Out With A Whimper

Well the 3rd round of the 70 Days of Sweat is over.  I don’t even know were I stand on final words for the challenge.  Maybe somewhere between 30k-40k?  It’s been so long since I’ve really written–first because of our vacation, then my big hiatus to try and figure out a setup that would work for my plot in HOC, then a switch over to TD, and then the tragic and unimaginable death of our dog.  I just haven’t really had the heart to write lately.  The first week was horrible.  The week or so afterward was sort of okay.  We made arrangements to adopt a rescue–an adorable half Great Pyrenees, half Alaskan Malamute puppy we’ve named Callie.  We pick her up on the 24th in Memphis.  Planning for the new pup and keeping up with the pet parents of her littermates (we’ve started a social group, as there’s a fun story that goes along with our pooches that I’ll tell at a later date) was a good distraction.  But the last few days I’ve been unbearably sad.  I don’t know if it’s just now starting to really sink in as we approach pick up time for Callie, or if I’ve been pushing my own grief aside so as not to make it worse for my husband.  But it’s been really hard.

In standard me fashion, my response to all of this is to plan a book around it–not over the tearing grief of losing her, but putting her in her own story.  I always have dogs in my books, so it was natural enough to immortalize her on the page.  But of course I can’t just swap her out with any of the other canine characters in my current WIPs, so naturally I’m creating a new story.  The heroine is in the Witness Protection Program and is totally and completely alone in her new life (she gets relocated to Mississippi from Seattle–no one would come here to look for anybody!), so she gets a puppy.  Angel was always an incredible lot of company, so she’s perfect.  I’ve been doing research and working out a plot.  The working title is Without A Past.  That’s the sum total of my creative efforts over the last 6 weeks or so.  I’m not beating myself up about it.  I’ll come back to writing.  I always do.

Aside from that I’ve been reading like crazy.  Nora Robert’s The Hollow, Katie MacAlister’s Playing With Fire, Karen Marie Moning’s Darkfever (and how much does my local library suck for not having Bloodfever?).  I’ve dipped into a few others, including James Lee Burke’s Jolie Blon’s Bounce, Marcia Talley’s Sing It To Her Bones, and Lee Child’s Running Blind. Sadly, due to time restrictions, when I’m writing, I’m usually not reading, and vice versa.  That will probably change some over the summer as we hit rerun season and the networks cancel my favorite shows (the networks also suck for canceling Women’s Murder Club.  I LOVED that show.  At least they finished out this season’s plotline.).

Sorry for the boring update.  I do actually have several hopefully interesting posts planned to start next week–how romance as a genre brings people together, the difference between boy books and girl books, and whether writers are more likely to dramatize their own lives more than “normal” folks.  Stuff’s been kicking around, I’ve just been in the midst of a crazy hell week at work (and I even have to work today), so I haven’t had time.  Tune in next week!

One thought on “Out With A Whimper

  1. I was tag surfing and the pup’s picture grabbed me, along with the story of your former pet, and I cheer you for mourning and healing (which DOES take time) and finding the next dog/family member. We’ve been through it several times and it’s never easier and each family dog has his special story/history and picture! and somehow, the next dog always finds us.
    I am delighted to find your blog.

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