Y U No Writing?

It’s official-I waved the white flag of defeat on CampNaNoWriMo after writing less than 2k. I was sad about this, but my muse nodded in quiet acceptance. After all, I’d just given myself the birthday gift of not driving myself so hard this year, and July is probably my busiest month of the year. I did decide this doesn't break my 7-year NaNo winning streak, either, since “NaNo” is officially in November for me and this was supposed to be something extra and fun. All that said, since my natural state of being involves writing at least three or four days per week, every day that goes by without word count finds me longingly dreaming for the time when prose will again flow onto the page with ease. It’s getting antsy inside this skin, folks.

I will say this--there's a spot in my brain that I meticulously trained years ago to stay in permanent writer's mode. So even during these Dark Times, it sits in the background, coming up with ideas and working out plot points while I'm busy getting frazzled with Life Stuff. 

LIFE STUFF

I’d barely revamped my Organized Writer schedule when I realized it wouldn’t work. July is a weird time, when birthdays, annual vacation, Mike’s departure for San Diego Comic-Con to speak on panels, and gearing up for a new homeschool year all collide in a big puff of to-do lists, day planners, and good intentions. So this week, while I was busy simultaneously researching flight times, planning 5th grade curriculum, shopping for a baby shower, and going blonde for the summer, I realized that my Organized Writer blog series was incomplete. I needed another section for handling those solid blocks of time when I need to be super organized, yet any and all attempts to conduct my usual schedule will result in a complete breakdown of the space-time continuum. So, as soon as the circus train has pulled out of the station, I’ll be working on an additional post in the series to address this. I hope this paves an easier path for July 2015.

baby shower cake!

One of my personal rules is that if I can’t be writing, I’d better be reading, and I’ve been doing that. I started Dean Koontz’s The Good Guy, which is very promising thus far, but I put it aside for now to read Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep (the sequel to The Shining). The reason I switched reads was quite practical—Doctor Sleep is a huge hardcover that will be much harder to tote around when Bri and I fly out to Texas at the end of next week. The Good Guy, on the other hand, is a nice little paperback. I usually read eBooks and thus don’t have these issues, but yes, physical books still pass through my hands from time to time.

I’ll be away from my laptop next Monday, and after that I have to make the final sprint to finish vacation fun with my daughter and get her homeschool year prepped. I won’t be doing an update post for a couple weeks or so because of this, but I’ve lined up some special guests to share recipes, throwbacks to first fiction, and more. The blog is in good hands until I’m back, all vacation-refreshed and ready to rock on a new schedule.

TV STUFF

Okay, True Blood...any bets on how many will still be standing by the final episode? Geeze Louise. And the stuff going on with Eric, as well as Jessica, well damn. There are still some story lines I could care less about (::cough Adilyn:: ::cough Holly's kids::), but they've got me suckered into watching the season. And as for Teen Wolf, it shot out the gate with a confusing bang, and I'm not sure where it will end up. But Stiles and sometimes Derek still makes this one worth watching.

~~~~
On select Mondays, I like to gab about whatever's going on with me. For more gab, please join me on Twitter or Facebook. I love talking to people!

J. Rose Allister is the author of more than twenty-five books, primarily romance and erotic romance. A former editor and submissions director, she now works as a mild-mannered hospital secretary by day, naughty writer by night.