Author: B.A. Burgess

I have a modest number of subscribers to this blog (Thank you for being here as a reader and/or a subscriber – Happy to have You). From time to time, I send a newsletter, but that is as scheduled as it gets.

Because this is a personal log, I figured people were joining to get the blog posts emailed to them directly, but my posting like my newsletter is inconsistent.

Some days, like today, I will post several times. Who wants to get several emails in one day from a blog? I mean, they are from a person. They are from me, but to most readers, the newsletter is coming from a blog.

So, I have decided to make a change. I am now going to email subscribers once a month. Specifically, on the first Tuesday of every month.

What will be in this email?

Inside will be a tiny update from me (350 words max.) and links to all of the blog posts from the previous month. I will also include links to my courses and books at the bottom, so you can easily ignore them or click them to get more information.

Why am I doing this now?

Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about the function and purpose of a newsletter. I have been unsubscribing to a lot of them lately, because I don’t have time to read them all.

The newsletters that I’ve remained subscribed to have been helpful to me in a couple of ways: they compile a list of things that have happened on the site that I may have missed, and they tell me about new releases and/or sales.

I think combining these two things into one email would be a good practice for most of these places, so I am going to try it out here.

Let’s see how it goes!

Captain’s Log – Day 11 in the recliner

Turns out reclining is not the best way to get any good thinking done. Reclining is for television watching, convalescing, and playing video games.

I have a novel to edit and various projects to plan, but I can do none of that in a recliner. Between coughing, bathroom trips, and napping, I’ve gotten nothing done.

I have played Sims 4 like it is going out of style, watched all The Witcher, viewed Two Popes, and watched the last UFC.

Not productive. Not productive at all.

I’m sick. I know I’m not supposed to be productive, but I am getting better. Being a little bit better makes me think about how I will be returning to the day job and part-time job again soon.

I wish I could split into two when I’m sick allowing one part of me to be in the recliner watching Gargoyles reruns and taking three medications at once, and another part of me to be going to work, cleaning the house, and carrying on with my novel edits.

Alas, I am but one. One coughing mess of a woman taking three medications, watching TV, playing Sims 4, and trying to figure out what she actually has the energy to do versus what she wants to do.

Being sick is hard. Let’s never get sick again.

I can’t make it to the Women’s March this year. I’m still too sick to be out in the weather.

Note – if you are from the south, “weather” typically means rain or sleet.

This is the most human I have felt in over a week.

For those of you late to the show – I have had a respiratory infection for a little over a week. I’ve not been able to keep my eyes open long enough to do anything or be caught up on current affairs.

I feel at once alert and like a sandbag.

Been sick, friends. Course and book updates are coming. Now, napping.

Thank you so much for the review! I do hope you will reach out when you’ve finished your book!

I am a sucker for all articles with those three phrases in them.

3 Steps

Three steps? You mean, I can learn to speak French in only three steps? Okay, writer person, show me what you got!

Then, I read the article just to find out the three steps are to download an app or system, practice daily, and immerse myself in the culture.

These are legit steps, but for every one of these three steps, there is a sequence of other steps.

The first step will require money most likely, so a plan for saving is in order, download time, creating a profile, taking an assessment (most likely), etc.

Practice daily means I have to find the recommended amount of time in my calendar. This will take some trial and error. It could be months before I nail it.

Immersing myself in French culture would take even more steps. I would have to start small with borrowing French books and movies from the library, reading French magazines and listening to French podcasts, and the list goes on.

None of this is too much to ask of a person who wants to learn something new or achieve something, but I always feel let down that there aren’t really three simple steps.

It’s a good headline though. 3 Steps to ____ will always work as a headline.

Life-Changing

I might be happy with my life, but I always want to know how to make it better. Take me up to 11, article!

So, I read articles and books about life-changing habits. As ever, I enter with excitement, hope, and a little skepticism to find the article is about bullet journaling, exercising, drinking water, sleeping the appropriate amount of time, and meditating…all things I already do.

Again, I feel like my life is great, but I feel like I’m doing the minimum to keep myself sane. I read every Life-Changing article hoping to find something I missed that has nothing to do with crystals, oils, or colon cleansing.

(For the record — I like crystals, because they are pretty. I like oils, because they smell good. I have never had a colon cleanse. End of statement.)

6-Figures

Articles about how Joey Baby made his first six-figures in only two months selling one product are guaranteed to have me as a reader.

I’m a smart woman, but I hope against hope that I am going to stumble upon the one article that outlines in plain English and the proper amount of detail how to actually make six-figures quickly.

My pursuit of this does not keep me from working a day job, part-time job, and writing books, but I am always hopeful that I will find something in these articles to boost my business or create a new stream of income that will bring in enough money to allow someone in the house to quit one of their jobs.

When I find that article, by the way, you better believe it will be the only thing I write about for at least a year!

What Was The Point Of This Post

To show you that copywriters aren’t wrong. The cheesy headline and half-full promises work.

Also, you can be a logical and pragmatic person, and still be lured in by these headlines. It just proves that you’re a person interested in bettering yourself efficiently, and there is nothing wrong with that.

This year, I find myself in a book club. Our first book club read:

In-My-Own-Words Summary

Girl with troglodytes for family finds herself living in the marsh alone at a young age. Things are pretty well crap. But, it’s cool. Things are don’t end as poorly as they could have.

Also – murder mystery.

Also – nature book.

What I Liked

The descriptions of nature were absolutely lovely. Delia Owens could have written her entire book about the sites, smells, and sounds of the marsh, and I would have torn through it with enthusiasm and vigor!

I am a bit of a birder, so I loved the descriptions of the waterfowl and their feathers.

What I Didn’t Like

Reading about racism is hard for a southerner. I should say it is hard for this southerner.

Given the times we live in, it is especially hard to read about southern racism, because I was a fool and thought it didn’t exist anymore. It touches a nerve.

Being southern means we have good food, good music, and generally warm and welcoming demeanors. Unfortunately, it also means we (not me, but we southerners who were here before me) were on the wrong side of the war.

Also, reading about abuse and assault is never fun nor is it necessary. While the book did not recount the abuse and assault in incredible detail, I found myself shaking my head and putting the book down every now and then.

Final Thoughts

The writer is skilled. I look forward to reading her other non-fiction works for sure!

That being said, this is not a book I would have chosen for myself. Reading about abuse, assault, and racism has never been comfortable for me. That discomfort has only increased as I have gotten older.

I am glad that I read the book. It was incredibly different from anything I’ve read in the last few years and was emotionally evocative which is how we know the writer did a good job.

Rating

If you look at my GoodReads account, you’ll notice that I very rarely give less than a three-star rating. This is because I know what it takes to write a book. Every author deserves at least three stars for finishing the thing!

My scale goes like this:

3 stars for appreciation of completion of work, but not a book for me.

4 stars for appreciation, and I liked it.

5 stars for appreciation, I liked it, I will read it again, and I’ve already purchased it as a gift for someone else!

I gave this book 3 stars as it simply did not suit my reading taste, but the author did a wonderful job.