Change of Scenery

I was in desperate need of a break. Even just the thought of doing more marketing for my debut book Does Love Always Win? or my new book Superficial was stressing me out. I was at the point where when I saw one of the bookmarks I ordered with my book’s cover image for marketing, I cringed and all this anxiety would hit me. “Is my book selling well?” “What if I don’t ever break even?” “Was all the hard work worth the trouble?” These thoughts and more crept in while I was trying to write something new, causing a creative block.

It was time for a writing break but also a vacation. I hadn’t been on a true vacation in a year and this holiday couldn’t have come at a better time. I headed to the beach for some R&R with my family.

During the first half of my vacay I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll get inspired by the ocean and get some writing done.’ I’d wake up early in the morning and work on one of my three projects, but it felt like a chore. It wasn’t fun. I kept checking my word count to see if it had grown, but I realized, ‘Why am I bothering if I’m not enjoying this?’

So the rest of the vacation I stopped writing and stopped thinking about my books and that felt right. I needed a break from it all. To just enjoy the time with my family and the small glimpses of time I’d have by myself.

The day before we left, I took a morning walk on the beach by myself, and the stroll was exactly what I needed. It was just me, the ocean, and the seagulls and sand crabs. I didn’t see a single soul. It gave me time to reflect on what I’ve accomplished so far and to really think about what I want to do next with my writing career.

I still don’t have all the answers but I’m finally okay with the fact that if I don’t write every week, or find a project that I’m completely into, that’s okay. It will take time, and I don’t want to force something just because I feel like I have to. I have so much more now on my plate than when I first started writing, so priorities naturally change. In the meantime, I can still do what I love so much, read books.