I’m barely two weeks back from vacation and my world is still coming back into focus.

And, well… I’m a little ashamed to say that my favourite part of my vacation was the DISTANCE from my books.

Writer burnout is real. Your books consume you.

My book babies have possessed me almost constantly since I first released Book 1 on July 28, 2018.

From there I dived head-first into the downward spiral of a newbie indie self-published writer, and pushed myself to release Book 2 (January 22nd, 2019), shortly followed by Book 3 (March 31st, 2019).

I love writing, I love my books, I love my characters… but all of this took an inevitable toll on my physical and emotional health.

By April (while I was packing for my vacation) in the aftermath of Book 3, I felt like I’d been ripped apart by my characters…

Real-life emotional toll

I guess part of the issue is that I get very, very, very deep with my characters.

It’s real-life romance, baby… and though it’s fiction, it takes a real-life-sized dollop of energy, heart and soul to breathe life into my characters.

I’ve spent so much time living with this story, with these characters, that it’s hard to LET GO. I need to write for other characters, but I’m haunted by the highlights of the characters fully fleshed.

It’s hard to write a sweet scene when I’ve got Darren’s and Luisa’s nasty fight on replay in my head — “YOU THINK YOU ARE SO F**KING LOYAL…” (Book 3)

I’m trying to write something fun for my remaining characters — who SO deserve something fun — but all I can see is Nicole’s dark eyes, her desperation and damage begging — “TOUCH ME, TASTE ME…” (Book 3)

Oh, dear. I’ve made my characters so real for readers — but a little *too* real, for ME!

I needed a break. Thankfully, my vacation — a 3.5-week-long country-hopping cruise/hotel combo — came just in time. And for almost a month, I didn’t do much writer-y stuff. At all.

Writer on vacay (sorta)…

Well, I do need to mention a couple of significant “writer” updates that happened while I was on vacation.

I made a definitive decision to reduce Book 1 of my series.

Before I went off on vacation, I was in two minds about it, as I shared on my blog here. I strongly believe that books shouldn’t be republished and updated constantly, but with some distance, I was able to come to terms with my own feelings of self-doubt and failure as a writer, and I finally decided to take the plunge and cut it down for the greater good.

I worked on it throughout my vacation, and came down to 415 pages (from 555 pages) which is awesome. I’m still hoping to get it under 400 but that would be *really* pushing it, considering how much I’ve already cut. I’ve given myself until the anniversary of Book 1’s launch (July 28th) to produce the slimmer version… so watch this space!

I got an award as a first-time author in my country.

In honour of World Book & Copyright Day, Trinidad & Tobago’s National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS) held a celebration for all first-time authors.

It was unfortunate that I missed the ceremony as I was out of the country at the time, but I sent a representative to collect this fabulous little plaque and pin on my behalf (pictured).

There were a few dozen fellow first-time authors altogether, with a range of different types of books under their belts — self-help, medical, and all types of fiction. Any form of creation takes an amazing amount of courage, and I salute all the others who shared this honour with me.

There was once a time I doubted that I would ever publish anything, so I’m thrilled to say it’s great to now be part of my country’s history!

Next Steps…

So, I’ve got the revised slimmer version of Book 1 due soon… and then what?

Well, I still have the pesky Book 4 and Book 5 to complete. The stories are half-assed and all over the place in my head, so I need to seriously sit with myself and get my head back into it.

You see… my book babies did me in. My characters dug their claws in, and hung on tight… for months. I had to let them go, finally, to get to some level of sanity.

And now that I need them to come back, I don’t trust myself (or them) to maintain a safe distance, and at the same time I need them to cross that “safe” barrier so that they can inspire me to write them.

Oh, dear. You’ve ruined me, my darlings. And now what? How do I top that? How do I fall into another character the way you’ve taken me hostage?

It won’t be easy, I know, and I also don’t want to fall into that downward writer spiral again. There is a delicate balance as a writer that you have to tread, so you don’t cross into that danger zone!

I’m happy that I got the break I did, and now at long last I’m ready to take the next step, whatever it may bring.