Distracted and Uninspired

Hey all.  I realize from the title of this post, y'all might be coming in here thinking I'm in trouble.  I'm not.  Or that I'm depressed.  Not that either.  I'm actually feeling pretty good, which is why it's easy for me to realize I'm distracted and uninspired.  What to do about it?  No clue.

Distracted:  The Kid is coming for a visit starting Saturday through next Friday.  So, I've been cleaning like a madwoman.  Not that she'll care if the house is messy.  Lord knows she's seen worse from me than the regular state this house is in.  There are just things that I need to do and what better time to get them done than now.  Her visit provides the perfect impetus to do those things I've been putting off - like polishing the cabinets and washing the floors. And painting the bathroom. 

The political stuff is definitely distracting.  Ugh.  It doesn't matter who ends up winning, as a country, we're pretty screwed.  But I've thought we were pretty screwed before and we're still here, so I'll hold onto that thought and hope 4-8 years of whoever doesn't send America too far down the path.

Fertile Ground is due to be released this month.  That's a major distraction.  Frankly, this book scares me.  The subject matter is sensitive and in this easily-offended world we occupy, I could catch a lot of flack.  But it needed to be written, so I wrote it.  And I'll send it out into the world as soon as I get over myself and get the damn editing finished.

Uninspired:  I haven't written new words in forever.  Every time I sit down to write something new, nothing happens.  I can't even force myself to write crap.  Bleh.  I think part of it is the distractions. 

This morning over at the Killer Chicks blog, JB Lynn posted asking "What inspires you?"  I couldn't think of a damn thing.  She has some really great examples.  Her pictures were certainly gorgeous and they were definitely good for the soul.  I don't get inspired that way, though.  Dark shit inspires me.  Weird shit inspires me.  Beautiful things can certainly go a long way toward filling my soul and bolstering me, but inspire me to write?  Ut uh.

Okay, here's a little example...  Back when my romantic life sucked hard, when I was in one really bad relationship after another after another, I wrote romance.  Now that I'm in a happy place in a truly awesome relationship with a wonderful man, I have no interest in writing romance.  No internal conflict for me = flat romance writing.  I can hint at it.  I can tease it along.  But the big HEA?  I have one, but I can't write one.  :shrug:

Some of my biggest inspirations have come when something pisses me off.  And maybe I'm just not pissed off enough right now.  I don't know.

Anyway, no worries about whether the distractions or the lack of inspiration will effect the publication schedule.  Fertile Ground will be out this month.  Up Wish Creek will be out in August.  And I'll have all this fixed or filed away for finishing Natural Causes for the Fall release. 

I'm just communicating where I'm at right now.  Which is nowhere near producing new words. 

What's distracting you lately?  What inspires you?

Don't forget to stop back by here on Friday for the worldwide reveal of Fertile Ground's cover and blurb.