Look who’s back! “Who dis?” I hear you say, and yes, you have every right to forget me – I’ve been gone for three months. In cybertime, that’s like a generation. I’m sure new Twitter stars have managed to rise and implode since then, but I wouldn’t have known. I was too busy getting married and starting my new job.
Speaking of getting married – look at this happy couple!
You almost can’t tell that it was 39 degrees Celsius, which is just over 100 degrees Fahrenheit…crazy, but that’s the January in Melbourne for ya! I know that some of you can’t feel your toes right now, but trust me – you wouldn’t want to feel like you are cooking alive, either.
And yes, I’ve been at my new awesome job for almost three months, and yes, it’s incredibly demanding, but enough excuses already. I want to tell you about a wonderful thing that happened yesterday.
I came home late, as usual. Good thing that Josh cooks, because if not, I’d be surviving on tuna cans and stale bread. Early to rise and late home from work makes Ana one tired woman. So tired that a mere thought of sitting down to finish that third book or even write a new blog post creates involuntary spasms in my legs, which usually results in a couch faceplant, supplemented with trash TV. Every now and then I would also feel intense regret that the writing dream is over, and then pass out to start the early-to-rise cycle all over again. Sounds familiar? Yeah, it sucks.
I’ve tried beating myself up, writing daily plans, and setting up a reward system, but nothing was working. That is, until yesterday. I was in the shower, trying to wash off the daily stress, when I sort of spaced out. I was fantasizing about how my life could be different, when a story idea came to me, as vivid and real as one of those hallucinations I had when I was high on opiates in the hospital bed. When I came to, the bathroom was full of steam and my mind was full of plot twists, characters, and whole scenes.
My sister-in-law came over to have dinner and watch “Married at First Sight,” so I had to play hostess for a couple of hours, but all I could think of was the new story. I could not wait for the stupid show to be over, so that I could write down the idea, I was that afraid to lose it. I jumped onto the computer as soon as I could and did not get off the chair until Josh started yelling from the other bedroom that we had to get some sleep. I could not stop thinking about it this morning. I told my sister. She liked it. In fact, her exact words were: “Yep, here we go again!”
Yes, indeed. Here we go. A completely different new novel, a psychological thriller with little comedy, if any. A male protagonist. More character development, although I’m in love with the plot too. And I have a feeling I will be able to spill it onto the page in a couple of months – last night I could barely keep up with typing out the ideas as they were flooding in.
I don’t know what you’ve been up to in the last three months, and sorry again for disappearing, but if you’ve been self-beating and self-hating over a writer’s block, perhaps it’s time to try spacing out in a hot shower. Let me know how you go.
Ana Spoke, author 
Hi Ana, so glad you are back.. You’ve been missed.
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Thank you so much Kathy 🙂 glad to feel this energised again
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Ah wow congrats on getting married and your new job!
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Thank you! All happening at once 🙂
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You’re welcome!! 🙂
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Thank you!!
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Congratulations!!!! Welcome back!!!!
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Thank you! Yay, so glad to feel creative again
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Wondered what you were up to. Welcome back. You never know when an idea will hit you! And congratulations on your marriage.
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Thank you so much Patricia 🙂 I’ve been trying to get a new idea happening, but it just wasn’t working. I guess it was the right time.
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Much love and many blessings! ❤
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Thank you Annette! And thank you so much for sharing.
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Welcome back! You were missed. Congrats on your marriage and new job. 🙂
Looking forward to hearing more about the new story!
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Thank you! It’s all happening at once 🙂
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Hi, Ana so glad to hear from you! I knew you were busy being a newlywed and starting a new job AND that was enough for a while. I’ve always told you that you were going to go on and write other novels of a different genre. I have a gift of knowing things that are going to happen and this was definitely one of them. You will succeed in another genre and you will become a best selling author and you’ll know it when your writing the novel. It will be plain as day ,as they say, when it happens. Went thru my heart surgery with flying colors. Been on the mend and hoping to get to writing my own book this year. I’ve got several running around in my head. Glad to hear you love your new job and that it is going well. As I told you before you made a beautiful bride and Josh looked so handsome. Did you get to go on a honeymoon? Hope so. Write when you can and run with the idea, it sounds great. Take care and don’t work to hard. Definitely missed your blog! Let us know how the book is going when you can. Congrats, again!
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Thank you so much Olivia. I definitely believe that it will happen, with my persistence and work ethic it just has to. Just very glad to have this overwhelming new idea, I’ve tried to get going before but everything was just too much.
So glad you are on the mend! Yay for the modern medicine! I definitely have a different view of surgery having successfully gone through one myself. Hope you get to write that book, just pick one 🙂
Oh, and we did go on the honeymoon before the wedding, just worked out that way with the new job. Bali was it and it was hot and perfect, just like Josh, haha!
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Great to have you back, and congratulations on the marriage. You make a beautiful couple and I’d never guess how hot it was because you both look so cool in the photos. Glad to hear you’re enjoying the new job, and especially glad to hear that there’s another book on its way…
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Thank you so much Susan 🙂 I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been at the moment…
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I had a block for a scene in the script. So before bed I was lying on my back thinking about it and the whole scene, dialogue and how it played out came to me there and then
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Isn’t it awesome when it happens? No wonder poets used to think Muse or divine power was responsible…
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Go for it, girl! You’ve been very generous with your advice to other writers. You deserve a story-break and hopefully hubby won’t get sick of cooking.
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Thank you Felicity! He’s the best, the cooking has been his domain for a year probably. I’m not entirely useless, but I’m happy with the clean up part 🙂 Hopefully the break from writing will mean that this new story will keep coming in fast and furious.
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Congrats Ana, on your marriage, new job and off course– the story idea! And yeah i can understand the frenzy of getting a new idea 🙂
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Thank you Saqib! It’s the best feeling, somehow I got a wave of new energy, I don’t know where it came from, but I like it 🙂
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So glad to see you back…Happy Valentines day.
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Thank you and happy Valentines Day to you too!
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Congratulations! On both your marriage and your inspiration. (I bet Google is happy you are back as well. ) 🙂
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Haha, thank you Cee Tee!
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Congratulations on your wedding, new job (glad it’s going well, even if it’s exhausting) and new idea! It all sounds great, even the thought of 39 degrees sounds good right now (you’re right, I can’t feel my toes at the moment!).
Great to have you back 🙂
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Thank you Claire 🙂 Now I just have to keep at it for a few months. The blog helped me finish the first book, so fingers crossed, I will finish this one as well.
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Ana, I thought you’d disappeared forever and was just on the point of emailing you, when you reappeared. Congratulations on your marriage (you look beautiful in that wedding dress, despite the heat). And talking about heat, I’m just going to have to turn my daily shower up, as I’ve had a totally directionless few months, wondering if I wanted to continue with pursuing my writing dream at all. Good luck with your new idea 🙂
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Haha, hope it works! It’s hard to persist when the rewards are so few and far in between. Maybe a completely different style to challenge yourself?
Thank you for the good wishes, Sarah, it was a wonderful day and its been a wonderful few months in general.
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Congratulations on the job and marriage! (You two look so happy and cute!) My hubby and I are celebrating our 41st anniversary today! 💕💖 Yes, marriages can last! 😃
So cool about the story idea! I wish a story would appear out of the shower steam for me – I’m needing one.
Again, congratulations on all the good things happening!
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Thank you Pearl and congratulations on your anniversary! I do believe marriages can last if you take care of the relationship every day.
The idea was also borne out of the intense conversation I had just prior and the frustration I felt – it was like fantasizing up an alternative-world solution. Maybe if you can think of “out there” ways to solve a real life problem, something would come to you?
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Yay! All good news! I was just thinking about you!
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Thank you Jena 🙂 Good to be back.
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Wow! Congrats, Ana, on everything – job, husband, new novel!! Cheers to you and best of luck!!!!
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Thank you Ellie!!
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Welcome back, and congratulations. Your struggle to resume writing after a long time away speaks powerfully to a dilemma I’m currently facing. I’ve been posting daily for close to five years now, and after one too many “I know this sucks but I gotta get this out” posts, I realize it’s time to stop making my blog an obligation. However, if I don’t post on Monday, will I care about posting on Tuesday? And what about Wednesday? What motivation can I employ to make sure I keep writing? Any suggestions would be welcomed.
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Replied on your blog, Keigh, hope it makes sense.
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Yay! Writing again! And congratulations on the happy marriage and wonderful job. Glad to see you back in this space. Happy writing!
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Thank you so much Sarah!
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Thank you for sharing!
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Congrats on the wedding!! You were a stunning bride, and he is a lucky man!
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Thank you J.R. 🙂 I’m a lucky woman too 🙂
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As long as you both think so, you’re in the money.
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Exactly that 🙂 spiral only upwards
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That’s the ticket!
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Congrats on all your GREAT news!
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Thank you Kim!
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Congratulations on your great news! Stunning photos.
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Thank you Eva 🙂 And those were just iPhone snaps…for some reason I have to seek a special permission to only put professional photos with a logo on, not worth the hassle.
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Lovely wedding photos. Congratulations!
Glad to know you’re writing again. Sometimes we need an extreme break from it in order to be able to do it again. All the best with the new project!
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Thank you! Wrote 800 words yesterday, after a full-on day at work, so its so far so good 🙂
Taking a break works for the gym, too.
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There’s nothing better than that thunderbolt of inspiration (and it always seems to strike in the shower …)
Congratulations on your wedding! And on surviving that heat, wow.
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Thank you 🙂 it’s still going – 800 words yesterday and 1,100 today, and that’s after long hard work days.
I wish I could have a daily massage. I bet I could get this book done in three weeks.
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Ohh, me too! All writers should get mandatory massages. That should be part of the book deal when you get published!
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