It feels like only yesterday I wrote the goal post last weekend. At the same time, it feels like years since last weekend happened. Thoughts blip into my mind and vanish, which makes me think the mental wiring is getting thin. I’ve been here physically, but I’ve been suffering to mentally and emotionally react to things. Not that I’m depressed. I just feel . . . done? Not sure of the correct word. Stressed can definitely cover a bit about it. Yet, I don’t know what to say when I’m staring at a blog post and I just can’t think of anything to say as a comment. Going to my email and just flushing the WordPress folder unless a title screams to me probably cost me. Just haven’t been feeling myself.
Part of it that the wife is still job hunting and has only received one interview so far. There have been battles with unemployment and insurance companies. She seems to be at that point where all she can do is search, submit, and wait. This causes stress because it’s hard to tell what’s going on. Some days it feels like she hasn’t done anything and she doesn’t always let me know the situation. Things are stressful, especially when the two people involved feel very battered. It isn’t the first time one of us lost a job without warning and beyond our control. Needless to say, it doesn’t get any easier to swallow, especially when you have birthdays and holidays coming up. We always feel bad when people get big gifts for our son and we’re there with a tiny thing. Stupid thoughts, but it hurts a bit since we’ve been in this situation since he was born. That’s a story that would take too long and I think I’m going a little too moody here.
I’m a few chapters away from finishing Book 12 of Legends of Windemere and then I take a month or two off from heavy lifting. By that I mean big works. I sat down and made a mental list of what I ‘achieved’ this year:
- 4 Legends of Windemere novels written to first draft.
- 2 Legends of Windemere novels published. Possibly 3 if things work out for December.
- Created and wrote first story for Ichabod Brooks. Will be ongoing.
- Created and blog published Raven’s Hold. Will be an October event.
- Created and first drafted Crossing Bedlam. May be ongoing.
- Various outlines.
Monster Hat!
That feels like a lot to have accomplished before December strikes. Probably explains why I’m so tired. Next year won’t look nearly as bad, but I say that only because there will be less pressure on the Raven’s Hold sequel and there are only 3 more Legends of Windemere books to go after Book 12. Not sure if I should write the ‘loose end sealer’ after that because it holds spoilers for the finale. Anyway, that’s a hurdle that I’ll tackle another day in the distant future. For now, I’m just chugging away on the last few chapters and then . . . what?
It feels strange to be planning such a long break from book writing. I’ll be tinkering with ideas, but there’s no real deadline on those. The outlines for Book 13 and Ravens’ Game won’t take long and I’m not touching another Bedlam book until I know for sure that people enjoy the first one. Maybe I’ll have promo stuff to do for The Mercenary Prince, but I still have to give it a once over and no word on cover art yet. Again, this is a tentative release since things are busy this time of year. All I know is that I’ll be a little confused and might vanish from the Internet for large chunks of the day. Doing life stuff or because I’m lazy. If it sounds like I’m rambling then it’s because I don’t really know what I’ll do during that period and such a long break is making me twitchy. After a year of sprinting nonstop from project to project, I don’t know how I’ll handle a month of being primarily in reality.
So, what’s the plan for the week?
- Finish Legends of Windemere: The Spirit Well. If schedule continues then this would be released next December.
- Cook dinners since I’ll be only one home around that time.
- Get pizza for lunch on Friday.
- Possibly write plot synopsis for Ravens’ Game. Need a bridge book before I do the ‘Monster vs Monster’ that people requested.
- Choose retro posts for December and schedule them. Hard to do since the current WordPress stats page keeps crashing on me. Might do retro posts on Monday and Wednesday and Friday will be a poem from when I did a poem a day for a year. I’m being lazy. Sorry.
- Clean stuff if things get messy. Mostly the stove next Saturday. No sense doing it before I cook the sloppy stuff.
- Buy beer. Watch Giants game this afternoon.
- Look over outline for Legends of Windemere: Ritual of the Lost Lamb.
- Curse loudly because I forgot the title for the last Legends of Windemere book. The Forgotten Baron? Baron Kernaghan? From History’s Shadow? Finally Done? Thanks To The One Person Who Read This Far? I’ll figure something out.
- Stop writing this post and go grocery shopping. Seriously, Charles, get moving. Switch the laundry before you go too. And don’t forget to bring home lunch for the kid and tell the cashier that he’s already gotten 2 Lucy toys. Okay, now you’re just procrastinating and being stupid. Hurray for a week of bad sleeping habits!
He’s Out!
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