Ever since I finished my two latest books a year ago (Madame ZeeZee’s Nightmare and Unfinshed, I haven’t done much writing. Not much blogging, either (though technically, blogging is writing, so I shouldn’t separate the two.). There’s always been an excuse. A shattered arm/wrist/elbow. A fuzzy mind from opioids. (I used to think I had an addictive personality, but I guess not — I was glad when I finally was able to handle the pain and stop taking pain pills.) And then there was the very hot summer. (The air conditioning in this room I am renting is minimal, and I was too hot to think. But then, I didn’t feel like thinking anyway since I seem to be in a drifting mode.)
Well, enough of the excuses, and more than enough of the parenthetical comments!
When I mentioned my non-writing to a friend, she said, “Well, write something.” Since I always try to do what people request (unless, of course, I am in a rebellious mood), here I am.
In 2011, I participated in a hundred day blog challenge: to post something every day on each of the last 100 days of the year. The time is long past to be able to duplicate that challenge, but coincidentally, I just discovered there are 50 blogging days until the end of 2017, and since I love even numbers, coincidences, and serendipity, I decided to try an abbreviated challenge.
And challenge it will be. I have little to say, no real inclination to say what I do have to say, and making a commitment goes against the drift, but what the heck. I never let a lack of wisdom stop me from blogging before.
All this is by way of warning for those of you who follow this blog. Today and the coming forty-nine days are more for me, just for the discipline of it. I don’t expect you to read or comment on my meanderings, (especially not this blog post), but if you desire to do so anyway, I will be glad of the company.
And maybe I will even be glad of a chance to stop the drift. Just drifting has been good for me, but it doesn’t really accomplish much, and before I leave my current place (the road — and an epic adventure — is calling to me), I would like to finish the book I started a decade ago, clear out some of the stuff in my storage unit that I haven’t been able to get rid of yet, become strong enough physically to go hiking again, and oh, so many things!
So, this is a start.
Perhaps.
***
Pat Bertram is the author of the suspense novels Unfinished, Madame ZeeZee’s Nightmare, Light Bringer, More Deaths Than One, A Spark of Heavenly Fire, and Daughter Am I. Bertram is also the author of Grief: The Great Yearning, “an exquisite book, wrenching to read, and at the same time full of profound truths.” Connect with Pat on Google+. Like Pat on Facebook.
Bertram's Blog 
November 12, 2017 at 2:44 pm
After five books, I have only written one chapter since 2012. My publisher went out of business, and I am not motivated to do anything about it.
November 12, 2017 at 3:04 pm
I’m not motivated either. I can’t seem to sell many books, (I never have been much of a marketer) and that lack of reader interest keeps me from wanting to write. And yet, there is that one last book to finish . . .
November 12, 2017 at 7:09 pm
Good luck!
November 13, 2017 at 4:57 pm
[…] Fifty Day Blog Challenge […]
November 14, 2017 at 9:50 pm
1 Days blog challenge is my max 😦
November 15, 2017 at 10:57 am
Sounds good to me!
November 17, 2017 at 7:34 am
You seem happy, Pat. I’m glad!!!
November 17, 2017 at 5:39 pm
I am, mostly. I try not to worry about the future, which makes today a lot easier!
November 30, 2017 at 5:07 am
[…] subsequent discovery of NaPoWriMo (similar to NaNo but for poets), and a writer friend posted her 50 Day Blog Challenge, I decided to do a combo of all […]
November 30, 2017 at 7:47 pm
[…] I hadn’t challenged myself to posting a blog every day for fifty days, I wouldn’t be sitting here at the computer trying to write . . . something. […]
December 31, 2017 at 3:52 pm
[…] Despite that, with this post, as unpleasant as it might be, I have fulfilled my fifty-day blog challenge. […]