(Rats! I knew this day would come! I need a clever distraction...)
Thanks for asking. I've been seriously under-motivated during the last few weeks. My day gig takes up a lot of time and energy. I wake up tired every morning and the road ahead seems incredibly long. Managing my time for writing has been very difficult. I wrote the first book because it was fun. I wrote a short story last year for the same reason.
This isn't fun right now. Deadlines are not positive moments. Defending myself against other writers is not enjoyable. Marketing is not a good time. Failing to market is not as pleasurable as you might think.
I like fun. Fun is good. I wish I had more of it. When I start writing, I get into it and I really enjoy it. When I shut out all of the voices that try to stop me in my tracks, I feel like I'm watching a movie unfold and I can't wait to see where the characters are going next.
Book number 2, Blithering Genius, still has a ways to go before it is finished and ready for editing. I keep going back and re-writing sections of it. I struggle with being overly critical of my own work. I worry about whether the material is too stupid, too boring, too fast/slow, too nonsensical, too cerebral, too juvenile, or too Profound. In general, though, I like this book. Some of the characters crack me up. I keep putting them in situations and then wondering how they'll react. This book confuses me and I like that. Maybe that's another strike against it, but I enjoy stories that make me ask, "What?"
I'm very sorry that it has taken me so long to write this thing. If I were a better writer, this would have been done long ago. Because I've been wrong before, I don't want to predict when this one will be done. I'm going to take this fred as a prod to stop whining and get back to it. So, thanks for the motivation! I appreciate it.