I finished my novel on Wednesday.
I had such a hard time this past December – I woke up on Dec 31st at about 3 am in a full-blown anxiety attack. I knew that if I didn’t find a way to change my perspective about some things, I was going to slide right back into the land of “Stress is Going to Kill You.”
Knowing that you need to A Thing is the first step. Actually Doing The Thing is a different thing entirely. So I did some soul-searching.
By the end of that day, I was grateful for two things. Two people, really: Casey Cothran and Mark Robinson.
I was grateful for Casey because that anxiety attack happened at her house. I had been pet sitting while the family was on vacation, and they had just come home the night before. So I wasn’t alone when fear grabbed me by the throat, and my go-to person for talking me down from that ledge was literally right there.
Casey reminded me that I was safe, and I was loved…but it was Mark who gave me what I was looking for.
Mark is one of my storm chase family/crew/auto club (or whatever we’re calling ourselves this season). He also happened to be working on a manuscript at the time – a non-fiction climate-change focused book that contains many stories of his first-hand experiences in the wild.
He left a comment in our group chat that said something like, “Next year, I’m looking forward to finishing my book and storm chasing.”
Well, heck. So was I.
Yes, everything else in my world seemed to be screaming its head off. But I didn’t have to solve all those problems RIGHT NOW. By the time May of 2026 rolled around, my book would be finished, and I would be storm chasing.
I didn’t worry about how I was going to survive the whole year. I just had to make it to May. And I could do that by focusing on two things: finishing my novel, and storm chasing.
Did the novel take me longer than I thought it would? [insert riotous laughter] Yeah. I thought it would take 4 months, maybe 6 max. It took me 2.5 YEARS. I just kept forgiving myself and going back to work UNTIL I FINISHED.
May 1st is right around the corner. This week, in fact. And now that the novel is finished I’m staring at an absolute MOUNTAIN of stuff that hasn’t received my attention for a very long time. On top of, you know, actually editing, publishing, and promoting the book I just finished.
They didn’t cover any of this stuff in Romancing the Stone.
Chris and I probably won’t leave until mid-May, judging by the long-range forecasts (none of which I have even looked at myself because [waves to everything]), but my tradition is to be packed and ready to go by May 1st.
So.
The Storm Chase Gas Fund was officially set up on Thursday (don’t forget to go fill out the Google form if you’re an Adventure Patron because we will have stuff to mail you when we get back) and I’ve started meandering around the house trying to remember everything I’m going to need. Snacks (I’ll make Chex Mix today), phone chargers and holders, tripods and clickplates, compression socks…and gas fund materials — don’t you love this note Past Alethea wrote for me? THANK YOU PAST ALETHEA!
I’ll buckle down tomorrow. Do some organized packing. Make a list. Start charging electronics and dumping pics and vids off phones. Post promotional content. And OH YEAH…write some posts for the Adventure Patreon!
Now I’m going to eat something. And make Chex Mix.
Leave a comment and say hi!
xox
Alethea
