Grace.

Dear Readers,

Welcome back to my author's blog, Happy DETours!

The word grace has been on my mind lately. The last several weeks have been very exciting in regards to all my successful book events and with my granddaughter on the way. But then at the same time, the last several weeks have been wrought with internal guilt and external excuses. Now that I'm in-between books it's easy to get swept up by everyday life; home responsibilities, family obligations, book promotion. All these things tend to be my excuses from what I need to do, which is write.

With my next story I know the tone, the vibe and where I want to go. But recently there has been a lot of research needed to make that happen which again takes time. It's necessary but it does slow down the actual writing of the story.

I had set a deadline to finish my novel and also set a tentative release date but it is becoming clear that I am not going to meet either one. It causes me such internal guilt that I let myself down and that my readers will have to wait even longer for the story to continue. When the worry starts to make me sick then it is time to take a beat and make the conscious decision to give myself grace.

But what does that look like? The definition of "giving yourself grace" is to treat yourself with kindness and understanding, and to accept that it's okay to be imperfect. That one sentence spoke volumes.

I have always put so much pressure on myself when it didn't need to be there. It's something I have worked on for a very long time and probably will have to continue to do for many years to come. I think external self-care comes more easily than the internal self-care but I want to do better with that part.

Some suggestions that have helped:

• Silence negative talk.

• Self-compassion.

• Forgive myself.

• Recognize my limitations.

• Take mental breaks.

• Let it go.

So, for now, I will give myself grace and accept that I didn't meet my deadline or the tentative release date of my next novel. Instead, I will show myself gratitude for aptly navigating life's responsibilities while still completing a massive amount of book research. Accepting that it's okay to set a new deadline and release date in order to make this the best possible version of my book before sending it out into the world.

So, here's to being imperfect!

Happy DETours,

Jenn