How can I miss you, but stay away, you ask? Weell, let me just tell you, it has to do with severe burn out. I've learned some things about myself this past month or two since I've been gone. I've learned that we are NOT all created equal.
I thought I could do it!
I thought I could do a massive GUTGAA blogfest, help with two others, go to Disney for Thanksgiving, beta read a manuscript, multiple query critiques, Christmas, shopping, travelling, New Years hoopla, kids school crap and a pretty large and in charge revision of my my own.
And I'm cool with that now. Just so you know I still love you all. You were in my thoughts constantly:)
Now that I am back, I want to give my buddy Jamie Ayers a major shout out!
TODAY IS THE RELEASE OF HER NEW BOOK!!!!
To kick off this crazy cool day right, you can join in the 18 Things BOOK BOMB. Don't know what that is? Go HERE to check it out! I'm so totally excited for her! I wish her the best in so many ways!!!
You should totally go buy this book. I am! Here are the links:
Now for the big question. What's everyone been up to while I've been away? I would seriously love to hear and and ALL the news!
Welcome back Deana! We missed you. And what do you mean you can't do all those things? I thought you were a robot. No? :) <3
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! I love the 18 Things book cover.
ReplyDeleteWas wondering where you'd dropped off to? I think you are allowed GUTGAA burnout. That was intense!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! We missed you, too, and are happy to see you again. :)If it makes you feel any better, I am so not one of those people, either. But the important stuff gets done, right? I mean, my kids are fed and stuff. ;)
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! I can't do it all - I'm so so so so so aware of that. Don't beat yourself up, just do what you can do and enjoy the ride as much as possible :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome back to the blogosphere, Deana! That does sound like a ridiculous amount of things to do. O_O I think we all deserve a break every now and then. I try not to take on too much, but sometimes it can be easy to overestimate my ability to juggle multiple to-dos.
ReplyDeleteAnywho, congrats to your friend Jamie! The cover looks really cool.
In recent news, my blog is turning three years old in about a week. :) I'm having one of my favorite bloggers guest post as part of the celebration! So excited!
Have a great weekend!
~Wendy Lu
The Red Angel Blog
Burn out is natural. I don't blame you for taking a hiatus. :) Welcome back!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back and very excited for Jamie!!!
ReplyDeleteEverybody's different, so don't sweat it! Glad to see you here. And yes, I've got 18 Things on my blog, too!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! Sometimes we all just need a little vacation. It's easy to get burnt out. Taking a step back is nice!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back. I've missed you! And congrats to Jamie!
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid you don't want to hear about the trauma I've been through the past two months, but I've moved again and I at least have a happy announcement to make on my blog on Feb 1.
Yahoo! Deana's in the house:-) So, so glad to have you back, but you are just one of those AWESOME people who could go away for a year and then pop up again and we'd totally never hold it against you and understand and celebrate your return! Thanks so much for picking 18 Things book release for your new post . . .I'm overwhelmed with joy right now! It's showing up on the hot new releases for paranormal fantasy at #3 and #9 for Coming of Age and I think it's up to #30 overall or something. I dunno--can't keep track and can't quite believe it. I keep crying-just so thankful for wonderful blogger buddies like you that helped me along the way~HUGS!!
ReplyDeleteI sure as hell couldn't get all that done either Deanna! You deserved a nice long break! ;) Welcome back.
ReplyDeleteI have learn some just right stuff here. Definitely value bookmarking
ReplyDeletefor revisiting. I surprise how a lot effort you place to create this
type of excellent informative site.
my site > Are Work At Home Jobs Real
Welcome back! That cover is so awesome.
ReplyDeleteI love that cover! Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI'm always happy to get something in my in-box from you! And everyone gets it, sheesh! Yu've got a lot, a lot going on. And yay for Jamie! She's killing it. And I'm so excited to have her at my blog on the 5th of February! She's all kinds of sweetness, just like you!
ReplyDeleteI totally understand taking a break! I'm also someone who just keeps taking on more tasks assuming I'll be fine, and then lo and behold, nope! My brain fizzles out and I often end up sick on top of it all, so I'm forced into a break kicking and screaming.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm glad to see you're back! It'll be great seeing posts from you again.
Girlfriend you are a rockstar for tackling all of that! Here's to a more manageable 2013!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Jamie! Very cool cover!
Welcome back! You did a lot during your break.
ReplyDeleteI've started my second semester of grad school, my first full-time grad semester (last semester I only took one course, to test the waters). I won't have as much undivided writing time as before, but I'm approaching the 200,000-word mark in my WIP and so am a bit under halfway done already.
So good to see you in my reading list on Blogger! Yes, we've missed you!! Hope you've recovered from your burnout. I too, have suffered a bit on that end. I'm not sure how some do it all either. Something always suffers with me, and I hate when it's the writing that suffers. My answer is back off of the social media stuff, but then I feel some say, "Well, she never visits me, so forget about her." Probably my imagination.
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a fabulous job at doing it all. :)
So, what have I been up to? Well, I found an agent! Yup, that's the best thing happening in my life right now.
Look forward to reconnecting!
I always wondered how you did it girl. Amazing, seriously. Good for you for taking a bit of a break. Glad to have you back!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're back, and you really deserve a break! Thank you so much for all that you do for this community! **hugs**
ReplyDeleteDude, the fact that you post twice in the same month is impressive to me. Put your feet up, pop a bottle, and relax...it's so good for your writer's soul.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I so enjoy your posts and all that you do for the writing community. Also, Jamie's cover left a little drool stain on my shirt. YUM!
I agree with you on burnout. I've had to do a clearout and step back from some things.
ReplyDeleteUm, yeah. I had to cut back, too. I'm glad you survived though. *hugs*
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! Whew you sound like you had much on your plate. Isn't it funny how we seem to think we can take on so much?? I've a bad habit of doing that too then kicking myself. Ah, well, it all turns out well in the end. I did an announcement post back in December that I signed with my agent from the GUTGAA fest. So just remember that you're craziness was worthwhile. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe GUTGAA contest was such a great thing for me. It yeilded a lot of agent requests for me--and subsequently, rejections, but almost every agent gave me a reason why, and that information was invaluable. So, thank you for all your efforts. I'm sorry you burned out on everything from last fall, but I appreciated all the efforts with the contest :) Glad to see you back in 2013!
ReplyDeleteHappy to see you are back after a good break!
ReplyDeleteI started and almost finished a new WIP, became a copy/content editor, had a great holiday, won several contests and am still in the running over at Harper Voyager. Not bad for two months ;)
Thanks to GUTGAA last year, I signed with Musa Publishing to publish A PLACE TO CALL THEIR OWN!
ReplyDelete