In today’s episode we are talking with Terry Bartley, the author of Tyranny of the Fey, host of the podcast Most Writers Are Fans, and a full-time English teacher. In our conversation today, Terry shares his journey as a writer, revealing how he channels his creativity while managing ADHD. We also get into Terry’s diagnosis and how learning about the symptoms led to his self-recognition of the condition. We discuss some the misunderstandings of ADHD and how that can lead to some of the stigmas associated with ADHD. We also go into some of the many tool that Terry uses to help keep himself of track when writing and teaching.
William Curb: It's great to have you here. Do you think you could do a quick introduction and then we'll get going?
Terry Bartley: My name is Terry Bartley and I'm a fantasy author, author of Tyranny the Faye. My also host of podcast called Much Writers or Fans.
William Curb: Oh, awesome, nice. I think when I looked up Tyranny the Faye, this is a collection of short stories, right?
Terry Bartley: Yeah, it's weird because I wrote a novel like five years ago. So shortly after quarantine, I just started writing short stories in the same world as the novel and that's where these stories came from. So it's almost like this book is a prequel to the novel because it's like a lot of like world building and like establishing the setting and stuff. Awesome.
William Curb: Yeah. The stories around the stories are always interesting too because what's going on here, but you know, like, oh, you have these side characters that are always fun to follow. And that also feels like a very ADHD trait where we want to see those other little aspects of the world that, you know, wouldn't get particularly fleshed out in a just regular novel.
Terry Bartley: I've never been a big fan of writing just like the lore documents where you just write sort of like, this is the religion, this is the God, this is whatever. That may be ADHD where it's just like, I don't like the rigidness of it. But the thing I liked about the short stories was that I could kind of like build the world but through the eyes of characters. So I can still kind of like do the character focused thing, which I mean, I guess that is kind of hacking ADHD, right? Because I'm figuring out how to world build but doing it through the thing that I like because I'm doing the thing that I'm interested in so that I can follow through.
William Curb: Yeah, absolutely. Because you also have ADHD, which is why you're here. Right. Do you know which type you have?
Terry Bartley: I know I have ADHD. I don't really know the specifics.
William Curb: Yeah, some places they're like, yeah, well, this is exactly what I know. And other places, you have ADHD. Good enough.
Terry Bartley: Yeah, it's a weird story. I kind of watched a video where somebody ran through, ran through the symptoms of ADHD. There was that moment where I watched it and I was like, oh, wow, all of those things are me. So I essentially diagnosed myself. Then I had to go to a doctor and get a real diagnosis. So realistically, that's probably why they didn't do anything deeper because it's like, nah, you're right. You know these things.
William Curb: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that's like the value of doing the educational things people don't know what the symptoms are. And then you kind of see it and you're like, wait, not everybody feels this way.
Terry Bartley: And I feel like it's true of most mental health disorders is there's like these stigma associated with it. And part of that stigma is like, you have an idea of what it's supposed to be, right?
Like people think of ADHD as like, kids bouncing off the walls or like being kind of like, just staring into space for a while. And like that was never me. I was always very like engaged in the things I was doing. So I never suspected that I had ADHD. Then once I heard the symptoms out loud, it was like, oh, well, I guess I do.
William Curb: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, and it's partially the naming convention of ADHD just is not like, oh, attention deficit hyperactivity is sort of like, oh, well, I don't have a deficit of tension. I have way too much attention on the wrong things. And I'm not physically hyperactive, but I'm mentally hyperactive.
Terry Bartley: I already described once as it's not that you're not paying attention to anything, it's that you're paying attention to everything at one time. And that's why you don't pick up specific things because it's too much.
William Curb: Absolutely. What I see was like sensory things where I'm like, I can't ignore this like tag in my shirt or something. Like I just my attention is drawn to it and it's extracting me from everything else. And yeah, that's makes it really hard to do things. And yeah, then specifically with the inattentive ADHD, that we mostly know ADHD symptoms from pop culture. And that's not the fun one to talk about.
Yeah, you want the guy going squirrel. And it's like, I see a lot of value in the online education for people learning what it really is. And then having that first step of like self-diagnosed, like I think this is what I am because I know there's a lot of issues around self diagnosis and what people think. But I'm like, that's always the first step to getting a regular diagnosis.
Terry Bartley: And I think the thing is like, so, you know, I'm a teacher. So like, I regularly see kids who don't have diagnoses, right? And as a teacher, I have to kind of like recognize, oh, this person probably has ADHD. I can't like just tell them that because like that's not a thing you can do as a teacher. But like, I can suspect it and maybe mention it to like a counselor or something that they can follow up on it. But like the other thing I do is like, I just have to acknowledge that they have it probably and then just kind of treat the symptoms.
Right. Like I teach to them as though I think they have it. And then hopefully they'll learn better because I know it. And also like the main thing most people ADHD need, which is just true, is like a bit of grace and a bit of like understanding. And I think that that's mostly what I try to give students is like, if they don't start to be getting on time, it's like, there's probably some reason for that. So I'll give them another day or two, you know?
William Curb: I mean, that's great to hear because yeah, it's one a lot of teachers don't. But when you look beyond the first impression of what's going on, it's like, oh, there probably is something there. I've talked a lot about the show. Like, you know, it's like, we're not lazy. We're very busy people, but it can look like we're lazy because we're not doing what we're supposed to be doing. Yeah.
Terry Bartley: And I mean, I think that's why I never thought I had it because I was always very busy. I was always like, whenever I was in high school, I was in like every club, like I was doing like everything. Like I told myself the part of that was that I came from a low income family. So I wanted to be able to like fall for scholarships and things to go to college. So like I had to like have the best resume right to be able to do that. But I think the other part of it was like, I was genuinely interested in all these different things. It's hard to nail that down as ADHD because like people are just like, oh, you're just that productive kid that's in everything, you know?
William Curb: Yeah, absolutely. Because I'm interested in so many things. And the biggest challenge is sticking with one of them to get to a, you know, follow through that it makes it, you know, something cool.
Terry Bartley: Yeah. That's very much why I started writing, actually, because I remember the moment that I first started suspecting that I had something. I didn't know anything about ADHD, but I knew that I had something. I've done this public speaking training with this like fellowship program that I was part of in this leadership organization. And they had us write down the milestones in our life. And then they had us like pair up with people and like share those milestones. So my partner was like, here's like the two things that I think really affected me.
And I was like, well, here's the 20 that I think, in fact, in my life. And it was a lot of like moving from this job to that job. And then this other job was like, now this is the thing that I meant to do in my life. And then here's another job I'm going to do differently. And now this job is the thing I'm meant to do in my life.
And like, I never really understood that, like, whenever I felt those passions that it was just sort of ADHD saying, like, oh, here's a new thing that you care about. And it's fun. So like, go do that thing. And I was just sort of like, well, I've got to figure out a way to like manage this.
So I started writing because I went back to college to get a bachelor's in English because I wanted to be a writer. So I was like, all right, well, I'm just going to buckle down and do it. So then this is the thing that I focus on. So even though I do a lot of different things with writing, like I do promotional stuff on the TikTok and Instagram and things like that. I do the podcast where I interview other writers, but I can still at the end of the day tie those things back to writing.
So like, I'm trying to sort of like, if I have new interests, they're going to be a thing that can funnel back into writing. That way I can still sort of like focus on at least the one thing. And this will be the one thing I stick with, you know, nothing else. This will be the one thing I stick with.
William Curb: Yeah, I also went to college for English with a emphasis on creative writing. And it's just like, yeah, it comes back to everything I do. It's just like, it's so important as a skill that I sometimes forget that it is a skill that I learned. Yeah. Because I'm like, I'm doing stuff. I'm like, oh, yeah, you just put this together. And then people like, man, you're a great writer with this. And I'm like, no, this is just, this felt natural.
Terry Bartley: And that's the other thing that ADHD that you don't realize is you never give yourself enough credit, right? Like you can't ever acknowledge whenever you're doing something because people compliment you. You're like, oh, no, I just did that because I had to. I just did that because it was a thing I had to do. And then I did it. I mean, it's like, well, no, like you did something well, like acknowledge that, you know.
William Curb: Yeah. Even in that moment where I'm like, oh, someone said I was great at writing and I mentioned it. I'm like, oh, that feels dirty to me. I don't want to be bragging here. Yeah.
Terry Bartley: Because it's like, I just, I just have these skills because I live to life where I've had to learn these skills. It's not that I'm good at it. I just spent a lot of time doing it. And then like anybody else would brag about that. Yeah. Like I spent this many years writing, like that's why I'm good at it, you know.
William Curb: Yeah, absolutely. It is funny how the ADHD brain just just like, I don't know exactly what's behind it because I'm sure there's something there where it's like, yeah, we don't want to come off the wrong way or something. But there is like something where I had so many people I know are, you know, very understated about what they can do.
Terry Bartley: Well, I think the big part of it, I feel like this is probably pretty universal is that when you have ADHD, you often feel like you're behind in life. Like you're not as well as you should be doing. I think part of that is that our minds are so creative. So like we've been told all our lives, we have potential that, you know, like, we're going to be so successful. And I think that whenever you bounce around to jobs or whatever, whatever, you don't make progress in a career the way that you should.
Right. I think that part of that is like, I always feel like I'm a little bit behind. And I think that that's why it's like, oh, I shouldn't have credit because I didn't achieve the thing I set out to achieve, you know, like, sure, I have a master's degree. I only did that because I needed to start subbing and they wanted me to start pursuing teaching to some, but that's an accomplishment. You know, it is an accomplishment.
William Curb: Just curious, did you get your diagnosis before or after your master's degree?
Terry Bartley: Before.
William Curb: Yeah.
Terry Bartley: Well, actually during.
William Curb: OK. Congratulations. And you like to look back at the man, school would have been so much easier if I'd known all these things about how ADHD worked.
Terry Bartley: Yeah. And to, you know, whenever I was in college, this is probably not an unusual story for ADHD, but I was far more focused on like extracurricular things like I was going to school for broadcast journalism. I volunteered heavily at the radio station.
I would like to like news packages that I would like to do promotional stuff. Like I would kind of head my hands into everything so that I convinced myself. Well, like when I'm doing the college radio station, I'm working in the field already, like I don't need to go to these classes because I'm already learning it on my own. And then you end up failing all your classes because you're not focusing on it, you know, and I think that just sort of like the college setting just didn't work for me because I ended up getting both of my degrees, my bachelor's and my master's ultimately through online school. And I think that that was just an easier way to do it with ADHD because first of all, you're holding yourself accountable, but there's like really fixed deadlines that you have to meet. And like everything is laid out very specifically about what you have to do. And it's a little less like free form the way that college tends to be.
William Curb: Yeah, that's definitely true. The deadlines are as much as I hate them. They are so vital for me to getting things done without having any sort of deadline. I don't get a lot of stuff done and that's not so much fun. So it's also interesting then you're mentioning the deadlines and because when you're writing, you don't have a lot of deadlines. So do you have like methods to like help get you to follow through on those projects? Yeah, I said deadlines.
Terry Bartley: And like it's one of those things where I want to get it by that day. And like if I'm a little bit off, it is what it is. But honestly, what tends to happen is I get close to the deadline and I'm having so much fun like writing that I get excited about like beating it at like finishing in time. So I do set deadlines for myself, but in a way, it's just kind of like goalposts. It's not even necessarily like I have to do by them, but it's like I want to get it done by this time. So like let's do that. Let's make sure I do.
William Curb: And so with that, are you doing being like strictly accountability to yourself or is there someone you're like sharing your work with?
Terry Bartley: Yeah, so writing is a collaborative process, right? So like most of it is on me. But like I do work with editors. So like sometimes I have to get stuff done in time for an editor to get it. So that kind of thing happens.
And then like if I have a book scheduled to come out, like I have to get the like grammar instead of edits done before like everything's finalized. So like those sorts of things are a little bit on other people. A lot of it's on me. But the thing about that is I will say I have a wildly supportive friend who I have a call with every other week and we kind of like go through a list and talk about the things I said I was going to do and just kind of like keep holding myself accountable. And that's honestly probably the biggest thing that I have to do this is like that person that's always there reminding me what I wanted to do.
William Curb: That sounds fantastic. Yeah, it's having that telling someone that you're going to do something and then having them like check up on you is amazing versus telling someone you're going to do something and then never hearing from them again.
Terry Bartley: Because yeah, like that's all I ever really need is just accountability. Like anytime I like if I get a trainer at a gym, the reason I do that is because I want to look at that trainer in the face in two weeks. Whenever she asked me what did you do the next two weeks? And I have to like tell her in person, you know, like if I'm at a job and they want me to do something, I always say check on me in a week because I just need to be reminded that you wanted me to do this thing.
I think that it's societally we think that checking out people like especially like with projects or favors or whatever that it's like rude or you're like trying to be pushy. But the truth is like I want those things. Like if I don't get those, like I may not ever do them. And it's not that I don't want to do them. I'm just going to forget and not do it, you know.
William Curb: Yeah, people kind of worried that they're going to make you feel bad. So it is important to like tell people like, hey, yeah, I actually want you to do this. Even if I look like I feel uncomfortable about, I want to know that you're going to do it.
Terry Bartley: This is the difference of knowing that I had ADHD versus not knowing that ADHD because like whenever I have this of accountability calls because I would take on like, wait, wait, wait too much, right? I'm sure that's not unusual. And then people would ask me like, have you done this or have you done that? And if I don't actually see those people in person, it's just to be like calls. It was easy to be like, yeah, I've done it whenever I fully hadn't. And I would just like lie about like the things that I had done. And now that I have ADHD, I don't feel so bad to be like, no, I haven't finished that yet. I need some help. Whereas like, I think before I was far less likely asked for help because it's like, I'm supposed to be able to do this, you know, I should be able to do this. Why have an eye? Why can't I, you know?
William Curb: Yeah, it's nice to have that explanation behind. I always would fall back on the like, Oh, I'm not doing these things because I'm a crappy person or something. When it's like, that's not really what's going on. But that's what my internal voice is telling me. It's like, Oh, you didn't do the dishes for a week because you're a crappy person. Good person wouldn't do that.
Terry Bartley: You can't be like a normal person, right? What you think what we call normal people because it's like, it shouldn't be hard for me to pay my bills on time. Why can't I do that? And it's like, well, there is some reason that it's challenging.
William Curb: And I found that so helpful too. Because then I'm like, Oh, this is still hard, even though I know this, but now I can be like, Okay, well, there's this and I can try and do something about it. And I can be like, Hey, I'm going to do this anyways, even though I know this is hard. Yeah.
Terry Bartley: And like I mentioned in the teacher thing, like truly the most helpful thing I do is give myself that grace and that like forgiveness. Because like, I remember I used to like, leave my keys at home or forget some important thing or lock my keys in my car. And I would get so hard on myself, like, you're so dumb. Why do you do this all the time? And I think that now being like, well, I have ADHD.
So like, that's why that happened. I don't like that I have to drive back home and get my keys. I don't like that. But I didn't do it on purpose. Like it's a thing that I did that my brain makes it challenging for me to do, you know, and I think that understanding that and like being able to forgive myself and not be so hard on myself has been really, really helpful.
William Curb: Yeah. And sometimes looking at like the humor in it, like today, I had to take my dog to the vet for a checkup, you know, I'm getting in the car getting stuff ready. And I'm like, Oh, I need to get my dog. Yeah, because that's the whole reason I'm going that would be, I'm glad I figured that out before I left the house because that would have been like, Hey, I'm here with nobody. Sorry.
Terry Bartley: And it's not like there's not still problems, right? Like I'll go to like book signings or whatever. And I'll need like sharpies or like my promotional materials or whatever, and I'll forget something at home. And then I just have to like make do without it. Yeah. But I also sort of like just understand like, well, it's frustrating because I paid money to make this to get this thing made. But like, I'm already three hours away from home.
So I'm not going to turn around now because I have to make it there on time. Yeah, I was like, Oh, so they could just like, well, it's fine. It's fine. It is what it is.
William Curb: Yeah, I do think ADHD, like that part of ADHD does make us more resilient to like just like a work figure it out. I've done this before I can do it again.
Terry Bartley: I think about that a lot whenever I do my podcast, because like, you know, I went to school for journalism. So I know that as a journalist, you're supposed to like have your questions prepared and like be really ready to talk to anybody and like do all your research, like read their book or whatever. But like, I never do I always just jump on to an interview. Because I've been interviewing people for podcasts or for radio or for newspapers or whatever, or like 15 years or something now.
So it's just like second nature for me to jump in and have these conversations. And part of me is like, I should feel bad that I'm not doing more prep work, but it's also like, I make a good product.
William Curb: So like, yeah, I should be doing more. But also, most of the time I'm getting by not every time, most of the time I'm getting by. Yeah. So one of the interesting things I was also thinking about with this writing process too is there are, because you talked a little bit about the editing and from other writers I've talked to with ADHD, that like they really love the creative process of it. But then the refining of the writing is just there like it's like pulling teeth other than like deadlines, you have things you do to try and get through that.
Terry Bartley: Yes. Like I said, I finished the novel pre COVID and I started like doing edits, like during the quarantine is whatever like the editing process was starting. And like, first of all, I didn't feel like doing it right because we were trapped in our homes and all those things. But then besides that, I didn't know what I was doing and know what needed to change. I didn't know like how to do edits.
I didn't know anything about it. But I was like, I should know how because I wrote this book. So I should not edit a book. But like, I just didn't know like where to go and what to do. That's why I started writing the short stories was because I was like, I'm going to give up editing and just do this instead.
And probably not the best thing to do, but like is just where I was at. And I think that that's why having editor is so important, because they give you direction, right? Yeah, like editors can tell you like, you're missing this thing.
So then you have a thing to look for. Whereas I think before it's just like, I don't know, I wrote this already. So like, what's wrong? I don't know what's wrong. But like having people that can point out like, here's a thing that you should change. Here's a thing that should be different. Like that makes the process so much easier because you're not trying to like, it feels like you're going in blind if you don't have that direction, you know.
William Curb: Yeah, absolutely. Because it's hard to get yourself to, you don't know what you want to do. And that makes it so much harder.
Terry Bartley: The useful thing about editors is they tell you the things that you don't do very well. Like I know now that I don't do descriptions of places very well, because she told me that a lot of my scenes felt like they were taking place in a black void because I didn't describe where they were ever. So like a lot of times I'll write a scene now in like the new stuff I'm writing, and I'll just leave a note that says describe better. But I go to do edits, I'll know to go back and like, actually type up a description later.
William Curb: Yeah, I think that's also a great point to you don't have to do everything all at once. Which often feels like I'm going to write this I have to go start to finish, which absolutely don't have to do. And you don't have to, you can come back.
Terry Bartley: And to just like knowing what your shortcomings are, I mean, able to like, make note of them so they can go back later, because it's not useful to be like describe is better because I don't describe it bad. I've already read the other scene, because the truth is I don't want to stop the scene to describe where they're at, right? Like I want to get to the action and to like character stuff and the stuff that I care about. Again, ADHD, right? But I think that whenever I can get back into it, it's like, I'm going to specifically go in and change these things that need to be changed. Then it's maybe just the shift in perspective of the thing I'm doing, the task I'm doing is what makes it easier, you know.
William Curb: Absolutely. It takes a lot to know where you want to go. And so sometimes, yes, stepping back and being like, Oh, I need to look at this another way. And I'm not going to do it right now. And that's fine.
Terry Bartley: Well, I'm just knowing like, if I did it now, it's not going to be good. Like knowing that that's kind of the thing too. Like, I think that is true, not just in writing, but like probably in anything we do, people always say like, why don't you just do it? And it's like, there's so many reasons, you know, like there's so many reasons. And it's like, why didn't I do my dishes today? I don't know. But like, there were so many other things I had to do. And like, I will do it later, but like, it's going to take a while.
William Curb: Yeah, been playing around with this idea of energy management for a while, because like, as much as I like managing my time and figuring out what I want to do, if it's something that was on my calendar, and I'm in the deep in the I don't want us, or I'm, you know, just like really tired, it doesn't make sense for me to be like, Oh, I'm going to now, you know, work on writing this thing, because I'm like, it's just going to be terrible.
And I hate it. And I'm like, maybe I can just do something around it that would be good. Like my immediate thought was open up some tabs of related research.
I'm like, I don't need to open more tabs, do some of the like prep work to make sure that when I do get started, that it is easier to get into or like little things, right?
Terry Bartley: Like go back to like the dishes example, like, I know I need to do my dishes, the dishes are probably like, this is getting to be a problem. But what if I just do all the plates right now? I'll just wash the plates, and then I'll set them in the dish drain, and I'll put those up later. But everything else goes down in the sink right now. You did a piece of the task, it feels like you've done nothing, right?
Because then you look at the sink and it's double the dishes. But you also get an knowledge like, it's going to be easier when I do get to it, right?
William Curb: Like it is amazing how having like, Oh, I only have to do part of this, like, my wife and I will switch off like, you know, there will like, unload part of the dishwasher. And then you like, you come over, oh, I only have to unload half the dishwasher. This is so much better than having to unload the whole thing.
Terry Bartley: With ADHD, you will forget that you did it. It's like a fun surprise. Like, Oh, wow, past me was like really helpful. The Bain and Mines is just as an English teacher is grading papers, because like, it's just so hard to like, go back in and like, do the thing where you just have to like, look at the grammar, look at all that stuff and put in grades.
And it's really challenging. I remember I did grades for this past nine weeks, like a couple of weeks ago. And whenever I went in, I was like, Oh, I've graded most of the things already. I can't believe I did that.
William Curb: Like, Oh, way to go past me. I had a note on my monitor for a while. It was like, front loading effort is self care for future me.
Terry Bartley: And I think they'll like, just letting yourself do little things here and there, which I guess is what other people do all the time, right? People, neurotypical people probably always do little things ahead. And so it's not a challenge for us. It's like a, it's like a life hack, right?
William Curb: Yeah, it's absolutely vital to be like, Oh, yeah, I can, I do this. Then when I get to it, it's going to be so much easier.
Terry Bartley: Like with grading papers, I remember last year, I would often do this thing where I would just never grade anything. And then whenever grades would do a couple weeks ahead, I would just spend the night at the school just to grade everything and get it all done at one time.
And it's like, why, why do that? Like I'm punishing myself basically for just not doing it ahead of time. And I think that learning to view it that way is helpful. Like I don't need to punish myself. I can just do a little bit of grading gradually over time. It's hard to remember to do that. But I think that just sort of like forcing yourself, like what I started doing is like daily tasks, which is basically a bullet journal, I'll write at the beginning of the day, like series of tasks that I want to do. And then I just do them in my off time at work. And, and you know, like it's things I probably should have been doing anyway, but I won't if I don't have them written down, you know, yeah, absolutely.
William Curb: Yeah. Like I've heard, you know, people talk like, you don't need a task list, you just need to have things on your calendar. I'm like, that won't work for me. Like, I need to have the flexibility to add this when I have the mental capacity to do it. And I need to be able to know that it's coming up. Yeah.
Terry Bartley: And I mean, like my calendar isn't for that stuff, right? My calendar so that I know when like these kinds of things happen, so that I can like prepare for these interviews and like set aside time aside and then also not schedule stuff for later today, because like, I'm probably going to be like, I should treat this for what it is and like let it be a little bit mentally exhausting because I'm giving a lot of myself, right? But then like, give myself time after this to like take a break and not be so concerned with everything else.
William Curb: For me, I always find that overwhelming. And then when I don't do the things there, then I'm like, it's falling off my radar because it's like, time doesn't stop when I miss a task.
Terry Bartley: And I think that we think that neurotypical people are constantly doing tasks, are constantly doing chores all the time. But they're not like they have free time, other people have free time.
I think that for us, we punish ourselves for having free time, because like you're you watch TV and it's like, I should be doing something. I'm sitting here doing nothing. Why am I doing this? It's like, because you're free, you have free time, it's okay.
William Curb: I'll be like, oh, I should watch TV, but I'm also going to secretly work on this on the side and it will be, well, I'm not going to enjoy either. Yeah, fantastic. This was a really fun conversation. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Is there anything you'd like to leave the audience with?
Terry Bartley: This is sort of like my motto in life is the thing about give yourself grace, give yourself forgiveness and understand like who you are and how your brain works and like let yourself give yourself some grace and not be so hard on yourselves because those downward spirals, they are not fun. And they can take over your whole life if you let them.
William Curb: All right. And if people want to learn more about your books or some of your podcasts or anything, where do they go to find more information about you online?
Terry Bartley: Yeah, so I got a few things to plug. So my book is called Tierney to the Fae. It is on hardcover. It'll be coming out in paperback. Probably by the time this comes out, it'll be on a paperback. But then I also have it in smaller bite sized chunks that I'm calling light novels like the Manga prose, but I basically have just broken up this book into like two smaller books. So the first one is coming out the same day as paperback. It is called I am a princess that ran away to a magical world. But it is again, just the stories in this book. So you don't need to buy both. It has a fun cover.
So if you like it, you can like it. I also do a podcast where I interview other writers. I use that term very broadly. I interview authors, I interview journalists, I interview song writers, I interview game designers. It is called most writers or fans. And that comes out every week. I do seasons because I don't want to do it constantly. I feel like podcasts are really easy to just never give yourself free time. So I do like eight episodes chunks or so at a time. I just wrapped up my live season because I went on tour this past summer.
And I released a bunch of live episodes that I recorded in bookstores and stuff. So that is there now. And then finally, this is a new thing. I just started playing in a D &D live stream every Wednesday at 8 30 p.m. Eastern. I do this with this company called Enchanting Source Risk Productions.
William Curb: So also that sounds like a lot of fun. But yeah, thank you so much for coming on the show. I'll have all those links in the show notes. And I encourage people to go check those out. Thank you.
Terry Bartley: Thanks for having me. This is a lot of fun.
This Episode's Top Tips
Deadlines are great tools to help keep you motivated and keep you on track - espesially in regards to righting. These deadlines are incredibly helpful for those things that don’t have a well defined done state (like writing).
Accountability can be incredibly helpful for keeping us on task and can come from many sources. In Terry’s case, working with an editor helped keep him on track when he needed to follow through with those intentions of writing.
The importance of grace and understanding is an critical building block in our ADHD journey - whether it is with ourselves or others we need to allow for room to make mistakes and grow with our ADHD.