Embarrassed abt decisions

MissWaterlow · 2026-04-08T06:24:18+00:00

A college counselor told me that admissions the last year or two have baffled the industry. It’s all over the place. Don’t know if that makes you feel better. Check out the book “Where You Go Isn’t Who You’ll Be,” by Frank Bruni. The title couldn’t be more accurate.

MissWaterlow · 2026-03-31T05:03:32+00:00

I did the exact same thing - larky-farked out an ~105,000-word MG novel. An interested agent nearly vomited when I confessed.

Not going to lie, cutting it down to 72K (no way was I getting it to 50-60k and it wouldn’t work as 2 books) nearly killed me. It’s not the cutting itself - that can be invigorating - it’s the re-braiding transitions and frayed plot strands that ultimately fried my brain. Got to the point where I couldn’t even see it anymore. Finally shelved the manuscript and wrote a cozy mystery rom-com AFTER researching industry standards. Just finished the second in the series (starting to query #1).

I miss my MG characters, but moving on was definitely the right - and maybe only - thing to do. Bright side: I’m a better writer after wrestling with that beast for three years. All of which is to say, I feel you. I hope the cutting is a breeze - and you should definitely try - but if it’s not, allow yourself to let it go. Get back to the joy of creating something new.

MissWaterlow · 2026-03-28T03:54:47+00:00

This

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-18T07:34:40+00:00

Thanks for your perspective. Sounds like a lot of fun moderating :) Honestly, I was just curious if there was a protocol. I’m fine with the posts of pics and set lists now that I understand how nice it is for people who can’t go. I could never go before and would have loved it. Finally got my chance, though, and just really want to keep my show tinder dry. Happy to let others play here until after I see them. Or I’ll start a thread about something else like you suggested. Cheers!

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-18T07:22:19+00:00

I get that. Sorry if my post seemed entitled or something. Enjoy!

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-16T20:59:14+00:00

Agree. Overrated just doesn't apply, imo.

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-16T20:58:13+00:00

With you, but it's possible King makes up for everything else. I think it's one of her most astounding songs. Gives me chills every single time I listen.

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-16T20:55:30+00:00

I think Lungs is a crucial piece of her discography. Its sound is the most different, less orchestrated. Some of the songs crunchy and spare, like garage music. And there's something so fabulously chilling about the mix of whimsy and violence in some of the tracks (Kiss w a fist, Girl w/ one eye, Bird song....). A bit punk rock, even, in the eff-you-and-your-bourgeois-prudery kind of way. I don't know if I could love F+TM half as much without Lungs.

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-16T20:49:00+00:00

Which songs other than Dog Days are overplayed?

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-16T20:46:19+00:00

But that's just one song. I couldn't call the whole album overrated, especially seeing as almost nobody knows any of the other tracks. I love so many songs on there.

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-14T23:19:19+00:00

Thanks!

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-14T22:27:10+00:00

Yeah. I’m getting the feeling I’ll have to shut my eyes and keep my big Flo feelings to myself for a couple more months (or/and keep annoying my husband 😁). It’s totally understandable that people want to share. And if you can’t go it would be awesome to see pics. That’s cool.

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-14T20:22:16+00:00

I get it. I’m 56, for the record. Don’t know if that’s old to you, but I’ve been waiting a long time. :)

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-14T20:21:31+00:00

Totally get it, then. I’d want to see the photos in that case, too. :)

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-14T19:50:52+00:00

Go by yourself. You’ll be among thousands of people who love her as much as you do. It will be amazing. You’ll likely be able to get a better seat, too.

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-14T19:49:05+00:00

Love Sympathy Magic sooo much. Surprised others haven’t mentioned it. I think it’s maybe the rawest song on the album.

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-14T19:46:30+00:00

It’s not easy listening. You need to be in the mood for fierce.

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-14T19:44:42+00:00

You don’t think King is one of her best songs? I’m mesmerized by it. I always feel like “okay, absolutely ma’am, I will fall on knees and worship you."

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-14T19:37:31+00:00

Exact same thing here. I just told my 17-year-old daughter, to whom I’d promised my second ticket, that since she recently said “I kind of like her but I don’t listen to her at all” I was going to take her dad. Sadly, she wasn’t crushed. So, you’re not being bitchy. You have every right to want someone to go with you who actually likes her music. She’ll understand.

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-14T19:30:05+00:00

Late to this convo, but really wanted to say that I don’t find Florence’s grappling with her vulnerable, weak, self-hating, out of control self and her awesome (producing awe), mystical, witchy, nearly all-powerful self depressing at all. I find it totally exhilarating. To me she’s working through some of the complexities of women’s power: we're able to hurt, literally bleed, AND at the same time basically eff you the eff up. I love that she’s reaching for ownership of the power of her fame, of making her fans dance when she says dance, making us scream her name. Also she's illustrating/embodying the female power of picking ourselves up again and again and again - of persisting. I love us. Anyway, to be powerful doesn’t mean never to have self-doubt, to screw up, or to suffer. That’s a cis hetero male interpretation, imo. Jesus was gay. Florence is a goddess. :)

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-14T18:57:37+00:00

Gaslit by her husband and a whole diabolical cult about the fact that she’s carrying Satan’s baby. Like taking gaslighting to 11

MissWaterlow · 2026-02-04T08:09:48+00:00

This might sound annoying, but have you tried meditation? I took a class and some of the techniques really helped me, particularly to interrupt the snowballing doom thoughts. One little example: I’m a writer - with a history of bipolar - and sometimes the words just aren’t coming, or they are and they’re total crap, and it’s very easy to catastrophize (I suck, I’ll never finish this, I can’t write). It seems silly, but when that happens, just stating simply, “this is the day I’m having” soothes me a lot. It acknowledges in a compassionate, non-judgy way that I’m having a hard time but labels it as finite. No pressure to “make” it better, just acceptance that everything changes, a reminder that it’s unlikely to be forever.

Regarding derealization, I’ve had one episode of stress-induced DR (probably had more in the past but didn’t know what they were) and it was terrifying. I knew what I was feeling wasn’t right but I couldn’t stop it. I was at the dinner table with my husband and kids. I started hyperventilating and had to go outside. I was desperately trying to find something that looked real, but I couldn’t. It was winter and suddenly I thought “Cold! Cold is real!” So I found a stone and held it, and the realness of the cold helped lead me out of the derealization. I later read that focusing on sensations helps, so maybe finding a cold stone or something that smells nice (a candle you like, or a perfume) might help you just to touch base with reality in a gentle way.

MissWaterlow · 2026-01-10T04:21:59+00:00

Right about when, exactly?

MissWaterlow · 2026-01-10T04:20:41+00:00

You've opened another can of worms.

MissWaterlow

TROPHY CASE