Friday, 21 October 2011

Doubt Crows


Yesterday I had a bad attack of the doubt crows.


The worst thing about the doubt crows is they don't just attack one insecurity, they swoop down and peck at everything.
They told me:
  1.  I am wasting my time writing
  2. I take on too much, writing takes up too much time
  3. I am a Bad Mother
Interestingly they said I was a Bad Mother for over scheduling activities for the 8 year old AND for neglecting her to write.

Contradictory doubt crows.

They picked apart every worry I have about work, finance and life in general.
And once they start it's hard to banish them.

Every published author I know still gets attacked by the doubt crows. This week there has been a series of inspirational blogs by lots of Harlequin M&B writers to help New Voices entrants battle their demons.

Barbara T Wallace chronicled her fifteen year path to publication, Maisey Yates reassured us that she didn't win a competition either, Jessica Hart told us about books she wrote that didn't make it to publication and Donna Alward gave us a much needed talking to.

I banished the evil birds (for now) with the wise words and sympathy of my on-line writing friends and then met up with friends for pasta and just a little bit of wine. This morning my husband took the daughter to school allowing me a much needed and very rare sleep-in.

Today it all seems much better. Sometimes we all need to allow ourselves a little bit of wallowing, just not too much! 

Also the second chapters were uploaded yesterday. There is a huge amount of exciting talent out there.  I was pleased to see that my favourite from the first round produced a fantastic second chapter. I'm rooting for Charlotte Phillips' Honeymoon with a Stranger. How about you?

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