Things Change

Things Change

By Cathy Perkins

Hi there from New Mexico, where Covid-19 caught up to us and changed, well, everything. 

I hope you’re hanging in there as life changes moment by moment. I don’t know about you, but I feel thrown for a loop by a global pandemic that involves a virus which seems to have even the most learned scientists unsure what to expect next.

Things certainly have changed as a result, though! 

(That's Dripping Springs in the picture.)

We’re lucky to be healthy, so our changes seem minor compared to what other people are facing. Our kids are working from home, but one son-in-law is a small business owner. He’s struggling to balance the needs of customers and employees, while maintaining financial stability in the chaos. 

Our bucket list trip to Ecuador with National Geographic has been cancelled and we have all our fingers and toes crossed that the rumored domestic travel lock-down doesn’t happen until after we get home tonight. Okay, that’s a bit selfish but after a week in a rented condo where everything in the region is closed, including even the state parks for taking a walk, I’m not sure how people are managing this for fourteen days!  

I don’t have any words of wisdom (other than wash your hands!). The only thing I can say is we’re all in this together. I may be an optimist, but I believe we’ll all hang in there and do the best we can. Keep everyone healthy and the medical community will have a chance to catch up and deal with the most serious cases. Grit and determination go a long way—and here’s hoping the grocery stores restock soon! 

How are you doing? Shoot me any suggestions I can use or that I can share with others. (Add it to the comments below!) 

If you’re sick of television, a group of authors got together and set up a heavily discounted sale (my Kindle has saved my sanity the past few days!). Go HERE

I included CYPHER, an award-winning  suspense that I’ve never put on sale before. Go here for CYPHER.

Blessings to all. Hang tough! 

An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.  Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com or on Facebook 

Sign up for her new release announcement newsletter in either place.

She's hard at work on sequel to The Body in the Beaver Pond, which was recently presented with the Claymore Award.

Writers Need to Stretch

by J.M. Phillippe

I've been hitting the keyboard hard lately, and even though I have adjusted  my set up with cushions and things like that, there is still no escaping the fact that extended time writing is hard on the body.

Healthy body movement is one of the things I struggle with most. I have a tendency to treat my body like a last minute project -- I suddenly feel a pain or ache and then break out ALL the moves I should have been doing all along, as though one marathon session of stretching will undo months' worth of damage.

So, this is as much about helping me take accountability as it is to help anyone else with their own stretching goals. My goal is not to do ALL the stretches, but to start by picking five I will attempt to integrate into my daily life.

Fortunately, there are a ton of articles and videos about the best kinds of stretches for people who spend too much time sitting in front of computers. For writers, of particular note are things to help  maintain hand health and back health, since both take a beating with lots of writing.

This article talks about carpal tunnel signs, symptoms, and prevention: https://thebodymechanic.com/active-release-technique-blog/carpal-tunnel-syndrome/

And this article has great stretches to do in a (sturdy) office chair, with gifs on how each one should look: https://www.healthline.com/health/deskercise#head-and-shoulders

To be a good writer is to be a whole person, and I have to regularly remind myself that means taking care of my body as much as my imagination.

Here's to stretching for writer health!

***

J.M. Phillippe is the author of Perfect Likeness and the short story The Sight. She has lived in the deserts of California, the suburbs of Seattle, and the mad rush of New York City. She works as a clinical social worker in Brooklyn, New York and spends her free time binge-watching quality TV, drinking cider with amazing friends, and learning the art of radical self-love, one day at a time