I just received my first set of Big Bad II books in the mail! For those of you unfamiliar with the urban fantasy/horror anthology series, the stories within are all written from the villain’s point of view, and my story helped inspire the cover! If you have been keeping up with my writing diary posts, my story is called “The Witch Hunter.” The protagonist in the urban fantasy, pulp novella I’m working on (i.e. Michael Lodestone) happens to be the witch hunter referred to in this story. (But he is not the protagonist in this story.) If you want to get a glimpse of where I’m going with Mr. Lodestone, you might want to check this out! (Links to be provided later.)

Why is this important to my silly writing diary?

Because I’m exhausted.

Fatigued.

Beaten down.

I have so many stories in my head and deadlines and goals and time is short… I’ve worked into the night so many times, fallen asleep in my chair while sitting up, and fallen asleep on the couch while writing. I’ve crammed myself into hotel bathrooms to try to write without waking the occupants and gotten myself carsick while trying to get scenes in during car rides. Some days I feel like I have nothing left in the tank to give. Some days, I want to just toss it in and go to sleep.

It’s easy to get burnt out when you don’t see the fruits of your labor, and books have long gestation periods.

Last night’s writing session was shorter than I wanted it to be, and I left disappointed in myself because I caved in and chose sleep instead of writing for a longer period of time. The only redeeming thing I could take away from last night’s session was that my heroine, Claire, is starting to show her personality a bit more, and I like it because she’s snarky. Other than that, I keep telling myself that I’m failing and worrying that I won’t meet my deadline.

Getting something like this in the mail is a gentle reminder that the work is worth it, and all of us need that reminder from time to time.

So keep writing!

Toodles!