Catching up, and no, Jessica, I can't do a bird of paradise

TLDR: I am writing a lot, and exercising. And I’ll be at a book store event in Boston this Sunday, September 3!

I apologize for the lack of content lately. I took August off from podcasting so I could get some writing done, and I did get writing done! I started a book! I also went on a fantastic vacation to Disneyland. I’ve never been and it was amazing. Got to spend time in LA with my co-host Matt and his wife, and I saw some other friends out there as well. It was needed, even if I did get behind on my writing.

I can recommend whole heartedly the Star Wars section of DisneyLand. Rise of the Resistance was an amazing experience, and Smuggler’s Run let my group sit in the Millennium Falcon and fly it. (I worked the guns.) We had so much damn fun.

I have one Ditch Diggers in the can, and that will go out to subscribers shortly, and the feed tomorrow.

If you are a paid subscriber, you get the early, annotated exclusive versions of the podcast delivered right to you.

Novel Progress

That is my Pacemaker.press book progress for book 3 of Midsolar Murders, I’m using the “build up” goal, with lower goals in the beginning and higher at the end. Since I am a discovery writer, it’s harder for me to find my footing than it is to write 5000 words a day at the end because I finally GET the story.

The days around 8/20 were vacation, where I got a little bit written over the week. The dip coming up is to take the kid to college, and I’m able to ask for a smaller daily wordcount in that time period. This is why I love pacemaker!

Other varieties include asking it to do most of the words in the middle, or just make it random (I don’t like random, because you get some days with 7000 words and some days with 29.)

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I’m doing my best, Jessica!

I have been doing the Apple Fitness+ workouts, and I (begrudgingly) love them. They feature pilates, yoga, treadmill, rowing, cycling, HIIT, and other stuff. The workouts commonly have one trainer leading, with others joining them to make it more like a group effort (also one of them modifies or slows their movements for those of us who are still plain old humans.)

I enjoy the treadmill and yoga workouts, and for some reason it delights me that the trainers show up to each other’s workouts.

There’s no narrative, they don’t welcome the other trainers with a fake, “oh look, it’s Scott from treadmill workouts! You wanna do yoga, scott?” They simply say, “i’m here with Scott and Sherica, and Scott will be modifying the workout for you today,” and if you notice they’re from the other workouts, cool, if not, then they’re just other people in better shape than you.

You can filter the workouts by trainer, and by length, so you can do a 10 min up to a 45 min workout. And I’ve discovered that while my strength and endurance has enabled me to start doing the 45 min yoga workouts, I have NOT gained the flexibility and strength to do all of the poses that the trainers do during the 45 min workouts. Like Jessica, here.

I’ve been trying to figure out why I find these so compelling. Like I said, there’s no narrative, we know nothing about these folks (although the treadmill trainers tend to talk about their lives a little more while trying to encourage us to run). But I still feel like it’s a more personalized workout than the other yoga app I have. And look, I can grumble about Apple and big business and capitalism and privacy, and those are still valid gripes, but I gotta give credit where it’s due: the fitness+ workouts are awesome. They make me work out, usually one yoga session in the morning and a treadmill walk at night, and there are new workouts every week from each trainer.

I’m not even paid to say this. I am endorsing it because, as we all know, sometimes you try to get into something like fitness and it fails to grab you, or it’s a chore. And when you find what works, you hold on tightly. For some reason, I’m into these workouts, I have my favorite trainers, and it’s making me exercise. So I have to give Apple Fitness+ an enthusiastic thumbs up.

I think I understand the Peloton phenomenon now. Although Apple Fitness isn’t live, having the trainer present the workout like it’s a class you’re attending is more motivating than just a description of exercises. (Apple also works with your own equipment, and is $10 a month.)

I’d also like to mention that not all trainers are young and not all are thin, which helps when you don’t think you have the “right” body or age for exercise. Check out another yoga trainer I really like, Jonelle. Below is a screenshot of her Instagram. Go check it out to watch that video on the right…

Housekeeping and Signings/Appearances

I Should Be Writing returns in September. I’m doing it live again, but will not have live chat, so hopefully I can have the energy and accountability that Twitch gives me, and podcast listeners can get my focused shows without me frequently addressing the live audience.

I will of course interact with the live audience at the latter half of the stream; that will be exclusive content.

Escape Pod is open to submissions in September! Send us fun stories! (No, really. Please send us fun stories. Please.)

I have several appearances this fall! Starting with:

• September 3 at Pandemonium Books and Games in Boston!
• October 11-12: New York Comic Con
• November 7: Chaos Terminal launch party at Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC
• November 11: North Carolina Ren Faire in Charlotte, NC
• November 14: Fountain Books, Richmond, VA

Evergreen- find me at murverse.com, I Should Be Writing turned 18 years old this month, you can support my work either here or at Patreon, Station Eternity is out now, and Chaos Terminal is available for pre-order! But don’t take my word for it….