Life without writing

In the last few months, I've let my writing slip. I suppose you'd say it was about time. I used to write in every available free moment, but in the last year, I've let those free moments become, well, free.

I still enjoy writing, but I think it's not as important as it used to be. I've accomplished what I wanted: I have 27 books out since 2007. That's very productive, you know? In many years I had 3 or 4 books release. One year I had 6.

I don't do much promo anymore, but my books still sell. Not great guns, no, but they sell. And how much they sell and the reviews just aren't that important to me any more.

I don't know if this represents a new phase of my life, but it seems like every decade or so, I find something new that I try to excel at. In the 1970s, I studied and received 2 college degrees. Likewise the 80s: 2 more college degrees. In the 90s I got one college degree in a totally new field (horticulture) and I excelled at needlepoint and other handiwork, as well as garden design.

In 2002 I decided to pursue a lifelong dream of being published. I joined RWA in 2003 and in 2004 I joined my local (then) RWA chapter. In 2006 I had my first contract.

It's been 10 years pursuing the dream, and I wonder if I am starting to wind it down. I still have stories to tell, but I don't feel as compelled to write them down.

What will the next 10 years bring? What will be the Next Big Thing for me? Will it continue to be writing, or will I move on to something else?

40 years ago I wouldn't have thought I would be where I am, so who knows what will happen?

::Chagrin::

Well, the "catchy goals" weren't catchy enough.

I'm doing fine on "Eat right". In fact, I'm doing the Clean Program and am in week 2. It's been fine so far. Oh, I admit I'm a bit tired from no caffeine, but surprisingly enough I don't miss the booze all that much, and I don't miss much else except bread and chocolate. So I'm cheating a tad by having some cacao chips after my meals, which is a substitute for a Peanut Butter Cup (no, it really isn't a substitute, but it'll do). I'm doing fine and figure I can continue this easily for 2 more weeks.

Write daily: not so much. I'm having a hard time getting into the writing habit again. I really need to work on my Dream series, but have not been able to get in to the characters' heads. I am doing some writing-related stuff every day. I'm getting Righter prepped for release, and I'm prepping items for conferences, but writing? I don't know. I'm just not motivated.

And daily promo? Pfft! No, I managed that for about a month then it slipped off the radar. I just hate talking about my books and constantly touting them. So that quietly got lost in the crowd.

In my defense, I've been crazy busy with Paycheck Work and Legal Bullshit, but that is all subsiding. So I really have no reason not to dig in and focus. Which I will ...

... tomorrow.

Catchy goals

I think most goals are too laborious ("lose 25 pounds by Joannie's wedding") and are focused on fixing what is negative, rather than focus on what might be positive.

So I spun it up a bit this year and now here are my goals:

• Eat right. If I eat right, I'll lose weight, get healthy, and stay healthy. I like to exercise so I don't need to add that in. I will exercise. Now I just have hum loudly while I walk by Dairy Queen.
• Write daily. I need to get back into the habit of writing, of working on my writing. I lost the habit when I had to focus on unpleasant things (lawsuit, etc.) Time to get back to writing.
• Daily promo. I hate promotion, so if I do a bit every day, I'll be done with it. I don't need it to interfere with my writing or my life. Just do one bit a day and done.

 So far, so good. 20 days into the month, and I've kept my resolutions.

Now for the other 345 days....

Am I running out of plots?

Not to fear. I have a few more to go.

But I've lately started to wonder if I have it in me to keep writing mysteries. At some point, it's all been written, hasn't it?

No, it hasn't. Whenever I think that, I think of the unique characters out there, waiting to be penned. I think of the odd circumstances. I think of Alice in Wonderland (my next base for a book), I think of misdirecting the readers with red herrings, and setting up worlds in which I can create my own laws and philosophies, of dreaming up places where I would like to go.

All I have to do is close my eyes, let my mind wander, and I realize ...

I have a lot of words left in me.

Let's do the Time Warp ...

Seriously.

It's been 3 months since I posted here? Really?

I have a few excuses, of course: travel to a conference in June. Travel to see family in July. Travel for business in July. Two different sets of house guests in August. Family reunion. Class reunion (planning). And the Paycheck Job.

Yes, the Paycheck Job. Normally this is a ho-hum, I can do this with my eyes closed sort of thing. But in June I was tossed a new project. Then I was tossed another one. Then the deadlines changed from next year to this year to September.

Really?

For anyone who works in the software industry, that shift in deadlines is a snort-worthy moment. Go ahead and change the deadlines, but that means you need to gut the project of features. It's a perpetual tug of war between Suits in Tieland and Grunts in Cubes. Back and forth, back and forth -- this feature is in, this one is out, yes it works that way, no it doesn't.

This is the first time in about 2 years that I've been involved in New Product Development and it's exhausting. Fun, but tiring. So that truly has sucked the life out of me this summer.

Then ... the lawsuit. Yes, she sued us over alleged problems in the house we sold her. I won't go into details here, but that is like a black cloud, hanging over us. Can't spend any money because we may need it to pay her off. Can't move on with our lives because our past is dragging us down.

So I haven't really felt like writing. I'm slowly getting back into it. I'm on chapter 8 of my WIP and my goal is to be done by the end of September. 8 chapters in a month. It's doable but it means I have to get back into my Good Writing Habits and let the bad habits go (no, you can't watch TV now. You haven't written today).

I'll report back in here in a month, if not sooner. And I hope I report that the WIP is DONE, the most recent book is OUT, and a new book is STARTED.

Fingers crossed.