Back on the Reset Track.

This last week has been a rough one, but I’m determined to fudge my way back into some semblance of consistency and routine again, even if the going has been a little rough. My work situation is definitely cutting into my writing time, which is really problematic, because, as much as I like this job, I told myself that anything that compromises my writing has Got To Go. It’s supposed to be temporary, which is why I don’t mind riding it out, but it’s been well over a month, and now we might lose out supervisor soon, too, which will only serve to make this even more chaotic than they already are. Fifteen hours more than I want to be working each week might not sound like much, but it makes a huge difference, and I miss writing as much as I used to. I haven’t been able to send stuff out as much, either. And it’s driving me crazy.

I think I can still manage to ride out February. When March gets here, then we’ll have to start really looking at whether it’s worth it, whether or not things can go back to the way I need them to be, or if it’s time to look for a new job that will be as accommodating as this one used to be.

Ugh. It really didn’t help that I was sick last week, too, probably due to all the stress at work, because when it rains, it pours, and one of my precious days off that I was hoping to use for writing was instead used to rest and recover. And I’ve been sleeping in a lot, too, to help with the recovery, which is fine for my health, but that eats into a lot of writing time.

But, anyway, it’s Monday, so let’s look back on the week, light as it was, and into the week ahead, too.

Reading: I finally got through Potters Field Six, an anthology about unmarked graves in which my story “Sleepwalker” appears, and I plan to do a break-down of the different stories later this week. And it fits nicely that I started reading Phantaxis Issue 2 today, since that’s another publication that printed one of my stories (this one “Damsel in Distress”). And I’m 95% sure I’ll be able to finish Eating Animals very, very soon, which will be the first book completely started and finished in 2017. Finally. I need more time to read!!

Writing: I got a few stories out, and even submitted a novel idea to a competition this week, but it’s been a rough one. Even the boards have been pretty quiet, with only one rejection coming in all week. Honestly, I think the silence is so much harder to bear at this point than the rejections themselves. I have just over forty stories out there in the ether right now, waiting on responses. Over forty. So when you go so long without hearing anything about any of them, it’s likely to drive you crazy. It’s easy to lose perspective. Forty stories is a lot of stories, but when you don’t hear anything, it still feels like you’re not doing anything, or that you’re failing to produce. But this business requires a hell of a lot of patience and faith, and, knowing the way of the world, I’ll probably have another week of radio silence and then just a big old deluge of rejections…which can also be a little hard on the ego, but I’d rather have that than nothing at all.

This week, I’m hoping to finish up a cute story I started about a young elephant who escapes from a warlord’s menagerie and makes fiends with a young woman who has no intention of giving him back once the warlord comes looking. I’m also steadily beating out Fearless, though I’m in a really annoying part that’s being difficult before we get into the final climax of the series.

‘Rithmatic: I almost has a straight week of the same weight, at least, which is really bizarre because I was sick. I would have expected it to go up and down a lot, but, nope, pretty solid. I hope that’s a good sign that the exercise is going well. I’m still hemming and hawing about possibly getting a new couch for the apartment, and I’ve got some supplies hanging around where I’m going to try to make an Adventurer’s Cap for our C2E2 cosplay, if I only had the time, ugh! But we’ll hopefully get there soon. April is, unfortunately, going to be here before we know it.

Honestly, the fact that I sat down and made time for this post is a big win for me, I think. And that’s what I need to be better at: making the time for the things I want to do, making the best out of a crappy situation. I need to remember that I’ll be grateful for the extra money I’m earning, that if I just stick my nose to the grindstone a little bit longer, it will all pass eventually, and this ship can right itself again. Until then, time to just weather the storm and do my best.