Okay. Not so bad

It was only $1700.

Only?

It's a sad day when I celebrate only spending $1700 but there you are.

Mouse traps are out and the Mouse Wars have begun.

Normal world? Hunh?

Took my car in for its 30k checkup. I figured, $300-$400.

Nope. 10 times that. Yep.

Do I have your attention? Why?

Mice.

Mice got into the motor and chewed up the wiring. Parts must be ordered and it will take at least 1 day of a mechanic working on it to get it going again.

I didn't have any problem before, but according to the service guy, it was a fire waiting to happen.

You know, it makes me wonder: what else is out there lurking, waiting to catch me by surprise?

What is normal any more?

I've been in town, out of town, in town, out of town, for about three months now. I'm in town for two weeks, maybe three, this time. And it's weird.

What is normal any more?

I'm not sure. I went to work (the Real Job) and it felt weird to be there. I was there for a few days before I left the last time, but was gone a week before that, and ... I've gotten out of touch with schedules and deadlines and being On Task there.

It's odd how our circadian rhythms can be so easily disrupted. I was totally unaware of how scheduled my life was until it became totally unscheduled for several months. Now I find myself asking, "What would you like to do?" instead of "what is scheduled to do?"

It's an oddly freeing feeling. One that maybe I'll grow to enjoy.

This is what it should be like ...

I forgot how much fun it was to write novels.

That sounds odd from someone who has 5 books out this year, but this summer was a challenge. I was working on a book that was like pulling teeth. I just didn't feel INTO the book. I wasn't in the characters' heads, I didn't feel their emotions. I was going through the motions.

Then, on vacation, I had an idea for a completely different kind of book. And suddenly my writing mojo is back.

This tells me a very important thing about me: my writing is, at least at first, 90% inspiration. After that it's 100% craft, but if I don't have that initial kick of inspiration, it's a P.I.T.A. to write.

So, lemons/lemonade. Clouds/silver lining. You know the schtick.

Back to the book. It's getting good ...

Fresh starts

I'll tell you, there's nothing like a vacation. I was away for a week and while I could have logged in, blogged, etc., I didn't. You know what I did?

I sat, I thought, I jotted down some ideas, I wrote, I read magazines, I relaxed.

And now I'm back with even more ideas, a new way to focus on my writing, revised ideas about promotion, and hopefully a new journey into self-publishing.

Stay tuned. It might get interesting around here.