You know, this is a good thing. What? Why is your post being late good, Cedar? Well, for one it means I slept more than six hours last night, for the first time since starting the new job. Given that short sleep makes me more likely to get sick, this is a very good thing. And why did I sleep in? Well, being in your own place, even on a camp cot, makes so much of a difference. Once I get blackout curtains and adjust to apartment noises, I will hopefully return to a full 8 hour sleep schedule.
And then, if my plan works, the muse may come back online.
You know what they say about plans. I’m torn between the dedication to being a professional writer, which means writing every day, and being a hobbyist who happens to make some money and writes when the fancy moves her. That last feels too much like a dilettante.
On the other hand, I’m currently writing this kneeling geisha-style on my bedroom floor, with the laptop on the end of the camp cot (and on a lapdesk for more stability) and a cup of coffee beside me. In a travel cup, for two reasons – one, there’s carpet. Two, we don’t have any other coffee cups with us. We do, at least, have a coffee maker. I bought it yesterday as we were moving into the apartment, along with other essentials like shower curtains and trash cans. Because coffee!
Writing is going to be… interesting. I have a desk, in storage with all the other things. And a desk chair. And a bed, yes. What I no longer have? A commute to dictate in. We live five minutes from my work. A lunch to write in. I have thirty minutes (from a ten hour shift) to eat in. I am also making my daily art in that time, which perforce will become much more simple and elemental as I adjust from having an hour. For the next couple of months, the three-day weekends are going to be eaten up with moving as I trickle down the stuff from storage (a two-hour drive away) to home. All this, and my First Reader is still in Ohio, which is not only a strain to be separated, but I am already missing our morning sessions of bouncing plot and story around. Video is a pale substitute.
I will adjust. The new job promises to be fast-moving, which will make the time pass. The shift I’m working gets very quiet after about six in the evening, so there is time to think while I’m working with my hands. I come home to a quiet apartment, instead of a crowded hotel room, and that will help a lot right there.
The muse will return. I just have to put out some bait… er, treats, and before I know it, I’ll be writing something I didn’t plan and don’t need!
Mad Genius Club 
Yeah on a hint of stability returning! And on getting situated and a pocket of quiet.
A major time-swallower just concluded at Day Job. The end-of-the-year is in sight, which means working harder to keep the waterfowl in linearity, but also more time to breathe. Two more weeks and I’ll only have rehearsal one night a week. I can feel words starting to flow. Now, if only they will cooperate and flow in the direction I need them to!
Yay stability! Yay own place! Yay for bedroom with a door you can shut out the world… and coffee!
Just remember as you move in: this is state alpha. You’ll re-arrange later after gathering data on what works well and what needs improvement. So it’s not critical to get everything in a perfect place and wear yourself out with decision fatigue. You can just shove some stuff over there for a while.
…says the person who’s having to stop and do some worldbuilding five chapters from the end of the WIP because… that character was well-enough for “shove in this scene and don’t be too fussy about details”, right until he came back, and I went “Oh. I need an org structure for you. And your entire department.”
He’s going to be back again. I can just feel it. Darnit, he better not become a major character… at least not until another book?
*Snort* I’ve been having a little voice in the back of my brain saying, “You know how the sub-genre runs, don’t you? You get major character #1 married off. So that means the other male major characters also get married off. Which means you need to go back and add some hints and details to build on for the next novella.” Arrrrrrrggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!
I’d make frantic warding motions, except… well…. Twitch was a member of the team in the last book. Which might explain why he strolled right into this one without my planning it and said, “That girl. Right there. She’s mine! Uh… I caught her? Shards, how do I keep her?”
And I went. “I don’t know? Hey, does that mean you’re a sequel?”
And mutual panic followed.
*laughs with delight*
My muse has just decided that superheroes are much more fascinating than high fantasy or fairy tales. . . .
sigh
Patience. You have upended your life. Wait for the bits to settle a bit.
Is that one of your art pieces? I love the texture and it really draws me in.
Have you considered making these pieces to scale to the 6×9 or whatever the standard size is for e-book blanks? And putting them up for sale?
That is one of mine. Thank you! I haven’t dabbled with making stuff available on stock sites for years. And then it was photos, which made me a whole 0.58$!
I sent an artist in Oz $5 for one-off publication rights to make a card for my nephew. As long as it isn’t costing you anything to put it up for sale, why not?