{"id":517,"date":"2017-12-26T21:36:08","date_gmt":"2017-12-27T02:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/dremadeoraich\/?p=517"},"modified":"2017-12-26T21:36:08","modified_gmt":"2017-12-27T02:36:08","slug":"greetings-from-slumpy-hollow-slumptavia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/26\/greetings-from-slumpy-hollow-slumptavia\/","title":{"rendered":"Greetings from Slumpy Hollow, Slumptavia"},"content":{"rendered":"

So it\u2019s been several weeks<\/em> since I\u2019ve touched my novel to any significant degree. Weeks. Maybe more than a month. I\u2019m beside myself. I\u2019ve tweaked and revised several short stories, spent time researching markets where I might submit them, attended several classes, re-sent book 1 of my novel series to the publisher I\u2019ve wanted all along (they never responded the first time, and their guidelines say to re-send), and I sent the entire manuscript to another publisher who had an unexpected open submissions period where no agent was needed (neither of these publishers have a \u201cno simultaneous submissions\u201d mention on their guidelines). I\u2019ve read through several of the scenes in book two of my novel series and made a few small changes. So I haven\u2019t been ignoring my craft. I just haven\u2019t written anything new other than blog posts or book reviews, nor have I continued the narrative in book two. When I do open it, I watch the daily target word count creep up and up and up, small increases for now but the longer it takes me to knock that down, the bigger they\u2019ll get.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t that I don\u2019t want to write. I do. I just can\u2019t seem to get away from Life\u2019s distractions long enough to nail my butt to the chair until it\u2019s so late in the evening that I\u2019m either wiped or too frazzled to focus, or it\u2019s too close to bedtime. I don\u2019t know about you, but if I write up until time to shut down and go to bed, sleep is hard to find. I have to stop and walk away from the computer at least two hours before I hope to close my eyes for the night. (When did that happen? I used to be able to write until 4:00 a.m., then go straight to bed, sleep three hours, and work all the next day.)<\/p>\n

I\u2019m on vacation this week, and spent the whole day today cleaning my desk (I could barely reach my computer), doing laundry (or I\u2019d be naked), and other assorted tasks that I\u2019ve been putting off too long. I meant to write. I wanted to write. I tried to write.<\/p>\n

The words wouldn\u2019t come.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t remember the last time I was in a slump this bad. Maybe it\u2019s the holidays, which seemed much busier this year than in the past. Is it just me? And no, we don\u2019t spend a great deal of time shopping for gifts. While I understand the desire to exchange gifts with friends and loved ones, it seems to me that the Mercantile Scramble has become the main focus of Christmas. It\u2019s gotten so bad we try to avoid going anywhere retail oriented (other than the grocery store) between Thanksgiving and New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t matter what\u2019s behind it. I fully expect you all to wag your finger in my direction and remind me of my BIC HOK TAM mantra. You\u2019d be right to do so. This cannot go on. The voices in my head are yammering non-stop for me to let them out, so tomorrow I intend to sit at the computer and do nothing but write.<\/p>\n

So fair warning to all my friends and family: I love you. But for the rest of this week, don\u2019t look for me on Facebook or e-mail. Don\u2019t call unless it\u2019s an emergency. Don\u2019t text. Or rather, feel free to do so, just know you\u2019ll have to speak to our voice mail or expect an answer next YEAR (hee!). These blank pages and I? We have a date, and I\u2019m not missing it again.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So it\u2019s been several weeks since I\u2019ve touched my novel to any significant degree. Weeks. Maybe more than a month. I\u2019m beside myself. I\u2019ve tweaked and revised several short stories, spent time researching markets where I might submit them, attended several classes, re-sent book 1 of my novel series to the publisher I\u2019ve wanted all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-posts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-8l","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1690,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/03\/feeding-the-beast\/","url_meta":{"origin":517,"position":0},"title":"Feeding the Beast","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"February 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u2019re well into 2020 now, and the writing scene is as frenetic as ever. Congratulations to my writing pals from Twitter and Facebook who have had debut novels come out in the last year, or who\u2019ve been picked up for publication sometime in the coming months! All that hard work\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/woodstock-art-568933_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C1002&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/woodstock-art-568933_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C1002&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/woodstock-art-568933_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C1002&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/woodstock-art-568933_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C1002&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/woodstock-art-568933_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C1002&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2438,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/17\/the-monster-under-my-desk\/","url_meta":{"origin":517,"position":1},"title":"The Monster Under My Desk","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"December 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Being a writer is scary. What? you say. All you do is sit in front of a computer and type out a story. What's scary about that? It's because of the Monster. Let me take you on a little trip behind the scenes. Let's say I have an idea for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/MonsterInTheBook.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/MonsterInTheBook.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/MonsterInTheBook.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/MonsterInTheBook.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/MonsterInTheBook.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/MonsterInTheBook.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":213,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/05\/29\/back-burner\/","url_meta":{"origin":517,"position":2},"title":"Back Burner","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"May 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, I finished a speculative fiction short I\u2019ve shown to no one yet (except hubby). I haven\u2019t even looked at it myself in almost two weeks. I wrote, finished and set it aside. On purpose. I\u2019d heard of this tactic before, but never tried it. Then several short stories were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1039,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/10\/empower-your-skill-online-community-with-big-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":517,"position":3},"title":"Empower Your Skill: Online Community with Big Heart","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"September 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking for a critique group, but can\u2019t find one in your area? Try Critters Workshop. I found them online several years ago and became enamored of the concept. Critters is an online critiquing community wherein writers submit their own works (mostly short stories or short segments of longer projects) for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/20180910-BlogPic1.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/20180910-BlogPic1.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/20180910-BlogPic1.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/20180910-BlogPic1.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/20180910-BlogPic1.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":663,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/02\/non-traditional-alternatives\/","url_meta":{"origin":517,"position":4},"title":"Non-Traditional Alternatives","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"April 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"My novel (the first book of a trilogy) has been out on query for months now. I\u2019ve gone through a list of agencies and am now trying publishing houses that don\u2019t require representation. I also want to try a few small presses and see what they can do for me.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":310,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/09\/04\/learning-by-doing\/","url_meta":{"origin":517,"position":5},"title":"Learning by Doing","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"September 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Most targets for our submissions, whether they be online zines, print magazines or book\/novel publishers, do not offer any sort of feedback when they send rejections. I understand why. With so many queries and submissions, and slush piles that may sometimes seem to rival Mt. Everest, there isn\u2019t enough time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":518,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517\/revisions\/518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}