Finally Coming Out of My Funk

I have been in a funk lately - a bit sad, unmotivated, and completely uncreative. In fact, I gave serious consideration to withdrawing from my writing groups and hanging up my feather quill for good. I'm so far behind my deadlines at the moment that I'm having to extend them into Spring.

My friends Bonnie Tesh and Teirney James showered me with encouragement last week and encouraged me not to put my talent on a shelf to gather dust. The fact that both of them cared enough to share kind words with me, made me feel incredibly special and helped me begin to climb out of my dark funk.

My mom also had encouraging words for me along with a warning. She told me if I quit pursing my dream of being an author, which I've had since I was twelve years old, I would never forgive myself. She also told me it would be a horrible waste of talent.

I attended the Sleuth's Ink Mystery Writers JANO celebration last Saturday, which helped bring me come completely back to myself. Combined with some amazing encouragement from a few writing friends, the joy of discussing the art of writing with my author friends inspired me to keep going. No one understands a writer like another writer.

JANO is Sleuths' Ink's answer to NANOWRIMO. Instead of November when National Novel Writing Month is held, JANO is held in January. The object is to write 50,000 words during the month, which is the length of many common novels. With thirty-one days and fewer holidays, it's much easier to be productive during the month of January.

The party was fun from the moment my friend Bonnie and I walked in the door. We played a fun observation game based on a Canadian police academy lesson. I won't go into details due to how the exercise can make some folks a might squeamish, but it was perfect for a bunch of mystery and thriller writers.

We enjoyed a great meal, and several of my friends won door prizes. While I didn't win a door prize, I won something much better. I won the blurb contest. A blurb is the text the goes on the back cover of a book. It tells a bit about the book in order to entice the reader to open the book and enjoy the story.

The blurb that I submitted was for my current work in progress, the sequel to Sally's Secret Legacy. If you have read Sally's story, then you will understand when I say that I had to write Christy's story. Thus far, her adventures have been exciting enough to give Sally's story a run for its money. I have several people awaiting the new book anxiously, and now that my mojo is back, it's coming along again.

Most of us have moments of doubt and burnout once in a while. I guess it was my turn. I'm blessed to have people in my life who love and support me.

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