Moods

This has been a rather bizarre week for me. While I read less when I’m working really hard on the story, I still read a lot. Last week, I read a total of two books. (Star Doc by S.L. Viehl and Marriage, Interrupted (Silhouette Special Edition) by Karen Templeton–both very good.) I bought nine or ten books (good thing the spouse doesn’t read this blog–not sure the spouse even knows I have a blog) this past week (among them the two I read), and most of them still sit on the TBR pile.

And isn’t that thought depressing? I have a TBR PILE. I have a whole bookcase–I’m talking three shelves on an entire piece of furniture–that is for my as-yet-unread books, and the books have metastasized to the floor and even the giant large bookcase that is supposed to be only for keepers and reference books. And every time (after I read the two books I read) I went to pick up a book to read, I’d look at it–even though I might have read the opening pages in the bookstore, which influenced me to buy the dang thing–and I’d put it down again. I just wasn’t in the mood to read it. I wasn’t in the mood, apparently, to read anything. Because I haven’t. Not since Wednesday. And for me that’s a really long time.

I have a wide variety of stuff on my TBR shelves (and pile), from historical mysteries to romantic suspense to series romance to romantic fantasy to “pure” fantasy to alternate histories to… well, to a history of the Black Death in the Middle Ages. And Nothing struck my moody self as desirable to read.

Moods can be problematic in writing as well. Sometimes you’re just not in the mood to write. Or to write fantasy, or to write that stupid love scene, or… And when there is a deadline looming over you, too bad, so sad, sit your butt down in that chair and write it anyway. Get yourself in the mood.

How do you do that? Get past that–“I want to read, but I don’t know what/I need to write but I’m not in the mood”–kind of feeling?

I’ll do my best to be back here before the week is out and post a follow-up to this about what I do. (Reading…nothing. It’ll pass, and till it does, well, there are always crossword puzzles to be worked…) Hopefully, I’ll remember to show up soon. Maybe even tomorrow.

Then again, maybe not. (Yeah, I know. Sloppy blogger. I admit it.)