funkylightningcat Books

one year

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Sat, 05 Sep 2026 21:16:10 GMT

One year into this new journey, I’ve learned a lot about how I function and how to manage my expectations.

I’ve written about the struggle of being a neurodivergent person who is artistic, who longs to have the freedom to create and have that be enough.

And yet, I’ve used this outlet to procrastinate.

Because, believe it or not, I’m still overcoming my perfectionism. (Shocker, perfectionism isn’t that easy a mentality to kick.)

While I’ve let a lot of things go, the pain of resistance from the world and my own brain and body still keeps me from progressing in my art form. I still want writing fiction to feel like freedom and bliss, when more often, trying to write my novel feels more like driving a nail into my forehead over and over.

I just didn’t want to admit it.

I wanted to appear like someone who loves to create and advocate for creation, and don’t get me wrong, I DO advocate for it! It is the single most important thing I can do as a neurodivergent writer and artist in dark times like techno-fascism and generative AI mania… but I’ve been deluding myself to say that it always feels like freedom.

So much of the creative process is painful, actually. I don’t wonder why people want to be called artists who use generative AI to create “as a tool,” when the process isn’t always easy. (You just aren’t an artist if you don’t create art with your own abilities, however abysmal.)

Being an artist, especially growing as an artist, is a painful experience. And I must admit, living in this dystopian hellscape and having to scrape by, I just didn’t want to accept that creative pain still needed space in my mind, heart, and body. I am so exhausted all the time; the last thing I want to do is show up to write more of my novel, especially the scenes I’m stuck on or struggling with. I want to get high and go to bed instead.

And I know I’m not alone. I am not the only creatively-inclined person who has to push past this wall. I’m not the only procrastinator or artist who chases dopamine instead of sitting with the ick, the stuckness, the blank page.

I just wasn’t brave enough to admit it publicly.

So… what am I to do now?

What will the future content of this publication be?

Will the next year of funkylightningcat Books be filled with hard-won fictional chapters, more insightful or personal essays, or will there finally be collaboration with other artists and writers?

At this point, I want to imagine anything can happen.

If you are reading my work here, and you gave me a like, a follow, or a subscription, I know you care; you have faith in this dream.

I want better for all of us.

I want to provide better.

And I am hesitant to make promises to you, so that I can deliver on what I say. So for now, I will hold my tongue.

Thank you so much for one incredible year of funkylightningcat Books. A year ago, I took a chance on a dream of mine, to write and publish my own fiction and nonfiction works, and help my friends and fellow authors bring their stories to the world. I decided, that even if it was half-baked or messy, I would just start.

Thank you for staying with me through the messy, half-baked debut of my indie publishing label.

If you’ve read this far, please enjoy a free month’s subscription to funkylightningcat Books, with full access to the written archive and audio episode library (it’s not a podcast, okay?)

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I will see you all very soon. Please remember your creative friends, partners, and the small artist’s voice in your own heart. We’re all struggling, but that’s when we grow to create the best work we’ve ever done.

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June/July 2026 Audio Episode - Special Paid Tier Perk

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 23:15:16 GMT

I hope you enjoyed this one, I was keeping this development to myself in an attempt to have it be a surprise for all of us.

My writing feels more accessible to me than ever before. Yes, I still have to deal with my ADHD uprooting my routines and efforts, but I don’t blame myself or beat myself up over it. These stories will have room to breathe and matu…

Deconstructing Artistic Shame

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 16:01:18 GMT

“Art is responsible, important, sensible.”
- Amie McNee in “We Need Your Art: Stop F*cking Around and Make Something,”

This sentence confounds me more than anything; it’s difficult to remember or articulate, but it’s self-evident enough to be forgettable.

I think it’s time we all deconstruct our own artistic shame. Think back to all the times you were tol…

When is art finished?

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:15:10 GMT

When you’re working on something creative, how do you know it’s done?

See, this is a personal dilemma I find myself in now. I have a very, very, nebulous writing project that just refuses to say “when.”

I’ve been working on something that is very short, but at the same time, very long.

If you are writing, when do you know you’ve finished a project, like FI…

May 2026 Audio Episode - Paid Tier Perk

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 00:01:26 GMT

Thank you so much for all your support and love. I mean it when I say that all support is very important to me and I’d be really really demoralized without it.

Baby steps are the name of the game now, but we have lots to accomplish and hope that burnout won’t be allowed into the process going forward.

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Have We Been Gaslit To Devalue Artists?

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Fri, 22 May 2026 20:01:31 GMT

Does your creative practice make you feel like a baby? Do people treat you like a child, make you feel childish for wanting to pursue a creative life?

That’s by design, by the way.

In her book, “We Need Your Art: Stop F*cking Around and Make Something,” Amie McNee asserts that public, economic, social attitude toward creative life and work has been infant…

March/April 2026 Audio Post - Paid Tier Perk

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 19:06:47 GMT

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The Creative Process sets you Free

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 22:17:47 GMT

As someone addicted to using their phone, and a creative person, I have been worrying over my habits and finding how to get my creative spark back through methods and avoiding scrolling. While this has all been extremely helpful, I don’t want to write about how my creativity has been sapped, and instead, reconnect with what it feels like to enjoy creati…

The Nerve to Create Things

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 15:30:58 GMT

“A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Someone coined that, who was it? Some guy in advertising? Confucius?

What does it mean?…

That a thousand words says a lot, that a picture communicates more clearly and instantaneously than words do?

That pictures are more valuable than words because we get to the point quicker?

Maybe because words are mainly linear an…

February 2026 Audio Post - Paid Tier Perk

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 01:04:23 GMT

It’s a paralyzing experience, to he stuck mindlessly scrolling when your brain is already predisposed to wanting a distraction. Here’s just some of my most recent thoughts on the matter of doom-scrolling, creativity, and being human in an inhumane time. Leave a comment or share this episode if you feel similar to me. Maybe we can help each other!

Adam Wa…

How did they do it? Neurodiverse artists and writers from history

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:15:11 GMT

When you are struggling to rediscover your creative spark (like me), sometimes it feels nice to take a look at the artists and creative minds of the past to give you some perspective.

I desperately need this, but I am also neurodivergent, and where my attention goes, my body follows. It blows to and fro and finding a landing place to humor my creative pa…

January 2026 Audio Episode - Paid Tier Perk

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 18:02:04 GMT

I am so grateful that you are still here. In an attention economy, we all need a moment to breathe, be creative and silly, drink water, and be silent for a beat.

Sorry for the thought experiments, engage if you want or just keep on scrolling. But seriously though, DRINK YOUR WATER - don’t let the AI data centers be the only water-guzzling creative job st…

What gives creativity juice?

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 21:15:58 GMT

Basically, what I want to know is…

Does creativity come from desperation? Passion? Feeling connected to oneself? Do you have to have a regulated nervous system to be creative, or are the stresses of current life and oppression enough to get the job done?

Is it even about getting the job done?

Can one express themselves if they feel like they’re being hunt…

The Final Episode of Hi Mom - December 2025 Founding Member Audio Post

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 18:01:39 GMT

We’ve reached 10 subs before the year’s end! Thank you all so much for all your love and support for this messy debut.

Let’s cling to the idea that 2026 is what we make it, and that there are incredible opportunities on the horizon. Stay safe and remember you’re loved and valued.

See you in 2026!

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Hi Mom - November 2025 Audio-only Episode (Founding Members tier)

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Sat, 29 Nov 2025 01:57:24 GMT

Thanks again for all the support. Here’s to finally reaching 10 subs before 2026!

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Audiobooks can be just as good for you as print books

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 23:15:39 GMT

As a writer, I love print books, I love the feel of them and their smell, and I can lose myself in reading one. I have had many fond memories and experiences lost in the pages of a print book. I have also lost myself just as intensely in an audiobook while cleaning my house, or going for a walk, or on a long car trip.

But as an ADHDer, I know the feeling…

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 18:01:39 GMT

This is a thought that goes through my head a lot when I’m stressed. I’m sure you’ve been there too.

While I didn’t mean to make this essay so personal, I don’t find myself able to speak on it from any other point of view. I can only do my research and tap in to what I know about myself.

We’ve all been there a time or two: emotions are high, situation is …

"Hi Mom" Episode 2 - October Founder Tier Audio Episode

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 14:31:10 GMT

The term I meant to say was “demand avoidance.” Sometimes, my brain just can’t do words. I should really know my terms if I’m going to write about them, huh?

Happy Halloween! Here’s a spooky little goodie for today if you want to check out something funny I do occasionally.

Make A Witch Foundation

8 subscribers in 2 months! WHOO HOO!! I know we’ll get to 10 very soon. Thanks fo…

ADHD “superpowers”

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 03:00:45 GMT

Source: Comic Vine

Is having ADHD really a superpower? From my own experience, I would hardly classify what I go through as a superpower; ADHD can socially be classified as a disability, but that’s sort of where this argument begins. Now, I can only submit what I know of basic research of ADHD and it’s symptoms, and the research is ongoing, so please ju…

Neurodivergent art is rebellion against authoritarianism

𝚜.𝚕.𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚔 — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 03:00:28 GMT

If you’ve been paying attention (and who are we kidding, you likely are), the American President and Health Secretary made an announcement saying they’ve found a cure for autism. By insinuating that autism needs to be cured in American society indicates not only a sore lack of basic understanding of neurodivergence, but a disdain for anyone who struggle…