Skip to content
TC - heart of the dragon logo

Tonya Cannariato

on Reading and Writing and All the Speculation In Between

  • Home
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
  • Books
    • Red Slaves Trilogy
      • Dust to Blood
      • Blood to Fire
      • Fire to Dragon
      • Hotel Paranormal: Dragon’s Pursuit
      • The Red Slaves Collection
    • Planet Seekers
      • Team Alpha
      • Team TaoRuti
      • Team Shifter
    • The Builders
    • Dementional
    • Shorter-Form Stories
      • A Trick of the Tail
      • Hallow’s Eve Triptych
      • Wytchfire
      • Angel Mine
  • Editor
  • Review Policy
  • podcast
  • Toggle search form

…Or Bust? Busted.

Posted on December 6, 2021December 7, 2021 By tmycann No Comments on …Or Bust? Busted.
For me, alone time isn't lonely or empty, it's sacred.

It’s been almost half a year since I last posted. I’ve been thinking I could churn out an update for several months now. But this year, my allergies took me entirely out of the game. I had planned on releasing audiobook versions of at least several of my books this year–and owe two of them to very patient contest winners from this spring. But the raspy, phlegmy version of my voice is not something I want to inflict on anyone.

Then I had the thought that maybe I could get back in the writing groove with NaNo. Something about the communal energy of producing words has always previously worked as a spur to my creative energy.

Instead, after a multitude of doctor visits and an array of tests (which are actually still in progress), I’ve discovered my adrenal function is basically at zero, and I’m allergic to everything in the world except cacao, penicillin, and white mulberries. Complicating my health picture are leaky gut and a crazy overgrowth of candida. I’m managing to drag myself through my existence by dint of willpower, which doesn’t leave energy after work hours for sitting even longer at the keyboard and producing my next story or blog post… or keeping up with Discord chats.

Following my inclination to hibernate has meant I’ve spent a lot of time enjoying my own company. Meditating. Aligning myself with the sacred. Embracing the fact that I am an introvert who could happily avoid 99% of human contact for months at a time.

Then I compounded the fun with a dislocated rib and shoulder on Thanksgiving. I’m not even sure how I managed those injuries, but the radiating pain and the numbness in my outer left fingers made me wonder for a short while whether I was having a heart attack.

As evidenced by this sign of life, some of our initial efforts to turn the ship seem to be paying off.

I still feel mostly broken. Mostly like the limit of what I can accomplish is a minimal baseline of feeding myself and my family and making sure my pups get their daily walks, while keeping up with my day job responsibilities. I have a backlog of reviews I was supposed to have posted over the summer, and work-related courses I’m still supposed to take.

Because certainly, The Great Resignation hit my team with a vengeance. A third of my staff elected to take control of their lives by changing the main thing they could: Their jobs. Think pieces like the one from the New Yorker may have some basis in fact for some segments, but did not reflect the things I was hearing from my colleagues. And what I’m hearing now about a reluctance to return to a full-time office gig are complicating conversations about how we manage our work and our time. Learning to balance work time with self time adds a different layer to the conversation, and I’m hearing more people talk about the different stressors they live with. Which makes this HBR article about the phases of making a major life change useful.

Choosing to spend time walking the doggies daily has turned out to be one of our most grounding, soul-feeding activities. Backed by research that indicates 20 minutes for three days per week is the minimum to see that benefit. (But only if done when not accompanied by your active cell phone screen…)

I’m hopeful my annual holiday break at the end of the year helps me complete the system reset we’re currently kicking off. I still have stories I’d like to write–in my mind, chapter 1 of book 3 is mostly written, and I have some ideas about the trajectory of Dr. Marina’s character arc that I think will satisfy readers… and reflect some of the inner journey I’ve been on this year.

Here’s wishing my readers a satisfying holiday season that allows you to find the sacred space it is intended to remind us all of. And learn to rest well.

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • More
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

indie

Post navigation

Previous Post: Summer Shuffle
Next Post: Control and Changes

Related Posts

#AtoZChallenge – D is for Dashka Stone indie
Book Spotlight: Scent of a Mate by Millie Taiden guest post
Death, Transition, and Soul Storms indie
#AtoZChallenge – H is for Hero indie
Book Review: Zombie Candy indie
Letting Go indie

Your Two CentsCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Email from A Book A Day

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,697 other subscribers

New Release Announcement Email List

Subscribe by clicking here

Search A Book A Day

Story Writing Progress

Planet Seekers: Team Shifter
Phase:Writing
19.6%

Tonya Cannariato – Author

Tonya Cannariato – Author

Blogroll

  • A.K. Anderson
  • Dionne Lister
  • Erica Lucke Dean
  • Gayla Drummond
  • Jane Isaac
  • Jennifer James
  • Justin Bog
  • Kait Nolan
  • Katarr Kanticles Press
  • Liana Brooks
  • Millie Taiden
  • Rebecca Clare Smith
  • Sarah Cass
  • Shari Elder

Links

Round of Words in 80 days

Great book deals daily on booktastik.com

Independent Author Network

Picket Fence Blog listing

10 Book Reviews

Virtual Autograph

Get your e-book signed by Tonya Cannariato

Novel Publicity Tour Host

Book Blog Directories

Book Blogger Blog Hop
Book Blogger Directory
Top Books Sites

Copyright © 2025 Tonya Cannariato.

Powered by PressBook Masonry Dark

%d