Ambition & Abandonment

2014 really started out with a bang. My debut novel, The Sowing, has been doing great on Amazon and other online retailers. I finished writing the first draft of the second book in the trilogy, The Reaping, in late December. I’m working on a novella set in the same world, from a different character’s perspective, TBR in March (hopefully). I started a new independent project I’m releasing serially on my blog, tentatively titled Porous. I’ve been doing author interviews, book reviews, and creative posts on my blog left, right, and center. And I finally landed my dream job – a full-time position at a winery in Paso Robles, California as a lab technician.

I have been ambitious. But sometimes, ambition gets you into trouble.

These past two weeks, as I’ve been working 40 hours a week, flying and driving around to different parts of the country, moving my whole life and finally settling my nomadic heart down in one place, I’ve realized that perhaps I overstepped my limits. I can’t keep blogging the way I was in November and December while holding down a full-time job, working on a collaborative novel, a solo novella and an independent writing project of my own. I can’t be on Twitter all the time, promoting my work and having conversations (as great as they are!), when I’m working during the days and trying to get writing done at night. I can’t sacrifice my personal health, running, and eating well, for the sake of this blog.

I just can’t do it all.

So I’m backing down. I’m going to stop doing author interviews and book reviews for the time being, at least until I figure out how to better manage my schedule. I need to focus on my creative writing and on making sure I’m performing at my best at the winery – oh, there’s so much to learn in such a short time! – and the interviews and reviews just don’t factor in there. There simply aren’t enough hours in the week.

I’m going to continue writing Porous, which has turned into a real passion for me. I will (hopefully) continue to update that story once a week. I’ll continue tweeting and retweeting articles and creative pieces by friends and writers I admire. And I’ll – of course – continue working on the stories set in the world of SEEDS. I owe it to everyone who has read the first book and helped us achieve success with that to continue working on the trilogy. That’s more important to me than anything. But everything else will have to be put on hold. At least temporarily.

In the meantime, you might start to see sporadic posts about wine. I’m living in the heart of wine country in the Central Coast, in a gorgeous town, working for an amazing winemaker and a great company. I’m looking forward to sharing that side of my story with you all, if the inspiration strikes. After all, I’m sure everyone knows the joys of writing a great passage, or reading a few chapters of an awesome book, with a glass of wine at hand.