I did that

It has been a rough couple of months for me. This grieving thing is so very hard. Yesterday I was scheduled to walk 11 miles in preparation for the St. Jude Half Marathon on December 2. Instead of going to City Park, which is my usual distance venue, I decided to walk on the lakefront path along Lake Pontchartrain, right by my house. I don't know why, but the lakefront called to me.

There is not as much distraction on the lakefront as there is in City Park, so I spent way more time in my head. That turned out to be a good thing.

I don't know how to explain how hard it is for a writer when you just can't write. I would open a document, and stare at it. When I tried to read what I had already written, it was like someone else wrote it.

As I was walking, I tried to come up with a new idea for a serial novel, thinking that might break the logjam in my mind. I couldn't think of anything. I started to wonder if I would ever be able to write again.

Then somewhere between seven and eight miles, I got an idea for how to get unstuck. And this morning, I wrote a few words. I didn't even try yesterday. Instead, I watched football and baked bread for the first time in probably forty-five years.

As I was walking and generally dismissing myself and my abilities as a writer, I was getting more and more certain I would never write another book.

That is why this picture is here. I did this. I have written nine, count them, nine books. That is not nothing. If I never write another, this is still a big accomplishment.

But I will write more books. I am a writer, I have to write like I have to breathe. I stopped trying to think about writing a book yesterday, and remembered that I write stories. And those stories come together and create books.

I don't know how long this good patch will last. That is the thing with grief, it is totally unpredictable. But I will write for as many days as it lasts. Stories. Ordinary stories of ordinary people. Because all of our ordinary lives are interesting and inspiring. I hope my books help all of my readers to see that.