Friday, March 2, 2012

Another Writer Dilemma: Help

I've just submitted the second in my St. Louis Blues series. Blood Lust will follow up on Toccata, with my protagonists emerging from the aftermath of the Sera incident. The third book, A Fatal Flaw, is on the drawing board. I know where it's going and how it will get there.
Here's my dilemma; I always get the feeling of being adrift aboard a powerless, rudderless, boat in the deep blue sea after a book is finished (other than editing). I'm coming out of a particularly good period of writing, and I'd like nothing more than to extend it as far as possible. For the life of me, I can't make myself sit at the keyboard and create.
It's all I can do today to pen this SOS to my readers. Maybe it's Spring Fever. I know that phenomenon exists; I get it every year, but usually a lot later than this. I mean, for crying out loud, we just made it to March. My grass is a good two weeks from needing its first haircut of the season, and that's when SF generally hits hardest. And I don't mean science fiction.
I guess you can consider this a SF SOS. Before we get irretrievably lost in alphabet soup, I need to make an announcement regarding Toccata. Originally slated for an April release, it is now on schedule for a May 20th debut. I'd planned a series of blogs and other posts to lead up to its release, so that is now in a holding pattern over the runway.
That could be another reason for my hopefully transient case of the doldrums. At any rate, I'll get through this. I always do, though it is fun to have something to complain about. As I said before, my production the past four months has been very good. We've just had the mildest winter I can remember in this part of the country. My family is healthy, and I'm able once again to walk without benefit of a cane (for modest lengths), so this is the closest to a complaint I can muster. PPPM.
I'll let you figure your own way out of that little slice of alphabet rubric. Thanks for dropping by, and leave a comment if you have your own writer dilemmas. Or non-writer ones. Cheers, and happy reading.
Pat Dale












8 comments:

  1. Hi Pat:
    Send some of that rain over towards the South-West counties of England, where an official DROUGHT WARNING has just been issued.
    The region's greatest agricultural importance is, they supply the rest of us with the very best HOPS (and therefore excellent BEER!)

    Shakespeare once said: "The time is out of joint"
    I'm currently writing a yarn about Global Warming, and the Seasons have definitely become "skewed" in recent years ... perhaps your Spring Fever ISN'T as "early" as you think???
    Regards
    Paul

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    1. Actually, you're onto something. We've noted a slow shift in seasons for the past ten years. So I'm only partially serious about it being early. Because our weather moguls seem to be grounded in stats from years past, they do not see the pattern.
      Wily old Bill had it right; the time is definitely out of joint.
      PD

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  2. You're suffering from Post-Book Depression. You need to remember to be happy with what you've accomplished and then do something mundane - my desk alays needs a good tidying after a book or get outdoors, go shopping even. The important thing is, you need to take the time to refill your well. Before you know it, you'll be percolating a new idea and will feel excited again.

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    1. You're right, of course. I know that, but it's so much fun to feel sorry for myself. LOL
      Over the past fifteen years I've had gullywashers and droughts of creativity. In fact, I'm doing research on a whole new mystery series in the lee of the other one.
      My plan is to alternate episodes of the two, since they are total opposites.
      Ah, a look outside and now it is snowing. We hardly see snow all winter, and come spring, it snows. Go figure.
      PD

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  3. We're getting whacked with eight inches of snow up here in WI - just when we planned to visit our son this weekend.

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  4. You don't happen to run a snowplow by any chance, do you? Sounds like you could use one about now. Last year, we were like that, but this time around we got practically nothing in snowfall. Happy digging!

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  5. I agree with Lauren... enjoy the break whilst you can, because before you know it you'll be back to hitting the keyboard hard again x

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    1. Yep. already am. Here we go, and hang on tight! LOL

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