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I have a top secret project coming out.
But before I get to that, I have to explain how we got here. Every few months I realize how much I loathe being on social media. Perhaps loathe is too strong a word. I loathe the performative nature of social media, the way it sucks me in and bleeds me dry. The balance between subscribing to the brutal landscape that is competing with everyone else’s parade of success and trying to be both authentic and yet disgustingly catered to what the algorithm wants. None of these things are inherently natural. To share every aspect of our lives, but again, only certain things that will be well received to maintain followers and numbers. And then at the end of the day, all I end up doing is scrolling mindlessly. If you’re someone who doesn’t doom-scroll, you’re a better person than I. Before I deleted the Instagram app this time, I realized I was coming home and sitting on the couch, scrolling. Then, it would suddenly be 10PM and I needed to get to bed. Nothing had been accomplished, which is fine, because in this world we must often remind ourselves that we do not always need to be accomplishing/doing. However, it feels like a void of falsities. Like this post, share this reel, respond to that message,acknowledge, engage, acknowledge, engage. It never ends. It’s in those moments where I realize how much I hate it. And unfortunately I do have to return, because in this world, you must always be part of the turning gears of the ever-changing algorithm. I think I speak for most creatives when I say that constantly coming up with witty one-liners, captivating posts, and churning out utter tripe effectively slaughters the creativity within us. How can I find time to submerge myself in writing when I am worrying about having posted enough this week to keep the algo happy? It’s a balance that this libra has yet to figure out. So I throw myself into it while I can, then when I find myself drowning in the bullshit, I leave completely. And while things are not perfect in my life outside of the IG/Internet space, they got better while I was off Instagram. So, to end this in a positive (and yes, I’ll probably download the dreaded app again soon to market Blood Queen), I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to over the past few weeks. I worked out almost every morning. Rather than losing track of time to scrolling, I put my body and health first. And god damn it feels good to do that again. I insured my motorcycle (Green Bean ™) and then it rained for fourteen days straight. I read the following books: The Tongue is Sharp (an anthology of feminine rage, features my short story “This Foul Heart”), Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (utter heartbreak), Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (omg so meta, on brand for sure), Wool by Hugh Howey (hard sci-fi, not usually my thing, but I will probably read the rest of the series out of completist behaviour), Milk and Honey by Rupi Kuar (love love love, please recommend me poetry books), Until The World Falls Down by Jordan Lynde (buddy reading with Kate, my love). I spent time with friends and family, I attended morning farmer’s markets, I wrote. My god it’s been a while since I felt the ability to write. It’s utter tripe, but at least I’m writing again. Something about publishing and marketing and being a face rather than an isolated feral creature with a laptop really kills the desire. Which leads me into my secret project, sorry it took so long. No, I will not be telling you the title or revealing much at this point. This year I will be shifting gears, as I mentioned in a previous blog post. But it’ll be a whole new branding for me. Later this year, sometime in the summer, I will be publishing a chicklit/romcom - currently it is a standalone, but with the novel I’m actively working on, there will likely be some crossover with characters going forward. But the biggest thing with this change is that I will be self-publishing. I want to take back the autonomy, allow myself to work at my own pace, market how and when works for me. Having a few friends in the romance game, I’ve had a slew of support (looking at you, Dove Cavanaugh-King), that has led me to understanding some of the more difficult parts of self-publishing. Finding covers, editors, support groups, formatting programs. Too often in this world of writing, everyone is hush hush about their process. They’re scared of sharing in case it helps someone else become successful. But one person’s success does not mean another’s failure. I never understood the gatekeeping… So, this chicklit/romcom will be coming out this summer. I have an amazing cover (stay tuned, reveals will come in June), my editor Nicole Simpson did a stellar job, I’m working on formatting and interior design right now, and of course I’ve adjusted my website a bit to find a balance between dark fantasy and this new trajectory. I will be seeking ARC readers in the future, so if a romcom with a focus on sexual health sounds like your thing, reach out. xo
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There is a certain inevitability to taking a social media break, isn’t there? Not everyone does it, but every few months I need a detox from the endless stream of information, opinion, politics, reels, doom-scrolling, and just generally hollow interactions. Now, that’s not to say all the interactions on social media are hollow, please don’t assume that is what I mean here. It’s that so much of it is.
I like to engage with my followers, my fellow authors and creatives, and the friends I’ve made through social media (particularly IG). However, I can’t say that it doesn’t feel performative to constantly engage sometimes. Whenever I start to feel like going onto IG is giving me anxiety because I have unread messages or unwatched reels that have been sent to me, I know that’s when I need to take a step away. Usually I plan to take a week off, and end up taking several away because after a day or two, it feels amazing to not have the constant urge to look at my phone. I even have notifications for IG turned off, and yet the immediate reaction to unlocking my phone is to go straight to IG. That’s a problem, it’s an addiction, and so I’m taking time away for a little bit. There are other things going on that are causing me to want to step away from engagement - a few frustrations with the world and being human. I’m burned out, essentially that’s the crux of it. Totally, utterly burned out. From work, from life, from relationships and spreading myself thin across all fronts. Naturally I can’t cut out work or friends or family, so social media is the first to go. After all, there is no reason for me to be on IG 99% of the time I spend on it. I’m working on a lot of things right now; currently in the midst of preparing for Blood Queen to come out. There are some parts of this element of my life that are coming with their own frustrations, but I’m not going to get into that. Additionally, I’m looking to shift my focus from The Blood Bound Series to something completely out of my normal scope. And I think it’s going to be a really good change for me, one that will allow me to have a bit more freedom with my writing and the journey I’m on. I want to focus a lot on this throughout 2025, and so I must take a break from the thing that’s distracting me the most from what I love to do; write. Coming out of seasonal depression, having a rough start to 2025, I’m taking care of myself by having this breather. When I come back on, I’ll likely be in substantially better spirits, it’ll be a turn of the tide this summer (also the motorcycle AKA Green Bean will be insured, which in itself brings me the will to live). Trying my best to stay positive, but there is a lot of negative infiltrating IG and that’s getting to me. I’m going to catch up on writing, let myself write whatever my heart desires even if it’s crap (that’s what editing is for, right?), devour books day and night, embrace the rain and celebrate the sun, put my health and my home first (I may pop back on for renovation content). And I encourage anyone who made their way to my blog to read this and made it this far to do the same. Buy a facemask, get a tattoo, do something spontaneous, go on a road trip, delete social media for a while, go puddle jumping, just enjoy being human. |
About the AuthorSabrina Voerman is a small-town author with her hands in far too many pots. She uses this blog section to ramble, so she apologizes in advance. Archives
March 2025
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