hello and happy October, y'all! i adore Halloween, and as i was drafting this in the morning i had a whole couple sentences about how much i needed to decorate our door, and then i went to the Craft Fair at my local library branch to do my volunteer shift and this stunner of a wreath came into my life. ask, and ye shall receive!

if you're one of the folks who are new here, welcome! here are some thoughts.

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⚡️ did you ever have one of those ideas that made you feel positively electric, like your brain was vibrating? maybe it was a personal insight, or about a project you wanted to do, or about something you were already doing, or a career change, or or or -- you get the idea. i had one of those this morning, although in hindsight it feels like it's been quietly coalescing for months. i've learned that when i have these, i have to talk them through with someone -- the right someone, depending on the idea -- ASAP, so i don't lose the spark, but also so i don't go charging ahead without considering the angles i can't see for all the sparks. doing Sword Stone Table was like that, and that one brought me to right now, with two anthologies under my belt and one in the early proposal stages (!!). we'll see what comes of this morning's lightning bolt.

🧐 i have been thinking a lot lately about priorities and life. (picture me saying "PROPORTIONIZING!" but "PRIORITIZING!") i read FOUR THOUSAND WEEKS and the 2018 edition of YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE back to back and it was a real one-two punch for my brain. i have also been thinking about how letting myself do a little bit less has, truly and genuinely, made me feel like i am accomplishing more. it's wild, y'all. i wrote this post about productivity a while back and it's due for an update. gonna get working on that in all my spare time (LOL) but y'all get a sneak preview of the titles i'll be adding to it in addition to the two mentioned above:

THE LEADER YOU WANT TO BE by Amy Jen Su
DO NOTHING by Celeste Headlee
HOW TO KEEP HOUSE WHILE DROWNING by KC Davis

📚 i'm hopping in and out of books right now because there's so much going on both at work and in my personal life that i'm struggling with attention span, but it's making me mad because the books i'm reading right now are so freaking good: 

CHAIN-GANG ALL-STARS by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
THE JINN-BOT OF SHANTIPORT by Samit Basu

🎬 i am really hoping the SAG-AFTRA strike gets resolved soon so i can yell in public about Wheel of Time Season 2 and how they [redacted] [redacted] [redacted]. (and also, obviously, so acting can remain an at least vaguely possible career, i have a SAG card-carrying member in the house so i know, y'all.)

👋 happy weekend and happy fall!