Finally, some warmer weather here in Northern Ireland! It was 18°C today, practically balmy for this country. I love spring and summer, so my only gripe is that the nicer weather always seems to come hand-in-hand with GCSEs when I’m stuck indoors invigilating, instead of out in the park, or lounging on a picnic blanket on the beach.
Now is as good a time as any for a check-in, so I thought I’d share an update about all things literary, and generally about life.
Reading:
I haven’t been reading as much as I would like to lately, mainly because my work-life balance has been so full-on, but these are my current reads. I’m especially enjoying the diet book, particularly the part about the effect of sugar on the brain. Who needs to read horror when confronted with truths such as that? Though, on the topic of horror, I’m really enjoying both the Junji Ito and Stephen King books, as pictured in the top half. If Cats disappeared from the World is an interesting literary fiction novella that I’m about halfway through.
Low carb lifestyle:
I only weigh myself once at the start of each month, so that I don’t become preoccupied with losing weight, or derail from my diet if I don’t see the right numbers on the scale. In March and April I hit a plateau with my weight loss, so I incorporated more exercise: 2 spin classes a week in addition to my weekly yoga session. This seemed to do the trick and I was down 2 lbs at my start of May weigh-in. I’m still eating a general low carb diet with occasional rice or potatoes.
I started my current diet on 17th December 2023 (so I call it my Saturnalia diet) with a goal of 14lbs weight loss by December 2024. I have already lost 10lbs, so you can imagine how delighted I am to have nearly reached my target barely halfway through the year.
Editing:
With Pseudologia Fantastica and Midsummer Madness 2024: Bindweed Anthology both coming out next month, I am currently in the midst of editing. Pseudologia Fantastica has been given the red-pen treatment by my editor, so I am making the necessary amendments. Midsummer Madness 2024 is a biannual creative writing publication that my hubby and I have been running since 2016, publishing new and established poets and writers alike from all over the world.
Writing:
I’m chipping away at novel WIP#7, novel WIP#8 and I’ve started a new short story collection. Sometimes I think I’m putting my eggs in too many baskets, as my word count for each project isn’t increasing at any significant rate, and I’m nowhere near to finishing a first draft of any of them. On the other hand, I’m equally excited about each of them, so I’m not inclined to power ahead with any one in particular. I’m a fan of writing what grabs me, and all three currently do. Besides, switching between three different stories, with different characters and POVs helps to keep the cogs turning in my dusty old brain.
So there you have it. For the next seven weeks I will be tied up with GCSE exams, and trying my best to manage writing my own books alongside publishing Bindweed – all before the eight week summer break when I’ll be minding the little adventurer and hardly doing any writing, or reading, or editing at all!
Leilanie Stewart 