Hey, friends.

I hope you’re having a great day. I am in the middle of cutting down on my coffee and caffeine consumption. It seems to be something I constantly battle with. I’ll get a handle on it and then reaching for that extra cup of coffee will happen more frequently. Suddenly the extra cup is two and the quantity of coffee per mug increases, too. The tell-tale signs I needed to cut back were 1) realising how much it was affecting my sleep and 2) the very literal withdrawal symptoms (headaches, joint pain, restless leg syndrome) on the days when I didn’t consume a lot of coffee.

I drink light to medium-roasted coffee via a V60 coffee dripper. I always start with a cup of coffee using 15g of coffee. I used to drink another 30g on weekdays but it could creep up to a total of 60g on a weekend. I also used to only drink coffee until 1 pm but those weekends are pesky and sometimes I would be pushing 3 pm.

This week, I’ve gone from 45g to 35g for the weekdays. It’s been rough but my sleep is better and there aren’t so many withdrawal symptoms. I do find myself looking for other things to do to try and keep me awake after lunch, I’m consuming a lot more water, eating a lot of sugar-free mints, and sometimes just getting up to exercise for a quick rush of energy. Curbing a coffee addiction seems to result in me having to do healthy things just to stay away. Naps are good, too, and NDSR (non-sleep deep rest) but that can be a little harder to do if you don’t work from home.

I’ll let you know how it all goes. I don’t miss the withdrawal symptoms or lying in bed wanting to go to sleep but my mind refuses to, but I do miss the coffee!

What I’m Thinking About

The other week we spoke with Chris Panatier (the author of The Redemption of Morgan Bright) on This Is Horror Podcast (episode coming soon) and I can’t stop thinking about something he said:

“With practise, you can’t get worse. You’re always going to get incrementally better.”

He was talking about writing but you can apply this to any area of your life be it fitness, sport, being a better person, anything at all. It’s such a simple and obvious truth and yet I feel it’s something we all need to hear. We can feel demotivated and deflated when progress is slow (and lord knows it can be with writing and creativity) but the reality is this: if you keep practising, if you keep writing, if you keep putting in the work, you absolutely won’t get worse. And you’ll probably (almost certainly) get better.

What I’m Reading

I’m currently reading Billy Summers by Stephen King. It came out a few years ago and alongside the Holly Gibney books really demonstrates King can be just as effective when writing crime as he can horror or honestly anything. He’s the true master of writing for a reason, folks.

Speaking of masters of writing and horror, I’m also reading Josh Malerman’s forthcoming book, Incidents Around The House. There’s something experimental about the writing style here and I can’t wait to talk to Josh about it but the way it’s presented is truly original and creates something that might be as near to found footage and Paranormal Activity as we are ever likely to get on the page. So that’s a high recommendation from me.

Who I've Spoken to on This Is Horror Podcast

This past week, we recorded a podcast with Agatha Andrews of She Wore Black unboxing Neil Gaiman's October in the Chair. Patrons will be able to hear the conversation soon and there will be a special preview episode for general listeners, too. This was the first time I'd spoken with Agatha and I'm excited to do it again later this year. Watch this space, friends.

Well, that about does it for another week. Don't forget to check out what’s been going on in This Is Horror world below.

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But until next time, have a great day, friends.

Michael David Wilson

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