Why I’m Taking a Short Break from Writing
I was hoping against hope I could get Book Six: Blood of the Empire drafted by the end of July. But life has been going sideways for the past month, and things just got worse! I feel like a character in one of my own books, though instead of Teodora we have a potentially criminal spoiled brat who … well, maybe that’s an unfair comparison. I mean, he hasn’t murdered anyone. Yet. That we know of.
I’ll try to keep this short, though the situation is sort of complicated. Sorry, it got long. So Tl:dr is, life is currently a dumpster-fire, no time to write, all deadlines are toast until further notice.
As many of you already know, I live in a semi truck full time, writing while my husband drives. We were leased onto a very small, family-owned company, and buying our truck through a related leasing company. As of June 1, we were two payments away from having our truck paid off, and were already making grand plans for that time, including getting out of trucking for good within the next year. Until very recently we were on friendly terms with the company’s owner, and he was always transparent and trustworthy.
Well, you know what they say about grand plans. Nearly a month ago we suspected something was wrong when we were left stranded in Kentucky for about ten days. No response to our increasingly frantic messages until we got a generic email stating the company was going out of business as of June 30. Since both our families are on the west coast, we didn’t want to stay stranded so far east. So we drove back to Idaho- where the company is based- hoping we might be able to talk to the owner and get our truck paid off with the money he still owed us.
We couldn’t get him to respond to us, and in talking to other people involved with the business, learned that was the case for everyone. He owed some folks a lot of money, and a repo man was calling around, looking for trucks and trailers. Our trailer is paid off, fortunately, and we just assumed payments were caught up on the truck because we’d been paying them, and getting receipts from the leasing company. With no word from the owner, we conducted our own, increasingly confusing investigation. Considerable drama ensued, which I won’t go into, because my head is still spinning from all of it.
The upshot is, we didn’t find out until yesterday- because the one person with all the information won’t talk to anyone- that a lender is looking for our truck because no payments have been made on it since February. We’re trying to reach the lender now and see if they’ll work with us.
But because we live in the truck, we have no home and no car. So taking care of that is first on the agenda, along with looking for work. My husband already has several leads on local driving jobs and I’m applying to temp agencies. I’ve been trying to write through it all, but I just can’t get my head into the right place, and trying to meet my usual daily goals is only piling on the anxiety right now. So I’ve decided to take a little time off. Hopefully it will only be a week or two while we make the transition to something like a normal life.
On the bright side, we’ve been ready to get out of the truck for a while. We had pictured it differently, but it’s happening like this, so we’ll make it work.
Unfortunately, that means my hoped-for release date of late summer/early autumn almost certainly won’t happen. Even when things settle down, if I’m working full time I might not be able to write as much as I usually do, though I’ll do my best to keep it going. I’ll be sure to keep you posted with an updated release date as soon as I can figure one out.
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oh my word! I can’t believe that. I was excited for you and your grand exit plan! Oh, I can’t imagine how much stress you must be under. THere’s no way I’d be writing either! I hope everything works out quickly for you guys.
Aw, thanks! I was hoping the writing could be a refuge from the stress, but that’s not how I operate, apparently. 🙂
(just commenting again so I can click “Notify me of new posts via email.” 🙂
That’s awful, I hope things turn around for you soon. Take all the time you need, we’ll all still be here for you! <3
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So sorry to hear this. What a dreadful thing to happen to you guys especially when you were doing what needed to be done. Prayers for you both that you might be able to work something out with the lender and that you both will find a good job. Also that you can both step both and breath.
Thank you so much!
So sorry to hear about your problem, Christina. I do hope you can sort it out and be back to writing soon. Good luck.
Thank you!
This is absolutely insane. If it’s worth suing this guy, I hope you and the other workers can band together to be financially compensated. I can’t imagine how stressful that might be, so I hope it all gets sorted out super soon! Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.
Thank you! We’re looking at a lawsuit- there are quite a few others who might join us if it seems viable.
Ouch ouch ouch. We’ve all had times when life turns into a dumpster fire, but this is exceptionally yucky. I hope everything turns out as well for you as it possibly can.
Thank you! 🤗
OGL, Christina. Sounds like you finally found the hornet’s nest. Let me know what’s happening if and when you get a minute. This whole thing just sucks. Makes one not want to make plans ever. Sigh…
I’ll try to email you later today. I got yours too. Sounds like we need a good, old-fashioned pity party! 😉
I will venture forth and restock the party closet! Shall I buy some booze?
Booze is definitely called for! I’ve already put a severe dent in world ice cream supplies. 🍦
I just can’t believe some people! That is such an awful experience for you. I surely hope everything works out for you. XXX
Thank you! We’re pushing our way through- I’ll post another update in a bit!
Super bummer! I swear this is the year of Upset and Turmoil. It’s like being trapped in a Christina Ochs novel! I wish you all the best.
Haha- maybe my characters are taking their revenge. I will have to write my way out of this, it seems. 🙂