Okay, S isn’t really for Sabbatical, but that’s going to be the stand-in for now.
It may be no surprise by now that I dropped the ball on The A-Zs of Worldbuilding Religion last week. To be honest, I’ve been teetering on the edge of burnout for probably close to two months (COVID-19 pandemic aside, there has been a LOT that has gone on in my personal life this year) and I’ve been desperately clinging to the writing deadlines/goals I outlined for myself back in December before everything imploded.
My 2020 Writing Goals were ambitious, but realistic. I wanted to establish a daily writing routine, and I wanted to be consistent with my blogging and social media, and I wanted to draft one (just one) novel this year, and publish the next two volumes of The A-Zs of Worldbuilding. Surely that wasn’t too much to ask, right?
Spoiler alert: Apparently it was.
I had every intention of writing all my April A-Z posts for Worldbuilding Religion back in February, and that everything would be prescheduled, and that I would actually have time to do both Camp NaNoWriMo (to finish expanding Vol 2 of A-Zs of Worldbuilding) and visit other A-Z Blogging Challenge folks.
That all changed mid-January. My husband got sick–very, very sick. Sicker than he’d ever been in his life. (As an aside, my husband had to visit the doctor last week for something else, and his doctor highly recommends that my husband be tested for COVID-19 antibodies as soon as there is a reliable test.)
Right after my husband recovered, my 97-year-old grandfather fell for the third (and final) time since Christmas. Barely a month later, and after navigating the ins and outs of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis and setting up hospice care, and visits from extended family… my grandfather passed away at the beginning of March. Thankfully, he passed away peacefully in his sleep, in his home. But that came not even two weeks before nearly the entire country (USA, for my international readers who may not know where I am for sure!) would go into some form of lockdown/shelter-in-place. We haven’t even had his funeral, and are not yet sure when we’ll be able to.
And as March ended, with pretty much nothing but uncertainty on the horizon, my husband ended up furloughed for a not yet then determined amount of time (the first 2 weeks of which were paid, and the last 3 weeks which were not). All of my routines had been pretty much been smashed to pieces at the beginning of March, and so April has just been… pretty much taking things hour by hour. (My husband went back to work today just so you know. He does not work in an industry where he is exposed to the general public, so for our finances sake, this is a huge relief.)
I did okay keeping up with things until last week, when our typical Oklahoma Spring Weather settled over the region, and the migraines started again. I’ve also been trying to get spring and summer garden prep underway, and my aging flock of feathered dragons chickens has dwindled to FOUR, so we’ve added a new round of baby chicks to the equation as well. The baby chick thing was supposed to be easy, y’all. A friend is raising them for me until they’re old enough to be outside permanently, and we’ve had a 50% mortality rate. I’ve never experienced this before and we’re both thoroughly baffled.
March and April have basically been too much all at once, for me. I’ve had practically zero time to recharge any of my introvert batteries (whether spiritual, creative, or physical), and now my body and mind are forcing me to take a break.
So now, as the metaphorical smoke begins to clear, I am exhausted. February, March, and April have put me through the wringer multiple times and I need a break. All of that to say… The A-Zs of Worldbuilding Religion will be back on May 4th with S is for Saints. Probably with no more than 2 posts per week until that series is finished, and then we’ll pick up right afterward with cleaned-up versions of the very first set of A-Zs of Worldbuilding posts from the 2014 A-Z Blogging Challenge.
Thank you to everyone who’s stopped by so far in April, and hopefully over the next couple of weeks I’ll make it back to your blogs to do some reading!
Stay healthy, dear worldbuilders. See you again soon!
Rebekah Loper began creating epic worlds and stories as a child and never stopped. She is the author of The A-Zs of Worldbuilding series, and has a fantasy novella published in Beatitudes and Woes: A Speculative Fiction Anthology.
She lives in Tulsa, OK with her husband, dog, two formerly feral cats, a small flock of feathered dragons (…ok, ok, they’re chickens), and an extensive tea collection. When she is not writing, she can be found battling the elements in an effort to create a productive, permaculture urban homestead.
Sorry to hear of all your troubles. I hope you feel better soon, and I look forward to the rest of the alphabet whenever you’re able.
(Click the Blog link on the second row) : V is for Victuals
Thank you, Anne! I mostly just needed some quiet time where I didn’t *have* to work toward a deadline every single day.