PATREON: Welcome back, Jo Bartlett! And Thank you to our existing patrons for believing in us and in the podcast.  This podcast is sponsored by our patrons at Patreon.com/valerieihsan. For as low as a $1/mo, you can get a postcard from me, a shout out on the podcast, and we can make announcements for you on air. At other tiers, the benefits increase--free books, accountability Zoom calls, scene analysis, mastermind calls, and even free Writer Craft retreat tickets. Become a patron of the arts at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.  Patreon.com/strangeairstories for short stories in the paranormal mystery genre   Announcements:  Group Coaching Sept 12-  $500 for 3-months (works out to $165/mo and my 1:1 weekly coaching is $500, so you can see the price difference there) Go to valerieihsan.com/shopping DISCOUNT: podcast (10% off) UPDATE:  Valerie:  master class at Southwest Washington Writers Conference next week,  reflooring/packing in the next two weeks retreat was AWESOME; good feedback on the workshops; new novel idea! Erick:  moving, finishing re-write with next novel, working raw (new scenes)--chaos is inspirational; Sept/Oct launch, finish short stories, write outside series, master class teaching in Alaska next month, next pitch Pike's Peak Writing Conference I'M READING: Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens Erick's Reading:  Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss (technique of hostage negotiation and how to process conflict verbally); Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel; Camp Slaughter by Sergio Gomez  Show Notes:   Anchors: Taking a walk with my dog and exploring the neighborhood, Introverted morning time; Permission to write the idea down (Erick); reading a book on the couch under a blanket with a hot cup of something. (Valerie) If running a business, go ahead and check emails (Erick); Valerie only looks for fires or new clients with questions. What's the first thing you do when you come back from chaos? journaling; low expectations (soft landings), little things that take no brain power; look at the new situation to find the joy in it. Knowing energy level. Don't do hard stuff at 50% capacity. Soft landing the week upon reentry. Sunday to set up the week (evening time: post weekly blog and plan for the week, and then every Thursday to check-in to make a new plan to finish the work before the weekend.