Well – it was fun while it was lasted. I put my book up for free for the week (still for free until Friday!). The first day it went free, I gave away 274 copies. I was giddy! Breaking into the top 25 in two different categories really buoyed my spirits! Yes…to quote a friend of mine: Free tastes good. I haven’t sold anything, but if you get to the top 100, then Amazon will make your book more visible.

Umm…I think that was a lie.

I went from 274 down to 34 the next day. Today? 17.

To be honest, this was something that I needed. I’ve been dogging it badly for the past week. I’ll try to work on something but after forty-five words, I couldn’t go on. It became a slog. I hate slogs. When writing is work for me, I know it’s going to be work for someone to read. So, I’m trying something new.

I am writing something with which I have no sort of emotional context.

Let me explain with this quote from A Knight’s Tale: I will eviscerate you in fiction. Every pimple, every character flaw. I was naked for a day; you will be naked for eternity.

Some people sharpen their knives. I sharpen my pen.

Nine times out of ten, this motivates me to work hard. This is apparently time number ten. So – the fiction in question is being gently set aside to be picked up later when I have a steadier head on my shoulders and a stronger fire in my gut.

Good news for you all. What I’m working on new is the Hallowe’en tale called The Resurrectionist’s Blues: One and Done. This was something I was going to write and put out for Hallowe’en, then working Valentina’s Feast kinda sidetracked me. I’m still working on getting it finished, but I might have to make it an all-day Sunday approach. I got the main characters out of the party (yay!) and heading home where Valentina is going to get a little creepi(er). After that, there is another chapter I need to re-write and some changes I want to make to the main character. It’s going to get done, and this book will be out by December.

As far as my mental health goes…well…I’m trying and that’s all that I can do in the end. Maybe switching books will help so that I don’t feel like I’m wasting my time in my little cubicle flipping through Facebook rather than writing.

Well, that’s all for now. I should get back to work tormenting my new and poor, innocent character. After all – it builds character.