Deadline Brain

Yesterday I turned in my completed manuscript to my Harlequin editor. The sprint to the deadline is always exhausting, but deadlines do something to my brain, too. I call it "deadline brain," and it causes me to have conversations like this:

Me: "Hon, I'm going to the store to buy some ...
Husband: "Some what?"
Me: "Some ... you know, the white stuff that comes out of a cow?"
Husband: "You mean milk."
Me: "Right, that's it! Milk."
Husband: "Okay."

The husband doesn't even blink anymore when I can't come up with the simplest words or remember something he just told me. Chances are, after the above conversation, I'll get to the store and buy a basketful of stuff ... and forget the milk.

Sometimes I'll catch myself just standing stock still, staring at a wall in a complete daze, and I'll wonder how long I've been standing there. Also part of this syndrome is a complete lack of interest in writing (and possibly the conviction that I'll never write another book, that I'm going to do something else now like weave baskets).

Fortunately, the condition of Deadline Brain passes in a day or two. A couple of nights sleeping long and hard usually helps. Gradually, a few creative thoughts will slip into my conscious mind, flashes of a new character or snippets of conversation, or something will stir a memory that will get me to thinking, "What if?" Then I'm off to the races again.

But not today. Today I'm lucky to get a blog post!

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Writing News: My June Harlequin American, RELUCTANT PARTNERS, got a 4-1/2 stars TOP PICK from Romantic Times!

If you haven't yet entered my contest, you still have a couple of days. Visit www.karalennox.com, and click on the contest button. I'm giving away my January book, GOOD HUSBAND MATERIAL, and a few other goodies as well.