Feeling burned out? Maybe you need a break!

It happened.  I burned out.  My muse gave up - not that she had done anything wrong - I had just stopped listening.  I had reached the point where writing and anything related to it, felt like a job and that's not a place I wanted to be.  So, I did it and I'm pretty sure I broke some sort of Building the Author Platform commandment while doing it - but it was worth it.  All I can say is I enjoyed every sinful moment.  Who knew taking a break could be so wonderful?   I know that there are lots of writers who enjoy spending countless hours interacting with others on various social media sites.   I wish I was one of them.  In my off-line time, my life tends to be a bit private and I guess that carries over to my online self.  I needed a break.

For the past couple of months, I've limited my social interactions to a few tweets and an occasional blog post.  I've edited my latest story and plotted out another. But the thing I enjoyed most was reading.  I've read several novels.  While some better than others, there were a few that really made an impression on me.


Silver by Cheree Alsop

Silver is the first book in the Silver Series.  It's a young adult paranormal novel with a fresh take on werewolves. I particularly enjoyed reading a story written from a male perspective.  While the ending may have been tied up a little too neatly, the author did a really good job developing the characters and setting the mood.  

Far From Home is the second book in The Home Series.  The author, Megan Nugen Isbell, created characters that I just fell in love with.  The first and third books were good but for me, the second book was the best.  It's not often I'm moved to tears but Holy Cow! - the author did a great job setting/maintaining the mood.  The characters were wonderfully vulnerable.  I think the book should come with a tissue advisory.

Janae Mitchell's For Always is a young adult paranormal romance.

This may be one of the sweetest stories I've ever read. The author did a great job developing the characters. There is a bit of a love triangle and a main character whose actions appear quite confused but let's face it - It's gotta be hard to choose between a live guy and a ghost!

While each of these books are different - they all had at least one thing in common - well developed characters.  

I've got to be honest, not all the novels I downloaded were good.  In fact, some of them were bad.  Very bad. The kind of bad where I couldn't justify spending the time required to read them and I just wanted to yell - "Code blue!  We need an editor here!"  And this brings me to a community I discovered on Goodreads.  Editors can be expensive and not all of them are good.  However,  the Beta Reader Group is a great place to get input on your story.  I have found the readers to be very helpful, offering insights and suggestions that might have been overlooked.

After a much needed break, I'm glad to be back!  My latest story The Reasons Why should be published within the month and I'm working on the sequel to Of Dreams and Shadow.  Life is good!  I can hear my muse again!