Remember

...if we are willing to woork for those dreams.

Audiblegate

I've been quiet the last week in order to finish A Virtue of Child. However that doesn't mean things aren't happening in the publishing world.

I talked about Audible and their atrocious return policy last month. The return policy that essentially turned Audible into a subscription service.

Writers and publishers were steamed. Steamed to the point that The Authors Guild, which is primarily trad publishing folks, and the Alliance of Independent Authors, which is primarily indie folks as the name says, teamed up to tackle the issue.

Now, there's Audiblegate.com, a clearing house website that collects info about Audible's shitty practices. It promotes awareness to those who have been screwed over by Audible and a warning to those who haven't been yet. The website is run by two talented, brave women, Colleen Cross and Susan May. Check out the website. If you're having an issue with Audible and your royalties, contact them. Otherwise, I hope you'll support their campaign for author justice.

Side Note: If you're an author who's been screwed over by Audible, contact your state attorney general's office and file a complaint. Also, contact your state and federal legislators. Audible's serial disregard for their own contracts will be of interest to investigators looking into Amazon's overall business practices.

I Love Musicals!

Dreams and wishes can come true...

Never Give Up!

Never give up! Never surrender! - Commander Peter Quincy Taggart, Galaxy Quest

 

 Apparently, I scared a few people with Wednesday's post. I'm not quitting. The point was even in a career you absolutely love, you need a vacation once in a while.

I know too many writers I started with back in 2011 who have disappeared into the ether. They had the dream right in their sweaty palms and lost it. In some cases, reality didn't match the dream. For a few, they did what the set out to do and wrote that one book to say they were an author. In others, they overwhelmed themselves by feverishly writing and publishing as fast as they could until they burned out and never wanted to look at a manuscript again, like a kid puking up his Halloween candy because he devoured it all in one sitting.

The last couple of weeks, I've dreaded opening up my laptop. Partly because the current wip is kicking my ass. Partly because my heroine is being driven mad at a time when I'm struggling with SAD. And partly because I need to recharge the well. I've given up most of my own entertainment in order to get this project completed.

It doesn't help that I'm doing a publishing challenge. I hate quitting with a passion, but I don't want to sacrifice my love of writing on the altar of completing this challenge. I realized my toes were hanging off the edge of a cliff, and if I weren't careful, the rest of me could fall in the chasm.

No one wants that. Especially me.

So this isn't about quitting. This is the proverbial vacation. After a day or three, I'll get the itch to crack open the laptop despite myself. And that's what I want in the long run.

Besides, you can't get rid of me that easily.

Burnout

I find myself needing to take my own damn advice. I need a break from writing before I totally burn myself out.

For the last year, I've been publishing something new every single month. On the months I published something I'd previously written under my name, I still released something new under Alter Ego.

And I was doing this in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. Despite all the insanity of COVID, DH and I found the perfect house. GK met his first love. A lot of good things still happened, right?

Except it's all stressful. Good stress. But still stress. Which means it causes a cascade of physical problems and exhaustion. Sheer exhaustion. Exhaustion couple with SAD (seasonal affective disorder) means despite sleeping 12-13 hours, I wake up still exhausted.

In fact, I'm so tired writing is starting to become a chore instead of a joy. And that's a major symptom of burnout.

Burnout can lead to a particularly insidious form of writer's block. One where you have plenty of ideas. You just don't want to execute them.

That doesn't mean I won't be writing. I'll finish the next Justice and 888-555-HERO novels. I'm putting together a couple of short story collections of things already written. But then I need to take a month or two off before I totally lose my mojo.

I guess what I want to tell other writers is not to keep running faster and faster on the hamster wheel of doom to the point where you lose all the joy in your art. Because yes, it is art. For me, it is an act of creation that's just as important as cooking or painting or raising children.

That stupid hamster wheel is not worth losing the things that make life wonderful. Know when to take a break.

Coronavirus Pandemic Day 342 - Winter Storm Warnings

The winter holiday viral surge is finally slowing down, vaccines are being delivered and administered, but the stats are still atrocious. 27,914,244 known cases in the U.S. and 490,076 known dead from COVID-19.

Winter Storm Uri passed through in the wee hours of the morning, and Winter Storm Viola inches up on us. The flurries of an hour ago have given way to a steady snowfall.

The march of winter storms since the beginning of February are slowing down shipping of the vaccines across the country. All's not lost. The snow is also keeping people home.

I was hoping Ohio would be in Phase 4 for vaccine distribution by March, which is when I'd be eligible, but it doesn't look like it'll happen until May. Therefore, I'll continue the mask wearing, the social distancing, and the staying home for the foreseeable future.

In the meantime, I have a novel to finish with a warm puppy in my lap and snow quietly falling outside my window.

I Love Musicals!

Then there's the story from the antagonist's point-of-view.

Mid-Winter Wonder

The temps finally dropped, and we got snow. This was the scene DH shot outside a family room window of the new house Monday afternoon.

Jane Doe isn't the first white-tail we've seen in the backyard. DH and Bella surprised two other deer during a midnight constitutional two weeks ago. And there were two sets of deer tracks after last night's fresh inch of powder when I took Bella out for her morning constitutional yesterday.

Most days, I have Ebony, Jett, Rusty, and Gaga to keep me entertained. The squirrels' latest hijinks involve drift diving in the snow banked against our shed. But they're too fast for me to capture on camera.

I'd like to blame the critters for having to delay the latest release for two weeks, but alas, it is all human problems. Instead, the animals give me a little joy in order to keep writing.

As long as the damn squirrels stay outside of my house.

I Love Musicals!

Particular those related to a certain favorite childhood book.

Coronavirus Pandemic Day 328 - Soft White Blanket of Winter

People in the U.S. are taking COVID-19 a little more seriously. I see more masks being worn in our town when I go out. Most people with the opportunity to obtain the vaccine are doing so. The numbers in Ohio and our country are trending downward.

However, the numbers aren't dipping as fast nationwide. Total known COVID-19 infections in the U.S. reached 26,440,519 today. Total known deaths have reached 446,267.

So far, my immediate family has not been hit by the virus, and I knock on wood that it stays that way. But people around us are starting to get a little stir crazy. I understand the feeling. A week from today will mark a year since the last time I was at a movie theater, which is why there hasn't been any Monday Movie Mania posts.

Nor am I going anywhere anytime soon thanks to Winter Storm Orlena. She made up for our lack of snowfall this year by dumping five inches on us between 10 p.m. Saturday night and all day Sunday. Now that we're on the backside of the storm, we're getting lake effect snow off of Erie.

So, I'm sitting on my recliner with a puppy nestled on my lap. She sleeps while I watch snow fall in the backyard. The squirrels are nestled in their nests, and both sound and motion are muffled in a blanket of white.

It finally feels like winter has arrived.