, the same cabin where I spent most of my vacations growing up. I had no cell service and spotty wifi. I wrote a lot. Read seven books. Napped in a hammock. I came back home recharged.
I do miss the communities I was part of on social media. I miss seeing friends (and strangers) post their good news and immediately be able to congratulate them.
Perhaps one day, I’ll rejoin the social networks I deleted. Once I get things sorted out, I’ll start a monthly newsletter and give updates to projects and book sales and funny things BB said.
I’m going to update this space more often, too. I used Twitter and Instagram to promote my books, but was lazy about my site. I’m going to do better. Be better.
It’s been a month since I pulled the social media plug. It’s autumn here in the Pacific Northwest. I turned on my heater last night and it’s not even October. We’ve had many brilliant lightning and thunderstorms these last few weeks. I’m ready to snuggle into my cozy sweaters, switch to hot tea, and write in front of a fireplace. I’m currently working on an adult romance to be published under a pen name right now. Later this fall/early winter, likely during NaNoWriMo, I’ll draft Rory #2. I’ve got some YA stories that I want to dust off and revise and publish. And add another collection of short stories. I even started writing poetry again.
I wish you warmth and a fantastic book.
Love, Danielle
danielle dreger 