DeAnna Knippling

Last night I delivered a writer craft talk for Pikes Peak Writers.  Usually what happens with this kind of thing is extreme anxiety before the talk, then beating myself up afterwards.  I was very anxious beforehand, but it went well, and on the way home I just focused on not punishing myself.  “You didn’t do XYZ […]

This was a particularly rich journaling morning, but it’s mostly short snippets. … Cognitive dissonance is one of the most terrifying things I know.  I should make a monster out of it. … [For men,] 50 = the year of the patriarch, where you have to come to grips with the fact that you’ll never

I’ve been journaling a fair amount lately, but a lot of the stuff I’m journaling about is probably not for public consumption.  Like, I wrote some a little bit about the fact that readers are going to see the cover and blurb on whatever you write, so of course the first big plot twists aren’t

Today’s blog post is brought to you by… Cheesy horror tropes. I was coming up with title ideas for cheesy horror stories…at one point I caught myself going, “Why am I writing this? Who’s gonna read these anyway? Who cares?” See if you can spot it 🙂 … 1. Don’t Go into the Basement. 2.

Being both sick and feverish and in manic mode is not pleasant.  I did get a haircut.  The conversation ended up with me encouraging the hairdresser to start talking to her daughter about sex earlier rather than later, because it’s better for the information to be coming from you…I’m not really sure how we got

This morning…a little bit downhill on the viral front.  I broke out the new gin and peach bitters last night and I feel terrible this morning.  It’s like I can’t believe that the same thing that happened to me last time (drinking even a little alcohol while I’m recovering causing me to be completely wiped

I’m finally getting over being stealth-sick (the kind where you find yourself panting after a small exertion but that doesn’t leave a trail of mucus in your wake), and it still shows.  I gotta wonder if more people just need to stop and take naps, and if that would solve a lot of problems.  “You’re

This morning’s journal, like yesterday’s, had signs of mental exhaustion all over it.  I finished writing the novel (yay!), then worked on a freelance project that involved rewriting 40K of a 50K novel in less than a week.  So about 90K of writing in two weeks:  mental exhaustion.  I can tell because all I do

I finished the novel!  This does not end the state of panicked scampering.  But I did give myself a break this morning and slept in, took a shower, ate breakfast…okay, when I say it like that it sounds bad.  I made my bed.  There.  All better. I also skipped journaling this morning and instead wrote

If all goes well, this morning will see the end of a novel.  If not, well, it’s probably because I’ve sabotaged myself again.  I got up this morning and went, “I can’t do this.  I can’t write, I can’t take out the trash, I can’t journal, I can’t put a bra on, I can’t do