July In A Nutshell: All The Things I Wanted To Do But Didn’t Manage To

Hello awesome nerds, happy Monday and happy August everyone!

It’s been a hot minute but I’m back and I honestly hope that things will remain as such, even though my schedule is getting crazier and crazier. Nonetheless, I’m really happy I decided to take a break from blogging in July because with everything that happened this month, writing would definitely be the last thing on my mind.

Those of you who’ve been following me for quite some time probably know that I’ve written a book called Guardian of the Auras. It is the first book in a YA High Fantasy series, inspired by the Greek myth of Pandora’s box and following the adventures of Aurora, the youngest priestess on the island of Rondure, who accidentally unleashes all the emotions of the world, that had been locked away for centuries.

If you haven’t purchased your copy yet, you can do so by following that link.

The main reason why I wanted to take a break from blogging this past July was to focus on my writing projects, both the sequel to The Auras’ Chest series, as well as the Greek NA Urban Fantasy story I started working on in 2020.

But as per usual, life had other plans for me.

First of all, my days were so packed with the work I had to do for our family business and BookBrewed, my very own YA book-subscription box, that I had zero spare time. Seriously though… I woke up every day at 6am and wasn’t able to go to bed before 12am. Talking about workaholic here, huh?

Don’t get me wrong, I love my job and it’s amazing how dreams do come true sometimes, so I don’t want to complain. But there were days when, even my folks’ help wasn’t enough, in order to have some “me time” and relax.

Hopefully, now that the site is almost ready, things will get easier. I hope…

Do you know how hard it is to be a professional and keep answering to questions at 11pm while there’s this voice inside your head that screams “THAT’S ENOUGH FOR TODAY, VIC!”?

That was exactly what life was for me this past month. We shipped the Grishaverse special edition box and the monthly one, while also taking orders for the August box, working on the website, keeping everyone updated on our social media and do all the accounting work, both for BookBrewed and our family business.

Now that I think about it, this was truly A LOT of work. And, as per usual, I didn’t realise how close I’d come to a burnout until I started having these terrible headaches, that led me to do a month earlier my annual check-up and sent my results to my doctor.

Y’all know what stress can cause, but let me just remind you at this point that, you should always, always listen to your body. And when it screams to you “REST”, then you should listen to it. I didn’t do it, but I will definitely try to do so from now on.

Life is not just about work. It’s about spending time with your loved ones, reading good books, listening to good music, tasting new tastes. It’s about getting lost while heading to a friend’s house, because you were listening to your favourite song on the radio and you missed that turn in the ring road. It’s about getting all wet while drinking beer with a friend on a hot, summer night and then having to get a shower, without things getting all weird between the two of you. It’s about playing with your nephews and nieces, going to the movies, getting a spa…

It is always these small things that make life great. It’s just that sometimes we forget how short life is and how precious our own time is, how much advantage we should take of it.

I remembered that on July 20th. That’s the day we lost my dad’s twin brother. And grief, depression and anxiety hit me hard once again.

Do take this from me, dearies, the girl who’s always on the run. You should tell people how you feel when you feel it. You shouldn’t let them wonder. You shouldn’t let opportunities go away just because you were too damn proud to just show your true emotions and self. Because there’ll come a day when you wish you had said and done all those things.

I know you didn’t expect this first post after my break to be that depressing, but that’s just how things were in July for me. Luckily though, I read some cool books that sort of cheered me up this month, so things were all that bad. I just tried to focus on the positive stuff and all the amazing things that did happened in July, along with the bad ones, and that’s what I’m gonna share with you in the coming days and weeks. Starting with my review of Simon VS The Homo Sapiens Agenda this coming Thursday.

Have you guys read the Creekwood series? If so, did you like it?

And generally speaking, how was July for you? Did you read any good books? Do you have any book recommendations for me?

Thank you all so very much for stopping by once again and for your understanding while I took my blogging break. It means the world to me and I want you to know that I most certainly don’t take your presence here for granted.

Have a wonderful week, awesome creatures, stay safe and stay positive.

Till next time… Toodles!