Cheap Encounters

Just a quick reminder that Close Encounters of the Urban Kind is officially released on April 4 (I know - Easter Sunday. Strange) and that if you're planning to grab a copy there's a discount on pre-orders available now. Get in early, fork over less cash!

No Work and All Play Makes Pete a Dull Boy ...

... which largely explains why I've not posted on here for a while.

A couple of days after my last blogging appearance I got a short email informing me that I was no longer required to do the job I've held down for around 13 years. Of course, I've been freelance for a while, but this was something I had carried over from my staff position before going out on my own, something that had been a constant on which I had come to rely. Freelancers tend to be the first against the wall when things go wrong, never more so than in the Global Financial Crisis. But while each and every other freelance gig I had secured over the last few years got cancelled in the wake of that disaster, this one had clung on.

And now, for the first time ever, I'm completely, properly unemployed.

Perth being the farthest point possible from the beating heart of the publishing world, it didn't take long to decide that I'll have to move back to Sydney. That's the city where I've been applying for work, that's where I'll go ahead of the rest of the family when I land something. And when I've earned enough money to pay for them, I'll bring everyone else with me.

That sounds more dire than it is. I'll actually be quite pleased to get back out east where I know I'll be able to earn a living. What's been strange, though, is what's happened to my other writing.

You'd think that with a day job out of the way I'd be getting more of that other writing done - short stories, editing, blogs, all the things I'd normally prioritise a little lower than the "proper" work.

Nope.

For around three weeks I've done sod all but drink tea and play computer games. My desire and drive to write was completely and utterly gone. Maybe I just needed some time to veg.

At the end of last week, however, the dam burst. Suddenly I was off and running again, turning out a short story in a couple of days and mentally plotting two more. I've done critiques for three fellow scribblers, and got back into an overview of a friend's novel. I'm interested again.

So that's where I've been - doing precisely nothing worth writing about on here. But now I'm back in the saddle. With a bit of luck I'll be doing something new and exciting soon and telling you all about it on here.

Fingers crossed.