Wow. The past month has been... interesting, to say the least. After finishing the very rough draft of my Sixteen Miles novel, I've not done a single bit of new writing. No notes for something new, no short stories, not anything more than a cursory look at some screenplay formats and books (just enough to let me know I really have no interest in that right now!). Just been doing a lot of reading and thinking and, well, just noodling around with what to do next.

I had to bail out of the weeklong workshop I was scheduled to attend with 11 other writers, including some good friends I haven't seen in years, other friends I've only met online, and other writers whose work I've admired and who I would've enjoyed meeting in person as well. But I just didn't have the time, or the energy, to be honest. The new day job is pushing me, hard, but in a really good way. I'm enjoying it a lot, learning a lot, and I'll even get to do some customer training this week (probably the first of many, I think).

After working 9-10 hours a day, I really don't have the energy to so much as write in this journal and let folks know what's going on in my life (like Drew turning 17 months old yesterday! Already! Or his first train ride this weekend -- he was speechless). Don't even think about trying to find time to revise my own fiction or write some new fiction. I just needed a break.

And that was the hardest thing to admit to, believe me. I felt pretty crappy about stopping, like I was giving up.

And I'm not sure what's next, really. I've been getting books in the mail lately with stories I've written in them, along with my contributor's copies of the paranormal romance novel I wrote, which is making me feel ambitious again. I guess I want to fill up that Ego Shelf of mine after all...

One thing I do know -- I want to slow down with my writing in the future, and not push so hard. Hell, I don't even have any ideas for new stuff to write at this point. I'm just enjoying reading for pleasure and hanging out with Lizzie and Drew and not being zombified from getting up at 4:30 a.m. most days. At some point, I'm sure, I'll feel the drive to get back to that.

'Til then, I'll just have to stop counting how many days it's been since I last wrote... Later!