The older I get, the more abundantly clear it’s becoming that even the cleanest, purest, and most virgin of souls (like me) have a crutch.
For some, it’s exploring the bottom of a dozen bottles every weekend.
For others, it might be gambling the family’s vacation fund on football.
Or, in my case, it’s that dirty thing that involves your lips, tongue, and occasionally your teeth…
SNACKING.
I don’t know what’s happened, but since going all in on this fiction gig and having kids, my mouth won’t stop opening and closing like Jigsaw in the evenings. And not to rebuke Lady Laura for not reading my daily email!
Instead, I’m shoving biscuits, crisps (chips for my North American followers), and all manners of liquid diabetes down my gullet.
Fortunately, my waistline hasn’t punished me (yet), but as for my internal markers?
Lord only knows.
In fact, I’ll let you in on a little “sensitive” secret of mine:
(whispers)
I’m actually a little nervous about going to the doctors in case they start asking awkward questions like, “Why the hell haven’t you had a blood test in 14 years?!”
On top of that, I do occasionally suffer from random heart palpitations.
You’d think that would’ve kicked me into touch, right?
Not quite, Legionnaire.
So what gives? What’s the reason behind this unhealthy form of self-indulgence?
Mere habit?
Addiction?
Boredom?
Or perhaps something deeper?
Before anyone writes in proclaiming it’s childhood trauma, restrain yourself. I had an awesome childhood. Had plenty of friends, and did lots of goofy stuff kids without phones or TikTok did back then.
Anyway, what the hell does this have to do with my books?
Or, more importantly…
You?
Two things:
1) As I write this, I am more than a week into a snack detox, having replaced GMOs with Greek yoghurt, fruit, and honey.
I feel good.
There’s less brain fog to wade through…
My energy levels are surprisingly high…
And I’m sleeping pretty deeply, as evidenced by the dribble marks on my pillow.
This is good because if I want to get The Great Betrayal audiobook and Book #6 of The Divided Region into your hands as fast as humanly possible, I’m going to need those things.
2) Not all snacking is created equal. There’s a big difference between snacking on Doritos and dunking a celery stick in a pot of hummus.
I liken The Divided Region to tasting like the former but satiating you like the latter.
The books are short, but not in worldbuilding, characters, or plot.
And there’s a good reason for this:
Like most of us, the deeper I travelled into adulthood and the more entangled I became with its responsibilities, the less I had of that precious thing we used to call…
TIME.
I remember being able to predictably watch movies every Friday and read thicker novels in a few long sittings.
These days?
I’ve got more chance of winning Miss America when I’m neither American nor a woman than getting through most epics.
So much so that 90% of what I binge on are episodic TV shows, novellas, and short novels, which sadly are in short supply.
Especially in fantasy.
Fear not, my apostle, your Overlord & Saviour is here to change that.
If, like me, you find yourself in a time-impoverished season of life, yet still crave the action and adventure of epic fantasy without the density of a tome, I have a series just for you:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/TDR-Bundle
DJJW