jenniferbrown09

Last week was a week like none other I'd ever experienced. I knew it would be wild, and tons of work, but I really had no idea the brand of crazy it was going to be. Good crazy, but crazy just the same.

I thought surely by the end of the week I'd be one giant ulcer, unable to put a full sentence together my hair white and fingernails chewed with worry. So it began to feel like the Best Idea Ever to just... get away. So I did.

I unplugged. Packed a couple pairs of shorts and a swimsuit in a backpack. Grabbed the Hub, the kids, the tents, and the bug spray, and headed south to Noel, Missouri. The laptop stayed home. The cell phone stayed off. I didn't check my Facebook, didn't update my status, didn't obsessively check my Amazon sales rank, didn't tweet once.

I did a lot of looking into a fire contemplatively. Riding in a car silently (came up with a new story idea that I'm dying to pursue!). Laughing with friends. Paddling a raft down the Elk River. Swimming with the tadpoles and crawfish and, yes, even the leeches in said river.

My friends seemed to sense that I needed a break from it all. We only had one (very short) conversation about the book. We didn't talk projects or signings or writing at all.

Gah, it was wonderful!

And now I'm back, and I'm totally recharged. I'm dying to get some fiction-writing in. I'm motivated to work on promoting Hate List some more. I'm psyched for a some workshops I'm leading this weekend.

Sometimes the calm after the storm is all you need to be ready to face the whipping wind and the pelting rain and the thunder and lightning when it comes back again. Bring it on, baby!