Greetings all!

It’s been an insane few weeks– book launch and blog tour for Sidelined, sending a manuscript off for critique, work stuff, home stuff…I’m wiped out. It’s a good kind of wiped out–I’m so very lucky to be able to do the thing I love–but still, my brain is tired. As a result, my body and spirit got a little tired, too.

It’s time to recharge.

I work out on a regular basis. Nothing says “no fun” like the word “osteoporosis.” Since it runs in my family, I grudgingly lift weights a few times a week. Not my favorite activity, but I do it because I need to. The thing about weight-lifting, especially if you are over forty, is that your body tends to get whiny about it. Experts say you need recovery time between sets, and recovery time between workouts. Muscles get stronger more effectively if you rest them after abusing them (well, to me it’s abuse, even if my trainer says I’m just being a weenie). And for me, I notice a difference when I wait a day in between workouts.

I find my writer brain works much the same way. I hit a wall on Sunday evening. All my guest posts were done. My manuscript was finally off for a terrorizing by J.R. (I love you, J!) and I was caught up on launch stuff. At that point, something in my brain said, “we’re on vacation” and basically shut down. I haven’t written anything more taxing than this blog post this week. I’ve read (oh, the books, the lovely, lovely books–The Final Formula by Becca Andre, Deep in Crimson by Sarah Gilman and The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater), I’ve eaten too much chocolate, I’ve gone to bed on time and I played level 29 on Candy Crush about a hundred times. No, really, I’ve been stuck on level 29 for a week now. Those damn jellies! Ahem…

Now I’ve reached the end of the week, and I feel a little spark returning. This weekend, because I promised myself I’d stay out of the WIP until after the critique comes back, I’m going to work on a short story I’ve been meaning to write for a while and outline/noodle on a new project. I’m also writing a post for Dear Teen Me in November. Can I just tell you how excited I am about that? Holy crap. So I may jot a few ideas down on that one, too. Huh, I think this recovery period was good for me after all…I think I’m almost ready to go!

What about you? When you hit a wall in a project, what do you do to recharge?