Post Book Depression
I finished. Yep, the sequel to The Esau Emergence. The Esau Convergence is done. I’m sending it off to the editor. I thought I would be celebrating. I thought I’d be Amanda Palmer excited to have this novel, my second published novel complete.
Turns out I feel MEH. Yeah, a big fat meh. It didn’t help the Beard and Son 1 weren’t exactly excited about it. The Beard is a little resentful. He won’t admit it, but he’s swamped at work and suffering his own form of writing block.
Oh sure, I’ll have some rewrites when the editor is done reading but for the most part it’s finis.
I could finish A Darker Shade of Magic and work down my reading list. I have two podcasts to review. I could be researching conferences to attend now that I’m boycotting Indiana. I’m thinking Juneau, Alaska. Hell, I could go crazy and clean the house.
What am I doing? Spending too much time scanning my Twitter feed and avoiding yard work.
I have four other projects to get going on, not including the third Esau Continuum novel. The plot for that book popped into my head about thirty minutes after I finished the second. I dreamt a fabulous story idea about time travel and alternate timelines that I lost because I didn’t have the motivation to get up at three a.m. to jot it down. Maybe that’s a good thing, timeline plots irritate The Beard.
I’m feeling adrift even though I know I have other things to work on.
Part of my problem is my brain. It’s weary. If you’ve written anything, you know how tired you grow of reading it over and over and over. You write it. You read it. You print it and read it. You go back and edit. You read it again. Oy! I don’t remember feeling this way after The Esau Emergence. I think I was so damn glad to have completed a novel I floated in euphoria.
This time around things are lined up. I know what the process is and now it’s a waiting game. Wait for the editor. Wait for the Beard to read The Esau Emergence rewrites. Wait for my fabulous graphic artist to finish the back cover. Work the Twitter crowd. Work the Facebook crowd. Get the yard in shape for a book release party. Oops, I mentioned yard work.
This ennui is infecting everything. I’m not interested or inspired to cook or eat or feed the family. I’m never really inspired to do laundry so that’s not a leap.
Can you be book exhausted? I think I’m book exhausted. Don’t get me wrong, I’m jazzed about my book. When I talk about the characters or how the plot unfolded, I’m excited. I just don’t have a lot of opportunity at the moment to talk about it. To anyone outside of the house that is.
Beta readers have their copies and I’m waiting for their feedback. Foot tapping, nail filing, popping gum waiting…..
Hi JC — I’m linking to this post in my own blog on Saturday along with Kerry Schafer’s post on doubt. Maybe we all have a bit of spring fever?
Thanks! And the weather doesn’t seem to be working in our favor!
I just finished my current book last week and this post might as well have been dragged out of my mind.
It’s supposed to feel GOOD writing the last sentence of a book you have worked hard on, but I’m showing more excitement over finally getting rid of that damn fly in my study.
And why, oh why, does Twitter become so appealing once you start revising? I have barely been on Twitter for the last two years, but suddenly I’m checking it constantly.
I apologize for commenting on a months old post, but I found it during my newfound Twitter obsession and it struck a cord!
No worries! This made me laugh. Any comment is a treat while I’m reading the mobi file to see if I missed any errors!