Holiday Blues

I’m afraid the Holiday Blues are setting in early for me.  I see the end of the year quickly approaching; and our book hasn’t even been noticed — let alone picked up — by a publisher.  It’s getting more and more difficult to meet with Katherine due to her ever-changing schedule, so I’m feeling like I’m flying solo for the most part; and frankly, the fun is waning… quickly. 

I’m afraid that this bah-humbug feeling is only going to get worse with the Holiday Season closing in.  Just thinking about fitting in the preparations for Thanksgiving and Christmas and the stress and overwhelming expectations that come along with all of it — including additional choir practices for special church functions, and family members coming down to visit, etc.  Bah Humbug!!!

I think I’m just plain tired… tired… tired.

I’m tired of pushing through things on this project without any affirmation coming from anywhere.  I can’t imagine doing this year after year after year… as so many aspiring writers and artists do.

What I expected would happen hasn’t happened — at least, not yet. 

I imagined that I’d quickly pop out a book or two, and we’d be busy jet setting from one city to another, meeting our readers.  I imagined that I would be perfecting my social banter for book signings, talk shows, and radio interviews.  I imagined that we’d be meeting and interviewing with editors, publicists, and publishers — discussing and deciding what the best path to take for our projects would be.

I didn’t imagine this solitary work.

I’ve been writing entries to this blog for a number of months now, with little interaction from our readers and little input from Katherine.  I’ve been writing and re-writing and re-working sections of our second book.  I’ve been researching more and more possible publishers.  I’m doing all of this at night, after long days at work.  Add to this my various volunteer commitments and managing a home and all that’s associated with that… and you’ve got one cranky, tired woman.

Yep.  I need something to change.  I need a break from this work routine that I’ve created for myself.  I’m just tired… tired… tired… of what I’m doing… doing… doing…

Believe me when I tell you that I don’t need to add any more work to this already overflowing plate of mine, but I do need to change things up to add more variety to the meal.

I need an infusion of fun… and I need it NOW!!!

At our last project meeting, Katherine felt this tension growing within me, and we were able to discuss my burnout symptoms. 

Katherine suggested that we take a break from the research and administrative work of finding and contacting publishers until January; but I was afraid that if we stopped now, we would never start back up again. 

I needed to feel that we were still committed and moving forward — not standing still, not stalling, not giving up... 

She suggested that, to keep the project moving, we could focus on developing presentation materials and creating the videos and audio clips we’ve been talking about.  This would mix things up for me.  The fact that the presentations, videos, and audio clips fell within Katherine’s circle of expertise will also give me a needed break and add some balance to this partnership. 

We can continue to reach out to various talk show hosts and finish up Ready or Not… and we can start back on the publishers’ list in January. 

Then again, Ellen DeGeneres may call us by January, and I can burn that blasted publishers’ list!  

Wouldn’t that be just FABULOUS?!!

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