Thanksgiving signals the start of the winter holiday season, and with it all the hustle, bustle and fun foo-foo-rah to brighten the bleak mid-winter. Or summer, depending on where you live.
This year, I'm taking the holidays slow ... not by choice but by chance.Two things happened -
1. November 1st, my computer crashed due to a virus sent by slime-sucking internet pirates (may they rot in their own noxious fumes, wherever they are). The computer went to spend a week in a local computer shop, being repaired and rebooted.
Fortunately, I use Carbonite Back-up services, so most all my files, photos, etc were safe.
Unfortunately, my writing program and I missed a secret handshake somewhere, and my 70K Work in Progress was not backed up properly. I'll never be so complacent or careless again, I promise you. I now back up manually as I write, and regularly export to Word as a fail-safe. We've also signed up with our internet providers for regular check-ups.
2. November 3rd, I had major surgery. Non-working parts were removed and a long recovery commenced. For the first few weeks, I felt like death warmed over. Napped a lot, watched TV and chatted with my wonderful family and friends who called, brought meals and came by to check in on me and the DH. (They now inform me I was a laugh-a-minute, slurring words and falling asleep in the middle of conversations) Hmm, could've been the pain-killers.
This last week I've finally felt well enough to begin writing again. But every time I faced the reality of the missing 70K words, I wanted to cry. Thus, I decided that before I can tackle that large and important project, I needed to bring back the sheer joy of writing.
I began writing a contemporary novella set here in my home town, Coeur d'Alene Idaho, the Big Little Resort Town on the lakes. It involves murder, mayhem, hot sex and a motorcycle club!
And you know what? I'm having a ball, and the story is writing itself.
A writer friend suggested recently that maybe I needed this time to re-evaluate what was really important to me about writing. And as much as I wanted to smack her at the time, I have slowly realized she's right.
I needed to re-discover the sheer joy of putting colorful, vulnerable characters on the page and then throwing them into situations fraught with trouble, where they must grow in character or lose everything they hold precious. And did I mention the hot smexy-times along the way? 'Cause that's just how my characters roll.
Blogging today on Writer Unboxed: Dan Blank of WeGrowMedia urges us to add MORE down time to our lives, not less. He calls it 'white space'.
I've had 'white space' thrust on me.
But, you know what? I've used it to re-evaluate my rush to write, publish, promote at the expense of time with friends, my husband, my golden and ... myself.Recuperating both emotionally and physically, I've spent a little time each day in my craft room creating a beautiful, vibrant quilt. I've spoken on the phone/email/Facebook every day with people I care about. I've watched several movies and TV shows for which I don't normally take time. I've read through some fabulous romances.
And, best of all, I've been writing purely for the joy of it. Yes, I'll get back to that WIP and end-of-series that I lost in the crash, but I'll get there at a pace I can handle, and still not lose myself.
In December, look for 2 novellas, HEART OF STEEL , a sequel to HEART OF STONE in the sexy SFR Frontiera series,
and SHOW ME THE HONEY; a sexy contemporary.
In early 2015, look for STARK SURRENDER, Bk 4 in The LodeStar Series.And to know exactly when these and other books debut, stay in touch!
And here's hoping your own re-evaluations don't come at quite as high a cost, my friend.
best,
Cathryn Cade
Best-selling author of sci fi romance
RT 4.5 Stars and Night Owl Reviews TOP PICKhttp://www.cathryncade.com
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