Here’s the TLDR version of this post: For medical reasons, I’m backing off of my Wednesday is for Writers column (as well as my Tuesday Steals & Deals posts and Friday’s Featured New Releases). I’ve been dealing with some stuff that has made me beyond exhausted (which is bizarre for me, as I feel a close personal connection with the Energizer Bunny). But it’s real and it’s frustrating, and my bottom line, always, is to protect my health, which protects my stories. So for at least a little while, all of my energy is going to go toward my writing. Because I can’t not write! (And, since often times, energy is fueled by being in the world, I’ll be a bit on social, too). End of TLDR. Keep reading if you want to know more!

I’m someone who wants to do All The Things. I always have been. I wish I had all the hours and all the lives so I could write books, study physics, be an underwater archeologist, study Greek mythology, train for a triathlon, travel everywhere, etc. etc. etc.

That’s not possible, of course, but for most of my life, my normal has been moving at about a billion miles an hour. For a while, though, I’ve been feeling off. Vertigo, persistent tinnitus, brain zaps, weakness, and exhaustion. OMG, the exhaustion.

Long story short, I now have confirmation that it’s not my imagination or age (getting older is really not for wimps). Nor is it depression or anxiety. It’s neurological, and though we are still doing investigation, it apparently stems from a head-injury over a decade ago. We’re still doing tests and all that good stuff, but the prognosis for treatment and getting past this is good. But until then … well, until then, I have limited bandwidth. So I’ve decided to take a hiatus from anything that uses that creative brain time. And while I do have an assistant who does much of the Tuesday and Friday posts, I still play a role, and obviously the Wednesday writing post is all me.

So I’m putting those on hiatus. I may (hope to!) still post about the art and craft of writing, and I’m sure I’ll post randomly on social media, because creativity needs breaks and fuel, but I need to remove the scheduled aspect of those posts in order to protect my writing and not burn out the fuel source. (Can I just say that exhaustion sucks? And tinnitus isn’t much fun either.)

And, to turn this post into a Writing Life post, for all you writers out there, keep in mind that you sometimes have to make hard choices to protect your creative engine.

Thanks for understanding!