Well, hello there!
It's been... a year and some change. Literally more than one whole year since I sent out a newsletter. I've been wanting to send a message and say hi for awhile but it felt awkward because well, I haven't sent anything out.
One of my good friends in the author community reminded me something important: we're all human and sometimes life happens. So, this is me saying hi.
This might be a long newsletter - please bear with me. A lot of life has happened over here.
Here's the highlights:
- In 2023, I had a high risk pregnancy that ended up with complications after delivery (postnatal preeclampsia = 0/10, do not recommend) and a challenging postpartum period. I'm ok now, but ooof.. that was... intense.
- My baby just turned one! He's the cutest little menace ever and we love him so. Maybe one day he'll sleep through the night. That would be rad. My other baby is starting high school so we have a lot of different life stages going on in this house.
- I left my corporate job due to burnout to focus on family after burning myself completely out trying to manage writing, freelancing, corporate life, commute, parenting, and postpartum. I've been throwing myself into freelancing because it is my job right now.
- My muse went into hiding because I was completely out of capacity. I could barely manage my day-to-day life, much less my author life. I switched gears and focused heavily on my freelance ghostwriting so I kept up my writing habits, but every time I went to write something for me... I got nothing. It drove me crazy.
- My ADHD went a wee bit feral and that was difficult to manage when postpartum, sleep-deprived, and burned out.
Some of this stuff made it impossible to write, some of it has fueled my creativity to new heights - all of it has been moderately to extremely overwhelming.
Bottom line: I'm sorry for disappearing out of the blue. Thank you to those of you that have reached out on social media periodically. I appreciate you more than you know. 💖
Now for the GOOD NEWS!
I'm back and I feel healthy, creative and excited about writing again. And, my muse has returned from her unauthorized vacation.
I've found some balance in my life and I'm just... happy. I am over the moon to be writing my romance stories with a side of mischief, and if you've stayed with me this far - I hope you know how grateful I am to you for reading my work.
To honor my mental health and bandwidth and to make sure I'm being consistent with my readers, I've made some changes to how I do things and I wanted to let you know.
- Live Releases > Preorders. I don't anticipate doing preorders for the foreseeable future. Live releases are easier for me and I love the surprise aspect. So, get ready for some surprises.
- Old Series Get Priority. When my muse ran away, I left some things hanging. We're headed back to Matestone Guardians this fall. I've started writing already. I want to finish what I've started.
- Co-writes and beyond. You know what's better than one quirky brain churning out stories? Two. You'll see me co-writing a little more lately. I find the collaboration process feeds my brain in the best ways.
- Moving to Instagram. My Facebook group will still be active and I'm scheduling more posts/interactions in there, but I'm pretty much on Instagram all the time now. If you're not already following me and you would like to be, come say hi @BeeMurrayBooks
- Live Events. Want to meet me in person? I'd love that. I am attending a few live events in the next year and a half. That information will be announced on my website www.beemurray.com, my Instagram, and my newsletter as I have more info to share. I love meeting my readers so please, if you're in the neighborhood, come say hi to meeee!
I won't make any promises about how often I send out my newsletter right now. I'm hoping to send it out on a semi-regular basis and I'm hoping to use this as a way to share life updates, book news, weird cat pictures, funny stories and just... engage with you as my readers.
So, to sum up:
- I'm back.
- I'm writing again.
- My newsletter remains a combination of book news, chaos, and confessional.
- I'm going to live events.
- I'm excited to share my writing adventures with you all once again.
Thanks for being along for the ride, friends. I've missed you. Stay tuned for a special surprise this weekend to celebrate my return to writing words.
Hint: Cinnamon rolls.
xo,
Bee
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