The Final Furlough
I know, I know. I missed a blog entry last week, a cardinal sin of blogospherial proportion. Truth is, with a new cover, the text laid out in final form and the last stages of my website, it has been a critical two weeks.
Heavy pressure at work (the work that pays the bills and puts food on the table), a sick child, and my wife away from home interviewing, also made finding time to focus on my book challenging.
It is both exciting and depressing. Recently I find that if I consider the whole picture – the endless To Do lists, timetables, SMART goals – then a wave of paralysis descends, reinforced by guilt, flanked by a sense of failure, backed up by hopelessness and commandeered by fatigue, the latter from less than six hours sleep, as I burn the candle at both ends while tossing and churning over To Do lists.
A high point of the week was opening a To Do list from a few months ago and seeing that, yes, I am getting through it.
And then there was receiving the new book cover for Oilspill dotcom. After three times experiencing a sinking feeling each time I downloaded the file, it was exhilarating to feel a soar of excitement as a first reaction to a new book cover design.
Reading through the manuscript in final layout format was also exciting for two reasons. Firstly, there is a feeling of closure, going through word-by-word for the last time. Secondly, I love my characters! After all this time, reading the book 15-20 times, and still feeling sad or elated for them. Tear still welled when I read certain passages – it was like checking in again with old friends.
So, here’s to old friends. Like To Do lists, they never seem to go away, even when the book is finished.
Good Writing,
Alon
Left Coast Voices 