KM Editorial LLC

It is undeniable that humanity is always going through something, either collectively at times, or on an individual level. Usually I feel like it’s a combo of both.

These days, I am in a phase of acceptance. I’m owning my new title of Mentally Messy Book Coach.

For most of my life, I’ve been trying to shame myself into being better. Working harder. Achieving more. Being a better mother, editor, friend, partner, business owner, etc.

Spoiler alert: shame is not a motivator (for me).

As I’ve spent the last year+ slowly relearning how to show up in the world, slowly beginning to accept myself with all my flaws and all my messy and actually celebrate it (I might forget to answer that email for a couple weeks, but get on a zoom call with me and you will NOT be struggling with your story a moment more).

I see where my empathy and high emotions are a beautiful thing, not something to shut off.

I see where the urge to pull my hair (trichotillomnia) or bite my nails is actually telling me that something is off in my body right now. What do I need to pay attention to? Or do I need to just go take a walk and release some energy?

I’ve allowed my creative brain to jump every which direction and follow it with curiosity instead of judgement for being like a pin ball machine.

And I’m on a path to choose happiness and joy, even when that means choosing to lean into fear instead of shying away and staying where it’s comfortable. The comfort hurts. Because that’s also where the pain lives: The clinical depression. The generalized anxiety. The dissociating. The self-doubt.

As I’ve been growing and changing over the the past year (I say past year because that’s when I decided to put a major focus on my mental well-being, but it’s been a lifetime of ups and downs as I work on myself), I have seen what the long term work looks like. The slow work of actively choosing to love yourself unconditionally.

If there is anything I could want for another human, for every human, it is to love yourself unconditionally. Life is going to be hard no matter what. Loving yourself is the one thing we can fully control.

Come celebrate your beautiful mental messiness with me.

May as well share it here…

Entering my “messy and still a boss” era 💁‍♀️

Okay, who failed who here?

In honor of International Children’s Book Day, I want to shout out a family member—Athena Downie—and her adorable book “I Love You More.”

We read this every night and the pictures are so wholesome and sweet and the message even more so. It’s so inspiring seeing a mom turn her words into a published, physical book her kid gets to see everyday growing up.

I hope I get to do the same for my son one day too, but until then, I love that my son gets to see what his family member has created.

Grab a copy for yourself, and then 5 more for your family members. ❤️

DM me if you’d like a direct link!

Contemporary romance writers (unpublished), check this contest out!

Stiletto Contest 2024 is still open!
Submission period March 1-31, 2024
Open to published and unpublished contemporary romance authors for submissions in the following categories: Short, Mid-length, Long, Young Adult/New Adult, Women’s Fiction/Chick-Lit, Speculative/Paranormal (includes Urban Fantasy with romance), Romantic Suspense, Erotic Romance and LGBTQIA+. Fees per entry: CRW members $20; non-members $30. Contest categories and word counts at https://contemporaryromance.org/2024-stiletto-contest/. Click link at bottom of contest page for complete rules and guidelines.