Sunday, October 23, 2011

They're Coming to Take Me Away

Not to the funny farm, but to a ranch in Colorado.

Okay, well, I'm flying to them and then they're coming to get me, but still. You get the idea.

That's right, I'm headed for two weeks in the quiet solitude of the Rocky Mountains. Home cooked meals, horseback riding, and long days of pondering my existence await me. The reason I'm going is kind of depressing, but at this point I'll take what I can get. And who wouldn't take a medical leave of absence and use it for a little R&R when given the opportunity?

Internet access will be limited (as well as any and all contact with the outside world) so chances are that you guys won't hear from me for a while. The upside is that I'll be there for the start of NaNo. I'm hoping that this year it will do some good (both for me and my unfinished projects) and I'll crank out those fifty thousands words like they're going to evaporate if I don't get them down on paper. And who knows? Maybe they will.

Wish me luck :)


-Liz

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Going off the Rails on a Crazy Train

It's shameful how little I've been blogging lately. I would like to say that I've been off somewhere, spending hours upon hours writing a great masterpiece. Unfortunately, if there's a masterpiece in me, it's going to need a little coercing to come out.

It's not that I'm incapable of writing. On the contrary, I started book four of my fantasy series recently. And while that series has brought me years of entertainment (and annoyance) to date, and I've been very careful to find the perfect one-word title for each book, it was the title of this book that seems to have been a turning point for me. I know it's cliche (and as a novelist, who isn't bound to use one sooner or later?), but I decided to call it Changes. Upon discovering that this was the title, and the only title that would work, my life began to deteriorate. I can't say that my life wasn't in a serious state of disrepair before now, but there's something about that title (or maybe it's just the fact that I'm creating something) that signaled a change.

Because of that, or perhaps in spite of it, I've been running around for the last week like a chicken with my head cut off. And not in a good way (though I'm sure that for a chicken, it's never good). But I'm hopeful that something good will come of it. It's very possible that in the near future, my day job will be no more, and I'll have days, weeks, and possibly months to figure out a better way of living while I look for another. It may lead to writing being my main source of income. It will more than likely lead to a career change and very possibly to relocation.

But what a story it's going to make.



-Liz