{"id":930,"date":"2025-09-18T11:11:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T17:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/?p=930"},"modified":"2025-09-20T22:59:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T04:59:36","slug":"setting-boundaries-in-writing-and-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2025\/09\/18\/setting-boundaries-in-writing-and-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting boundaries in writing and life (because I&#8217;m not your emotional support word machine)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns jetpack-paywall-simple is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 90%\">\n    \n    <div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"background-color: #F6F7F7; padding: 32px; 24px;\">\n        \n        <h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" style=\"margin: 0 0 12px; font-weight: 600;\">Subscribe to keep reading<\/h2>\n        \n        \n        <p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"\n           style=\"text-align: center;\n                  color: #50575E;\n                  font-weight: 400;\n                  font-size: 16px;\n                  font-family: 'SF Pro Text', sans-serif;\n                  line-height: 28.8px;\">\n        Become a paid subscriber to get access to the rest of this post and other exclusive content.\n        <\/p>\n        \n        \n        <div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n            \n            <div class=\"wp-block-button\" style=\"display: inline-block; 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Sometimes it feels more like a hostile takeover. The demon shows up uninvited, dragging all my unresolved grief, bitterness, and emotional hangovers into the room. Suddenly, I'm not just writing... I'm exorcising. And\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Pen &amp; Punch&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Pen &amp; Punch","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/category\/pen-punch\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":635,"url":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2025\/01\/29\/so-you-want-to-be-an-independent-author\/","url_meta":{"origin":930,"position":4},"title":"So you want to be an independent author?","author":"Montse \"M.B\" Benavides","date":"January 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Being an independent author involves chaos, numerous responsibilities, and marketing challenges, but it provides incredible creative freedom and personal fulfillment. 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