I’ve been putting off writing this post for the last week because I’m pretty sure you’re tired of hearing me blather on 
about how life has interfered yet again with my writing. Frankly, I’m tired of it. I’m tired of re-jigging my schedule, missing my deadlines, and agreeing to new projects only to back out when I realize I won’t be able to meet expectations. Most of all, however, I’m tired of raising and repeatedly dashing the hopes of you, my readers. You deserve better from me, and the bottom line is, I just can’t deliver right now.
I’ve spent considerable time angsting over this, believe me. I’ve also spent rather a lot of time unfavourably comparing myself to other authors who are still producing words despite the trials and tribulations in their lives. How come they’re so much better at this life thing than I am? whine Maybe I’m just not as dedicated/good/determined/creative as they are. whine Maybe I should just give up… wine (And yes, the spelling change there is deliberate. :P)
But the truth is, I just can’t do it all. At least, not well…and not if I’m going to emerge with my sanity (more or less) intact. As many of you know, my youngest daughter, who has Asperger’s, has been going through a particularly rough time transitioning to school away from home. She’s needed a tremendous amount of emotional and practical support from us…more than I think any of us (including her) expected. And certainly more than I could manage if I were to try to keep up with the writing schedule I set for myself at the beginning of the year, because let’s face it, four novels and a novella in twelve months would be challenging without all the other stuff. 😛
What does this mean to you as my readers? I’ll still be writing, of course, because 1) I can’t not write; and 2) I rather think I’ll need an escape from reality now and again. O.O
So…if you’re following my serial release of Shadow of Doubt on Radish or Wattpad, rest assured that I will be completing the story. Not as quickly as I’d anticipated (or promised…sorry!), but it is getting written. If you’re waiting for the next stories in my Ever After series, I have to be honest in saying that it’s going to be a while before you see those…most likely the beginning of next year. If you’re curious about the space adventure I mentioned on my Facebook page, I’m still committed to doing that. I’ll be handing it over to the publisher in January, and it will be released at the beginning of 2018…and yes, I’ll have more details forthcoming on it soon. 😉 And if you’re one of my dark urban fantasy fans, I haven’t forgotten you, either. With luck (and slightly calmer days ahead 😛 ), I’ll be pitching an idea to my agent in the autumn.
I don’t find it easy to admit defeat (ask my husband!), and so I refuse to put that label on the situation. I prefer to think of it as realigning myself as I focus on the most critical priorities. Our daughter has decided to take a break from school and come home for the summer, so I’ll be pouring heart and soul into rebuilding her confidence and fortitude before our second launch attempt come fall. We also have a laundry room to build, a bathroom to gut and redo, and that kitchen renovation we committed to by filling our garage with cabinets as we continue to prep the house for sale next spring (fingers crossed!). So yeah, no shortage of things to keep me busy in my time of scaling back. Whee. 😉
And that, my friends, is the end of my whining.
At least for now. 😉
Leave a Reply