The first Wednesday of every month is the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Posts go up the 1st Wednesday of every month. Check it out here and join if you need support with your writing. Don't forget to stop by and say hi to the co-hosts:  Diane Burton, JH Moncrieff, Anna @ Emaginette, Karen @ Reprobate Typewriter, Erika Beebe, and Lisa Buie-Collard!

April 1 question - The IWSG’s focus is on our writers. Each month, from all over the globe, we are a united group sharing our insecurities, our troubles, and our pain. So, in this time when our world is in crisis with the covid-19 pandemic, our optional question this month is: how are things in your world?

I had a different post planned today, but I decided to swap it out after reading this month's question.

Things are a little crazy right now, even in my world. I'm in Upper Michigan. It's remote with lots of trees and small populations, so things reach here last. I remember Mad Cow, the last SARS, and ebola causing a panic around the country. But not here. Not much changed it didn't really affect many people.

​This time, it has. There has been one confirmed case of someone from my county having Coronavirus. They aren't being treated here, though. Probably downstate. Hubby read about a woman passing through the nearby airport that might have had it. I went to Meijer and there was no toilet paper! Yeah, the panic reached all the way up here.

That was when I knew this was something really serious. When the laid back folks of "Da UP" are worried, you know shit has gone down.

Fortunately, hubby is able to work from home. I was able to go out and get food stocked up and found some rubbing alcohol and Aloe Vera gel so I could make some hand sanitizer because all I could find was a small bottle to fit in my purse. We've been hunkered down and eager for this to blow over.

A Youtuber I watch, Markiplier, said something the other day that really struck me. He said the outcome we want from this is to prove the skeptics right, that it wasn't that bad because we took extra precautions and the death toll wasn't as high as it could have been. TL;DR: Better safe than sorry.

I hope you are weathering this storm and keeping safe. If it's stressing you out, I recommend going to the subreddit AWWW for some cute animal therapy. We'll get through this. The human race is too stubborn not to.

The first Wednesday of every month is the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Posts go up the 1st Wednesday of every month. Check it out here and join if you need support with your writing. Don't forget to stop by and say hi to the co-hosts: Jacqui Murray, Lisa Buie-Collard, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence!

​This month's optional question is: Other than the obvious holiday traditions, have you ever included any personal or family traditions/customs in your stories?

My answer for this is short: No, I haven't. With that out of the way, on to my insecurities!

I had a thought last month that felt like the perfect topic for an IWSG post. I was making dinner and I had a thought: I wish I was successful. It paused me and I asked myself, "Why? Where did that come from?"

Because really, what would be successful achieve? Would it really make my life easier? At this point in my life, hubby and I are living comfortably. We can pay bills and buy things we want. Even pricier things aren't that much of a strain as long as we budget smart. Being successful wouldn't reduce stress in that manner.

But what else?

I thought some more and realized being successful wouldn't help much in my life. It won't cure my chronic illnesses or the bouts of depression I get. Sure I'd have loads of money to throw at seeing doctors, but they'd all tell me the same thing about my illnesses: they can't be cured. Think about it. How many successful people end up addicted to drugs or alcohol? How many come out and admit they are dealing with depression. Being successful isn't going to cure those things.

So, what did I really want with that thought?

I guess what it really was is a desire for things to be easier. Because of the above chronic illnesses there are times when simple things are exhausting for me. I run out of steam easily, and since I can't have caffeine, I end up napping and while that gives me a small charge, it's often not enough for me to be able to do much the rest of the day. But success won't make things easier just like it won't cure my illnesses. About the only thing success can do is ease the stress of money problems.

And then success adds new, different stresses. When you get successful, that generally means you have tons of people watching you. They criticize everything you do. Demand things of you. Impossible things. You start to worry about it all going up in smoke and losing everything you've gained. Either way, successful or not, you're still stressed out.

What do you think? Have I hit the nail on the head? Or did I miss something?

PS: Don't forget to head over to my YA blog where Elizabeth Seckman is sharing an excerpt from her new novel, About Us.

The first Wednesday of every month is the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Posts go up the 1st Wednesday of every month. Check it out here and join if you need support with your writing. Don't forget to stop by and say hi to the co-hosts: Lee Lowery, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Jennifer Hawes, Cathrina Constantine, and Tyrean Martinson!

February 5 question - Has a single photo or work of art ever inspired a story? What was it and did you finish it?
I have a really short answer for that: no. But, I have had movies and other books inspire a story. My young adult paranormal, Being Human was inspired by the dark ending to the novel Thirsty.

Last month, I focused on looking back at 2019. It was a good year, and it left me with high hopes for 2020. I still have high hopes, but January was a rough month. Not as much as I would have liked got done. I dealt with a lot of fatigue and exhaustion. When I thought about it, I wasn't surprised. Last January I dealt with fatigue. I eventually declared my 2019 officially started on February. Then I rocked the year.

I think my issue with January is I'm recovering. We have three holidays that are extremely social in a short time. I'm an anti-social introvert, so those holidays wipe me out. January signifies the end and I can finally relax and my body is like, "HELL YES! NAP TIME!"

Realizing this has lifted a load off my shoulders. Instead of stressing about how tired I am (despite doing nothing) and what I want to get done, I let myself rest. I recharged and worked on things that didn't require brain power or were easy. Now, I'm ready for 2020 to begin.

Has your year started out with a bang or a fizzle? Do you need to recoup after the holidays? Want to start 2020 in February with me?

*Adding after I initially published this* My little nephew is in the hospital with the flu. He has a compromised immune system, so if it's going around, he gets it. Please send him some healing vibes that he's out quickly and back to be the adorable tornado he is.

Would you like to join me on the week of Valentine's Day for a blog hop? We imagining what it'd be like to be abducted by aliens to celebrate the birthday of my novel Abducted Life. All the details are here.

The first Wednesday of every month is the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Posts go up the 1st Wednesday of every month. Although, this month, we pushed it back to the second Wednesday because let's face it, most people were probably too hung over from celebrating last week to worry about IWSG. Check it out here and join if you need support with your writing. Don't forget to stop by and say hi to the co-hosts: T. Powell Coltrin, Victoria Marie Lees, Stephen Tremp, Renee Scattergood, and J.H. Moncrieff!

It's a new year, so I'm sure a lot of my fellow writers are looking back to see how they fared in 2019. I am as well, and...

• I published my young adult post-apocalyptic fantasy, Leaves of Fall under my pen name Patricia Lynne
• I read 30 books
• I finished writing FOUR first drafts and wrote over 220K words!
• I rewrote one story, got probably 3/4 through another rewrite as well as a secret project
• I submitted a few short stories, flash fiction, and a drabble to 13 publications. (The drabble was the only acceptance and it wasn't paying, but I submitted and that's what matters.)

But there were a few goals I did not get. I didn't grow my Patreon, write four drabbles a week, or work on a ghost story I wanted to.

But given all I accomplished, I'm pretty happy with my year. It's made me excited for 2020 and what I want to accomplish. How did your 2019 treat you and your writing? Did you reach the goals you set? Have you made plans for 2020? Or do you panster it?

And don't forget the optional question: What started you on your writing journey? Was it a particular book, movie, story, or series? Was it a teacher/coach/spouse/friend/parent? Did you just "know" suddenly you wanted to write? While I still have you, head over to my young adult blog and read how I wrote over 200 THOUSAND words last year.

The first Wednesday of every month is the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Posts go up the 1st Wednesday of every month. Check it out here and join if you need support with your writing. Don't forget to stop by and say hello to the co-hosts:  Tonja Drecker, Beverly Stowe McClure, Nicki Elson, Fundy Blue, and Tyrean Martinson!

December 4 question - Let's play a game. Imagine. Role-play. How would you describe your future writer self, your life and what it looks and feels like if you were living the dream? Or if you are already there, what does it look and feel like? Tell the rest of us. What would you change or improve?

I'm skipping this question because I couldn't even tell you how I'd describe myself tomorrow. I hesitate to plan much because when I do, life likes the put her foot out and knock me over. It's better to just have some loose ideas of what I want and then go with the flow.

We're in the last month of the year. I've taken a few peeks at the goals I set for 2019 and what I've accomplished this year already. And I have to say, I did pretty damn well this year. The schedule I made worked well and I'm amazed at all I've gotten accomplished this year. But we're not out of the water yet. We still have December and that gives us plenty of time to squeeze a few more words in. I plan on doing that and I hope you are too.

Have you looked at your goals for 2019 yet? Did you meet any? Are there a couple you think you can get in before we ring in the new year? I fiddled with my website design and went for something festive. What do you think?