Day Off

Yesterday I put DRUID LORDS in the hot little hands of my beta readers. It’s a critical, but nervewracking, part of the process. This is the first time someone else has read it. I like this novel. I like it better than the three in the series that came before it. What I can’t remember is if I said the same thing about the other novels or not. What I don’t know is if anyone else will appreciate the little moments that I so enjoyed in this book. Writing novels must be a bit like stand-up comedy. Something that sounds hilarious in our heads can sometimes just bomb when spouted out to a live audience.

On the upside, this is the first time in weeks, if not months, that I’m not only able to take time away from my book, I must. No point in making any changes now while others are marking up documents even as I type. As usually happens at this point, I’m finding myself at a loss. I miss the driving, sometimes crushing, deadline-induced frenzy in my brain, the high of the creative process, the adreneline-fuelled urgency.

I’m six hours into my first mandatory day off, and already my mind is moving on to Book #5 in the series and throwing out ideas. I think I’ve forgotten how to relax!

When I started publishing and writing full-time, there was one aspect I didn’t anticpiate, and that’s the social one. Every time I get a note from readers, see a blog post or review about one of my books, I get this buzz of motivation, pushing me onward. I know some authors consider social networking a terrible distraction, but I find it a great source of energy.

This summer I’ve done little blogging, but that’s because every day I was neck-deep in my manuscript. I told myself my readers would forgive me. After all,I’m working on the books they’ve been clamouring for. (Never thought that would happen either!)

So, here it comes. It’s on its way. I’m on track for my proposed December 14th release date of DRUID LORDS, and I couldn’t be more excited.

But in the meantime, I think I will give that day off another go. People keep telling me time off is good for me. Wish me luck, but don’t expect me to be gone long. My “break” might not even last the rest of today.