On Nothing

I ran into a bit of near writer's block late last week / early this week. Truth be told, I'm not writing nearly as fluidly as I did back when I had a job. Back then, it was an escape from a really dull career. Not that I disliked my job, but there's only so much repetition one can do before his brain starts to go in strange directions.

Here, though, I can do whatever I want whenever I want. Sure, I have a schedule. But a couple of weeks ago, I realized that I didn't have to set the alarm at 7. Or go for a walk after breakfast. Or, you know, actually write once I got on the computer. No one's tracking my internet usage.

That changed on Monday, when I went for a job interview. At first, I was really enthusiastic, full of zip and pep. Only... everyone was so dull and miserable. When I told them that I was the kind of guy who liked a 40 hour workweek without overtime because I wanted to get home to my wife, I got a weird look. "Well, here, most people work until 7 or 8 at night, and they come in on the weekend. Not every week. Just when it's necessary."

I got home and emailed the recruiter, apologizing, but explaining that the job just didn't feel like a good fit. It wasn't the overtime. It wasn't the company. It was the people there; they seemed like they were just sleepwalking through the day, just trying their hardest to get through life.

That killed the writer's block. Realizing that I can either get some writing done or sleepwalk through the day.

Rejections, rejections

More rejections over the last few days. But this morning, I got a rejection that made me a little happier - they enjoyed the writing, but they didn't feel they could work with the book. Still, they'd like me to send them future submissions.
I'm starting to wonder if some of the problem with The Dead Rise is the atheist aspect. Maybe that's a risky sell, especially now. I'm going to pull it back from querying for now and try focusing on the next two books; they're far more mainstream (and, according to Rebecca, reader-friendly. Which is another problem with The Dead Rise; it's a first novel by someone who majored in computer science. It's a little clunky.)

Rejection!

Not the best way to begin a morning; the full-manuscript request ended in rejection. Inconsistent writing, no offer of reevaluation after an edit.

Rebecca says I should start querying The Cherubim, as it's a far better book (I agree; The Dead Rise is a little piecemeal.) But I don't want to give up on The Dead Rise yet, as I really like it.

I'll keep querying as I work on this book, and if I haven't found a home by the time I finish, I'll work on getting The Cherubim up to snuff. But man, I wish today had started better.