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Bo Frazer's avatar

Great newsletter, thanks. I used to love For Better or Worse. Fun fact: our floriDUH local daily newspaper actually moved the strip to the editorial section (swapping places with Doonesbury) for a week, during the story arc when the boy's teen friend came out as gay. It was heartfelt but strictly G-rated, so our paper's prudishness became the bigger story!

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Diana Urban's avatar

Thank you! When that story arc came up in the book collection, Lynn included a whole segment about newspapers' and people's reactions to it. Seeing the other characters initially react so poorly was difficult to see (though they all are eventually accepting!), but realistic for the time, and Lynn was ahead of her time for including it at all. I'm glad she insisted on running it.

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Eileen Ruvane's avatar

This was so helpful to read as I'm proofing my debut novel, drafting my next book, managing my business, and juggling family, life and other... stuff. It makes it easier to keep pushing through by making a promise to myself now to find a way to "refill the well" in the fall!

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Diana Urban's avatar

That sounds like a lot! I hope you do take some time to rest this year (and it's nice to have a time to look forward to it)!

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Joseph Donne's avatar

I've been meaning to get back to Oblivion, but writing is (finally!) taking up the bulk of my free time outside of day job stuff

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Diana Urban's avatar

Oblivion is one of those games you can pick up whenever! Some nights I'd just run around collecting ingredients and making/selling potions so I could buy a house in every city. 🤣

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Daren's avatar

Thanks for the reminder Diana. I often forget to hit pause and take time to recharge. And that's exactly what I need to do right....now.

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Diana Urban's avatar

You're welcome! Exactly—our culture is very *go go go* and it's easy to forget to take a moment to breathe and recalibrate. I hope you do take some time to rest!

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Mike&Diana Blaylock's avatar

I'm so glad you had such an EXCELLENT break 💜 me and the husband-man had a nice long anniversary week and it was so rejuvenating. We went to a little college town in Utah and it was perfect: great hiking, time to play D&D (I only *almost* killed one character completely this time, yay!), an AMAZING pizza joint, and plenty of time to just be together without a set schedule we had to stick to. It was magical.

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M.W. Sturdivant's avatar

I’m finishing throne of glass series “Kingdom of Ash”, reading the Tao and having some very spiritual discussions with my husband, and a minimum of four children’s books every night to my kids. My husband and I have also picked up play chess. I go out for a run three days a week morning, lunch, or evening switching it up so I don’t consistently miss the same times of day with my kids and husband. Getting a round or two on our Muay Thai bag. Journaling, often but not daily. And last but not least Hogwarts Legacy has been calling my name—I need to finish my owls!

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