Ten days ago I typed ‘The End’ on the last page of Touched by Darkness. I had finished the fourth and (hopefully) final rewrite of my labour of love. The beta readers were waiting and my baby was all dressed up and ready for her debut. Giddiness consumed me. I jumped around the room, did the happy dance, drank a glass of wine, bored my husband with endless writer speak at dinner, and went to bed a happy woman.
The next day, reality struck. I had accomplished my goal. My long, joyful, frustrating journey with Quinn and Aaron was over. I wandered the house, a restless shell. Emptiness settled inside me. My heart longed to be with them. A small part of me wished it wasn’t over. In truth, I missed them.
Some would advise diving into the next project, keep busy writing something else. I have four other novels waiting in various stages of planning and draft, but in all honesty, I needed a short break. I didn’t want my next book to be the rebound book. I wasn’t ready to fall in love with new characters or a new story quite yet. I needed to allow myself time to do something completely different and let my story go before starting a new one.
Here’s how it’s gone so far.
Day One: Bake something. Console yourself with homemade muffins and scones.
While this seemed like a good idea, I ended up buying muffins instead and watching rubbish daytime telly. Do you have any how much crap is on in the middle of the day? Wow!
Day Two: Read for pleasure.
Day Three: Read some more. I managed to read four novels in a three day period. Fantastic! Get out of the house and go to the gym. I hate the gym. I went to the pool for a swim instead. Reward myself by eating two entire Galaxy Cookie Crunch chocolate bars. This week was not great for my waist line.
Day Four: As an early birthday present, hubby bought me the new Elder Scrolls game, Skyrim, for the X-Box. Wow! This was an awesome time suck. Awesome game! I spent hours immersed in Skyrim as a Dragon born Nord learning words of power, killing Dragons, getting bitten by a werewolf, becoming a werewolf, trying to find a cure of lycanthropy, killing evil, and having a grand time.
Day Five: I’m starting to forget all about Quinn and Aaron, but not quite. I think I need a little ice cream to help dull the pain. Back to Skyrim to defeat more evil.
Day Six: Get the respiratory flu. Spend the day in bed catching up on episodes of American Horror Story and Glee. Love it!
Day Seven: Pass the flu to a loved one and spend time keeping each other up all night coughing.
Day Eight: Think about working on a new blog post while coughing and being generally annoyed by everything. Play Skyrim instead.
Day Nine: Feeling better. Start packing for my trip back home to the States on Thursday.
Day Ten: Actually write a new blog post. Give Touched by Darkness a final read through to clean up any glaring errors and send to betas before leaving town. Ideas for a sequel are starting to emerge. Perhaps Quinn and Aaron will be back in my life sooner than expected.
How do you cope with the post manuscript blues? Do you dive right in to another project or do you give yourself a break before moving on? I would love to hear about your process.
I’m glad you came up with some sequel ideas. I was going to suggest that idea; maybe for the ms after the next. I’ve got over 500K devoted to Ainsela, Thaedan, and the gang, and I’m not sure I’m done with them yet. 🙂
I’m not much of a gamer, but Skyrim sounds awesome. Especially since you were sick (hope you’re feeling better). Totally agree about daytime TV. I will not go there. Rubbish is an apt description.
I usually bury myself in a carpentry job and reading for pleasure. You’re right about needing the distance. I’m glad you are so aware. Sounds like you’re heading in the right direction. 🙂
Good luck and safe travels!
Glad you’re feeling better and I can’t believe how excited I am to see a new blog post from you.
I am with Vaughn, I am glad you took some time away. I took a little break, read lots of books, ate lots of junk. I watched a few good movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Misery.
I grinned to read you caught up on Glee and American Horror Story. I love both.
I await your ms and hope you have an awesome time over your Thanksgiving holiday.