Missing in action

As the title suggests, I may have been missing but I’ve been up to my eyes in action. The world, suddenly, seems to have become a very busy place indeed. Normally, and if you are a frequent visitor to my blog you’ll know this, I try to get out a couple of blog posts out per week. Recently, there has been a glaring absence of new material. Let me explain why.

While I find producing blog post great fun indeed, there are times when things tend to get on top of me. Being a self published author, responsible for everything, can mean that at times I get rather overloaded with things to do. Multiply that with the fact that I still have a day job and things can get out of sync very easily. (Oh, and I’m also notoriously lazy as well.)

It all started a few weeks ago when the boiler decided to let me down. How does the boiler dying explain a drop in productivity you ask? Like all things, it’s a distraction. Writing is a quiet and solitary process. Distractions do little to enhance its chances of success. Also, having workmen traipsing through the house and charging lots of money tends to put you off your game some-what. The cold showers don’t help either.

Then, as soon as I got that sorted, the car got bumped into. You can see where this is going can’t you? Again more distractions, more work for me to sort out. Luckily it’s not too damaged, but there do seem to be an endless set of phone calls to be made, all to repeat the same information to a series of faceless drones and salivating lawyers. I’d forgotten how disturbing it was to have a traffic accident. I might add that I was not to blame, but everyone says that, so I’ll just add that I am unharmed and well insured.

On to summer holidays. Who would have thought that summer holidays could interfere with writing so much. Of course, when I talk of summer holidays I mean everyone else’s. I have not taken a holiday for over nine years. (They say not to drink the water, you know!) But the problem with summer holidays and being a freelance engineer is that I have to cover all the work. Don’t get me wrong, more work means more money. We all like money - money is good or as far as owning it goes. Unfortunately, the old adage applies, ‘It never rains but it pours.’ Over the past three months I’ve been practically living at the studios, right when I should be back in my study finishing off the first edit of my new book. Couple that with taking on a new important client and the work-life balance seems to be out of kilter. I’ve had to spend the last few weeks learning new systems and procedures, all with the hope of not cocking things up on live TV when they let me lose on an unsuspecting public.

So putting all of these things together, what you get is a big pile of excuses; with little, if no, work done on either book two or the blog. Further more, in the short term I can’t say that things are likely to improve much. I’ll try my best to keep the blog up to date, but I hope you will be patient with me. Hopefully, normal operations will resume in the next few weeks or so.

But I can finish with one small piece of good news. Today I am free. No work, no emails and hopefully no phone calls. Today, I am free to get back to what I like doing best - writing. Or in this case, editing. To be precise, chapter five - section six. A rather serious part where the members of the regiment have to make some tough decisions. It’s a moment of crisis and sea sickness, with arguments and slop buckets. All mingled together with a big dose of fear. Don’t tell me I don’t spoil you.

I need a holiday