Pressing the pause button...

Sometimes in our literary lives we  need to regroup.
I’ve been doing this with my agent  this past week and it has been a bit like unbuttoning a shirt too tight at the  neck. Ipso facto - a relief.
We have pulled the submission of a  manuscript  while I press the pause  button a moment to ensure that I am targeting the right genre and that I am  truly playing to my strengths.
This kind of regrouping is perhaps  inevitable for a writer like myself who loves to experiment as a means of  growth. Make no mistake –experimenting is good. But it can take you a little
off track now and again and I fear this may have happened just lately in my  case.
 No matter. No problem. I have just  had a couple of short stories published (this week and last) so I have rewarded  myself by stepping  away from the  desk to enjoy a  week of pottering.
  I have been scouring antique shops and bric and brac stalls for inspiration. I  have filled my house with yellow which for some reason never fails to help me  focus. And I have bought a new teacup and some beautiful new hearts to hang in  my kitchen. 
For however often we may need to  press pause and whatever agonies we  endure as writers over genre and
strengths and highs and lows, one thing for me is always crystal clear. If I am  not writing from
the heart about the things in life that move me and truly matter to me  then I am not doing my job. 

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