Convenient Amnesia: A Writer’s Best Friend

The book is done. Hallelujah.

It’s been uploaded to Amazon for pre-order and to the distributor (who’d already placed it for pre-order elsewhere), and now I’m in a recuperative phase.

Recuperative phase, you ask?

For me, and I expect many other authors, writing is not a non-physical process. It takes its toll mentally, emotionally, and physically, especially in that last race to polish and tweak a book to meet deadlines.

Yes, writing is not an aerobic experience or physically challenging like running or wall-climbing. After all, I’m sitting on my butt in a chair and staring at a monitor and wiggling fingers over a keyboard, right?  But, in reality, it is physically taxing. And, as many authors will tell you, it takes a toll on a body.

Writing ain’t for sissies.

I am two weeks out now from the final polish-and-tweaking of the 118.5 K word manuscript (and that final editing phase took almost two weeks itself). No amount of sleep has quite eroded the exhaustion that last sprint to get the book done encompassed. My wrists and elbows and neck and lower back are still complaining.  No amount of Aleve (and when does Aleve get toxic? — my liver wants to know) or massage has managed to decrease and/or eliminate the pain.

And the physical side effects happen no matter what methods you use to avoid it.

Sleep?  Check, got at least seven hours every twenty-four. Wrist brace?  Check, been wearing one for years.  Proper desk height and good chair?  Check. Ergonomic mouse?  Check. Frequent breaks, get-up-and-walk-around time? Check — all the diet soda I drink takes care of that requirement — that and checking on laundry, fixing meals, and making sure hubby knows I know he exists (he gets soooo lonely, ya know?).

Since I have written more than one book, obviously, the physical side effects of writing — and the memory of them –fade away.

Sort of like childbirth. — You know it hurt, but you can’t quite remember exactly how it hurt and so you’re up for it again.  Convenient amnesia.

And that convenient amnesia is why I am already plotting away my next book in my head. [FYI:  It will be another SSI book.  Damon and Susa of the Prime Chronicles series ain’t talking to me, yet.]

Not sure if writing is a biological imperative like the need to procreate, but it is a mental and emotional one. I can’t not write.  As with giving birth, you pass on a part of yourself to the world, your little bit of immortality.  Granted, unlike my child, my book might not have the potential to change the world, but it does have the potential of taking people out of their every day lives and giving them a few hours of enjoyment. Not a bad thing at all in my mind.

So, let’s hear it for convenient amnesia. — Now, please, does anyone know how much Aleve is too much?  Because, I have more stories to tell.

******

Blurb:

Former helicopter pilot DJ Poe is a woman used to working in a man’s world and comfortable as SSI’s first female field operative. It’s her instant attraction to the company’s computer specialist that has her questioning her ability to overcome her past and develop an intimate relationship with a man.

Stuart “Tweeter” Walsh already admired DJ for saving his brother’s life in Afghanistan, but when the tall, leggy, blonde goddess joins SSI, he falls instantly in love. All he has to do is convince the man-shy beauty to take a chance on him.

Take one alpha-male geek, add in one skittish female warrioress—throw them into close proximity and you have the perfect conditions for storm warnings.

Pre-order Links: Publication Date is August 25th.

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