Friday, September 30, 2011

Long Time, No Blog

It's been ages since I've blogged, but people are still stumbling across my blog once in a while. I've thought about deleting this blog many times, but maybe it's a good thing I didn't.

An explanation is in order. I'll make it as brief as I can.

I was writing like crazy when I last posted, but that spring I was hit with terrible fatigue. Now, I've always been fatigued to some degree or other. But this was completely non-functional fatigue. Sit on the couch and feel like my arms were too heavy for me fatigue. Accompanied by brain fog.

I'll give you an example of my worst mental fogginess. I was staring at the date line on a check. Never mind trying to think of the right date. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what that line was for. Needless to say, coming up with creative words for writing was impossible. Everyday conversations were difficult.

That lasted about a year. I found out I have a mold allergy, and that's what was causing the symptoms. I've improved quite a bit. We remodeled our bathroom to get rid of the mold that was there, and I bought an air purifier to help with the mold that's still in the house.

I'm still pretty tired a lot of days, but good days are coming more often. And the brain fog is gone. Praise God for that.

I want to get back to writing. I've been waiting for the writing passion to come back. But I have a feeling that it won't come back until I actually start writing.

On that note, there really is nothing new under the sun.

The WIP I was talking about below is a finished rough draft. I thought I had come up with a unique backstory for my main character. Then I happened to catch The Biggest Loser this week. (I watch that once in a while for motivation to keep moving through my fatigue. If those 300-plus-pound people can practically kill themselves in a workout, surely I can push myself for one moderate workout.)

The woman on Biggest Loser starts talking about a relationship she got out of. And my jaw dropped as she laid out the exact story I had for my character. A jealous boyfriend who didn't like the attention and looks she got from other men, so he pushed her toward food so she'd gain weight. He lavished her with attention, and in the meantime cut her off from everyone else in her life.

That was my idea. How dare this woman live it. :o)

1 comment:

John Michael Cummings said...

Dear Tina,

Can I interest you in reviewing my new work of fiction, UGLY TO START WITH, published last month by West Virginia University Press?

I've won awards for my writing. If you write to me at johnmcummings@aol.com, I'll send you some information.

I would be grateful to hear from you.

Thank you.

Kindly,

John Michael Cummings