Blog – Stephanie C Surma

Hey look, another Blog! Who’d have thought?

So last week I ended up extending my holiday in Florida, which put a minor hold on DMQ. Not to worry; it’s coming, if I haven’t already posted the first scene of the first episode by the time this Vlog drops. As it turns out, I am still dogshit at multitasking! But now that I’m home, I’m constantly searching for ways to be busy: learning, writing, cooking, what have you.

Which brings me to my “new” project, rereading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Or, at least, going through the workbook aspects again; every time I try to genuinely re-read the whole thing, I get bored and cop out one week in. The ADHD is really ADHDestroying my life, but it’s fine it’s cool it’s SO casual and I am totally not losing my grip on reality.

Last time I went through the book, though (in 2019), I had one of my best years to date. Now I’m coming at it with the mindset of “I’ve done it once, I can do it again.” This time, though, I’m not working at Disney World, and my social connections look completely different; will that impede my journey? Who knows! I’m actually kind of excited to find out what new and creative ways I approach this whole thing.

In other news, the Burnout has really taken a toll on me. The concept of a book as a single, long-term project makes me want to curl up in a ball and sleep for the next two-hundred years. I have all these ideas on how to grow my social media, marketing my books and connecting to an audience and just Being Myself but Online, but the actual execution of my plans is this big insurmountable series of tasks that take days or weeks to accomplish. Anything more than the most basic tasks feels daunting like you wouldn’t BELIEVE.

I’m not venting for attention here– woe is most certainly not me, because I’ve just… changed my plan to have a better approach. Progress is allowed to be slow! And my hope is that someone else reads this and decides their progress is allowed to be slow. You should be able to pivot your goals, or slow them down, or re-prioritize them, when you’re facing things like executive dysfunction, planning paralysis, anxiety, or burnout. I’ve decided to focus on this blog/DMQ, and my own physical and mental health. Maybe I’ll remember to take some nice aesthetic before and after pictures for my personal Instagram, and maybe some nice candids of myself writing for my Booksta, but if I don’t, I’ll be okay. I’m having plenty of fun just being on WordPress, to be perfectly honest.

A bit of a shorter one this week, but I hope y’all had fun reading it anyway 🙂 See you next week!

What’s up, it’s been awhile!

I haven’t the faintest idea what was going on the last time I posted. Between my POTS diagnosis, stepping away from my dream jobs, and finding myself in the world’s most unhinged living situations, it’s been a bit of time since I could really sit down and chat on this website.

All that aside, I’m bringing my love of writing back in the best way I know how: Episodic writing posts. Last year I started posting Deadmouth Quarry, only to forget to schedule some ~10 chapters that I’ve just had sitting here, read exclusively by my beta team. When I came back to update all of that, I realized I wasn’t happy with the way DMQ flowed in its current posting formats, as one huge chunk of chapter. I wanted to post quicker sections for my audience, with more posting times each week; in other words, I want to give my readers more to look forward to each week. Like posting comics to Instagram or Webtoons, but the story version. (Am I over explaining this? Probably!)

In case you’re new around here, you might be wondering what’s up with the inconsistency. Unfortunately, this bitch has ADHD, which (with the POTS issues) is currently untreated. I’ve never loved anything more than the schedule ahead function on this website; bulk uploads, consistent drops. My old Blog from 2016-18 was more of a “hey here’s a 10k chapter I just wrote and didn’t edit, enjoy” model, and quite frankly I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed that kind of writing, but nowadays I’d like to give y’all something a little more polished and professional. (Which, to me, means DMQ will probably be spree-written in the drafts of this website and published months later, after at least one round of editing).

Enough about DMQ. One of my books hit the shelves in Barnes and Noble! Except it was an Omegaverse Novella that had been commissioned by eGlobal, so it’s “mine” but it’s also (mostly) theirs. It’s a bit of a hard left from my usual content, VERY heavily in the Erotica genre, but for those of you interested, I’ll have it linked on my products page with my other novels. Apparently only the extra-huge B&N’s carry it since it’s considered indie publishing, so online is the way to go; still, the story behind that one hitting shelves is unreal and HILARIOUS. I’ll have to do another post about it.

2025 is certainly looking like… a year. That will happen. Best I can say about it right now, all things considered; I’ve got a million ambitions and the energy of one geriatric sloth (with the vertigo and brain fog considered). I’ve had two new novels half finished since 2021 I want to finish. I’d like to take up streaming on Twitch (both gaming and reading my own stuff, maybe some other ideas too, tbd). I’ve gotten so wrapped up in trying to fix myself post-diagnosis that I’ve forgotten how to function normally, so I’ve decided to Go Feral (in other words, go back to the bare minimum with none of the fluff or fancy shit) until the good Doc and I find a way to manage the ADHD without stimulants/putting me into cardiac arrest. I’m hoping to take a few free online classes, learn a couple of new hobbies, and tackle some of the projects that I’ve had on the back burner since I got sick in 2022. We’ll see how things go, but I’m hoping this year is as productive and educational as the few months in Quarantine were back in 2020 (when I wrote my first 2 novels, started cosplaying again, and tried a dozen new things).

Anywoozles, keep your eyes peeled for Blog Posts every Wednesday, and check out my socials (Instagram/Threads and Bluesky right now) for updates and other fun things.

Happy New Year!

Category: Blog

New Year’s 2025 and Catching Up