As I write this email, my lower back is stiffer than Queen Elizabeth II after what has been an intense week of butt-in-chair.
I fear that if it wasn’t for my standing desk, I might have stayed there and rotted.
Alas, enough gloomspeak.
We’ve got an #AskWatson segment to enjoy! 🥳
For new recruits, this is my weekly Q&A where I scoop up the week’s best questions in my emails and socials. If ever a stray thought taunts your fingertips — no matter how rogue or relevant it may be — write in.
Who knows, you might be immortalised in your fellow brethren’s inbox forever.
With that out of the way, let’s rip through these before I truly become one with the chair:
Hey,
With a young family, daily emails and prepping The Great Betrayal later this month, how do you make space for ‘the great outdoors’ to keep feeding milo the muse?
Life in the Watson household is very much chaotic, but saying that, I always make sure to get a little walk in every day — 20-30 minutes is all I need.
I don’t go far, either.
Just my local park. A few laps, and I’m done.
Sometimes, I’ll listen to an audiobook, a YouTube video, or a podcast. Other times, I’ll just walk and listen to the birds and trilling insects. That’s usually enough for ideas to jut out from the ether and give me a wave.
I have a feeling our fellow might be taking my reference to the Great Outdoors a tad extremely.
Next:
If Amazon paid you a fat check to enroll your books into KU, would you take it?
Too vague, my child.
By fat, what do you mean?
Fifty grand? Six figures? A million+?
One needs concrete numbers before I spill my answer. Reply to this email (you know who you are), and I’ll reveal such next week. 😉
Alright, last one:
All these daily life stories, DJJ… you still actually writing books, or just a professional emailer now?
I love a bit of snark with my Sunday roast.
It’s safe to assume this person is utterly spellbound by my ability to not only send out these daily ditties, but to also juggle all the other worldly responsibilities in my life.
Sadly, while I may don the robes of a wizard in their mind, that I am not.
I am a mortal, and like all those who bleed, I, too, have my limitations.
Between being a “professional emailer” (a profession I take very seriously, I’ll have you know)… producing the digital voice narration of all my books (which is incredibly time- and screen-intensive)… gearing up for a book launch in less than a week… finalising the blurb, posting social media content… participating in writer circles… spoon-feeding not just Master Liam, but Milo the Muse… and a whole lot more…
I AM DEFINITELY NOT “ACTUALLY WRITING BOOKS” AT THE MOMENT.
So there you go, Snark.
You got me. 👮
This professional emailing thing has captured me in my entirety, manuscripts and all. It’s why I am not able to write and publish the largest sequel in The Divided Region this coming Saturday.
It’s why I no longer write microstories.
And it’s also why, only a month or so ago, I was unable to publish 141 of said microstories into a neatly organised, professionally formatted anthology that has since been bought and enjoyed by dozens of Patrons.
🤷🏼♂️
Wait!
Hang on a second…
I DID do all those things. 🤦♂️
Oh my, all this emailing must be really fogging my memory. Do forgive me, Snarks.
While I cannot point you to The Great Betrayal (yet), I CAN for that microstory anthology I spoke of. It’s called Tiny Epics: Vol. 1, and lord knows you might benefit from them:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/Tiny-Epics-Vol-1
DJJW