Living Through a Drought

 Living Through a Drought

Our neck of the woods has been going through a drought. June first marks the first day of Florida’s rainy season, but of course, there is still no guarantee of rain. The little girl on the Morton’s salt is a reminder that “When It Rains, It Pours.” I hope she’s right. No big hurricane. Just the rain from one.

Not to sound like a poet or something but our daily lament around here has been, 

“The lake is down. Our grass is brown.”

Yep, we need rain. You may see some green in the photo, but what you see is usually underwater...And the dock is high and dry!

My writing went through a drought for a while, too. 

There was a season of life when I struggled to gather my thoughts or sustain my steam if I did have an idea. It was a rough time as a writer. That’s why I have a file full of writing I call “Fits and Starts.” 

It may be the ebb and flow of every writer’s life. I don’t know, but I’ve heard other authors speak of “slumps” or “dry spells” in their writing. It may be that way with all creatives. I know painters who search for that particular “light of inspiration” or people who throw pottery on a wheel and turn out something I like, but it doesn’t have “the feel” they were seeking.

The trick is to trudge onward. I did manage to keep my blog going during that time my writing seemed to suffer. I went through the motions of writing and had a couple of short stories published in anthologies and Chicken Soup for the Soul. 

Fortunately, now...after the drought in my writing world, I have a lot of “irons in the fire” so to speak. 

·   I have a book scheduled to be released in September by Mt. Zion Ridge Press. 

·   I have just completed a three-book series I hope to pitch to Love Inspired.

·   I have a new book I am crafting and another I am still researching. (The research on that one is particularly deep and important since it is my first real attempt at a full- length historical fiction manuscript.)

So, here’s the thing to we all need to keep in mind. Droughts don’t last forever. In the weather or in our personal endeavors. 

And now? As I type this, a light rain is coming across the lake. It’s a reminder: Droughts simply don’t last. Eventually the rain will come. And the words will pour out onto the paper.