Since you last saw me . . .
I co-wrote my first murder mystery fiction novel.
Dear Reader Friends,
Thank you for casting your eyeballs on my musings. Since the last time you saw me, here are some of the typical ADHD behaviors I’ve engaged in that will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me in real life.
I showed up at my doctor’s appointment the day before it was scheduled (and you know what THAT means — I was in “waiting-room mode” for 2 days straight! Aaargh!).
I lost my jury duty paperwork. I know it’s here somewhere . . . I saw it come in the mail, but it’s disappeared into the stack of to-be-filed paperwork (that never gets filed) and now I fear there’s a bench warrant for my arrest or something. Is that how this works? I have no idea. (Why didn’t they just sign me up when I got my Florida driver’s license? Who is naive enough to trust that anything sent in the mail is actually getting to the recipient anymore?)
And then there’s my murder mystery book project. You’ve probably already figured out that I love to write. I love writing this Substack and connecting with all of you who are either ADHD-curious or have AuHD or ADHD. The further I go down the research rabbit hole, the more convinced I am that I’m AuHD (or autism spectrum + ADHD). My “T-Rex” arm (I just do it with my right arm) should’ve been my first clue, but it took people on Instagram explaining it all before I began recognizing the signs.
Okay, I should probably explain this better, I’m realizing. By ‘T-Rex arms,’ I don’t mean the population literally born with hands where their elbows should be, because big pharma poisoned their mothers by prescribing thalidomide for morning sickness. I mean it in the context of as I’m walking around, I tuck my right arm into my body with my limp-wristed hand up in the air like I’m a bird with my wing folded in, or I’m doing a ventriloquist flamingo impression. This position is weirdly comforting to me, similar to my weighted blanket. Make sense? Okay, moving on . . .
This brings me to my next topic, which is my frustration over how podcasters like Joe Rogan discount ADHD as a make-believe thing. If he had Dr. Russell Barkley or Dr. Daniel Amen on his podcast, he’d change his tune. People who discount ADHD will say things like
It’s something everybody has, or
We’re all forgetful sometimes, or
ADHD is just everyone’s new excuse to be lazy or late, or
Time blindness isn’t a real thing (if it isn’t, then explain why I only get up once in seven hours to pee when I’m in the midst of a writing frenzy, and I barely make it to the bathroom in time when I do at the 7th hour, even though my body has been signaling to my brain that I’ve needed to pee for the last 5 of 7 hours). Who does that if they’re not slightly pre-frontal cortex challenged? Not anyone ‘normal’ that I know. Only neuro-divergents like me.
So, my British friend-turned-Spain resident, Sara Perry, and I have been writing this insanely fun murder mystery thriller called DAZE OF OUR LIES under the pseudonym Gabbi Blue. (I lost a pet kitten, Gabbi, and she lost her dog Blue, within two weeks of each other.) In real life, Sara is a psychic, and, of course, I’m an ADHDer. Our book is written in a way that explains how she experiences her paranormal life and how I experience my ADHD life.
It’s definitely a first of its kind. I’d love for you to check it out.
LINK to our Book DAZE OF OUR LIES’ Amazon Pre-Order Page
Our story isn’t written in an obnoxious, hit-you-over-the-head way of explaining how our unique brains operate. We organically pepper our personal experiences throughout the book where it makes sense to the story, using edu-tainment to help the world understand how it feels to be one way or the other (psychic, or ADHD/neurodivergent).
Our new book DAZE OF OUR LIES comes out on Amazon June 1st. Anyone who knows the challenge of ADHDers finishing what they’ve started is nothing less than astounded that I could crank out a book in a couple of months, but that’s the ADHD power of hyperfocus. When I’m super into something, I get “into the zone,” and it’s a dopamine high like nothing I’ve ever known. And this dopamine high has never left me, which is a strong indication novel writing is something I should have been doing as my full-time career since the start.
Imagine where I’d be by now.
But I believe it’s never too late to realize your dreams. Just look at Grandma Moses. (Well, she’s dead, so you might not want to look at her, because that would be gross, so maybe check out her art that she started painting in her late 70s or early 80s.)
I genuinely hope you read our book and if you do, I beg and plead of you, PUH-LEEZE LEAVE US A REVIEW. (Yes, that’s me shouting in digital speak.) It’s okay if you don’t leave a 5-star review. But just please, leave a review for author Gabbi Blue.
If you want to read the first five chapters of DAZE OF OUR LIES for FREE, head over to my Gabbi Blue author page on Substack at https://gabbiblue.substack.com
As always, thanks for reading. Once I’ve finished editing our book this next week, I’ll be checking in more frequently. An especially warm thank you to those of you who pay to read my blog. Your support means more to me than you’ll ever know!