It really is lovely, don’t you think?  My writing buddy and dear friend Laura gave one to each of us Cabinet members, and I for one am still laughing!

It’s got a nicely aged look to it–appropriate for something that’s been plaguing writers since the dawn of time!  It’s also inscribed with different words on each side, so you turn the block each day and pick a new manifestation for your writer’s block.  No need for repetition here!  After all, this writing is a creative pursuit! lol

Honestly, I laughed so long because the timing was so perfect.  Throughout this summer I’ve had a difficult time staying on any one project for long, and it’s worried me.  I started off with The MYSTERIOUS Chicken Novel (say that in a spooky voice, mind) but got stumped at the beginning of chapter five….and somehow ended up rewriting my blackbelt suspense novel.  And then writing a paranormal novella with snakes.  And dabbling with another novel, which was quickly abandoned, and researching endlessly for several more…but it all felt like a whole lot of wheel churning without much forward momentum.

This is not like me.  I’m a very goal-oriented person and when I set my mind to something, I see it through.  I’m big on deadlines and I turn things in early.  Had I lost my writing drive?  I’ve had a lot of rejections.  A. Lot. Of. Rejections.  And that can be hard to take.  The power of belief a writer must hold borders on the egotistical, imho, and mine has gotten all limp and soggy about the edges.

But, I’ve also had it happen before that my writing wasn’t so much blocked as put on pause.  This usually happens when I’m trying to take the story in a direction that isn’t right for it, or I’ve lost the story voice.  Maybe mislaid the driving force of the novel and need to rewind ’til I pick up that thread again.  Anyway, whatever the reason for the pause, if I trust myself and go about my regular life, my subconscious will pick away at the problem and I’ll soon figure out what’s needed and surge forward again.

Usually this happens pretty quickly.  This time?  Not so much.  I really was beginning to wonder if I’d lost my nerve to finish, and needed a reboot as a writer.  However, I’m delighted to report that I was simply suffering from a lengthy pause–so lengthy that the fans had gone home and the popcorn gone stale!  It’s a good thing I believe in the sentiment that it’s better late than never.  It is with great pleasure that I report my having experienced several breakthroughs over the last day or two, and I’m once again making progress on my Mysterious Chicken Novel!  I wouldn’t want to give away too much, but I can say that the addition of a sarcastic cricket has livened things up, and I’ve also discovered a delicious new chicken cracker which is baked in an oven made from the sun shining through a magnifying glass, and features roly poly potato bugs the way we drool over chocolate chips.  Yum!

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