Thorny Problems

 

by Bethany Maines

This week has been a bit of roller coaster ride for my writing.  I received some very excellent news which them prompted me to move up several items on my to-do list, which further caused me to do the thing that I had been dreading… Call Apple Support to fix a problem with my Apple ID.  I have had three different people on my “case” and have now been bumped up to a “Senior Advisor.”  In short, my problem has been deemed an actual problem (hmm… like I said at the beginning?) and I have been moved away from the people that tell me to do things like “spell out North, instead of putting N.” and “try clicking ‘add’ 4 times really fast.”  Which is probably good because I was starting to make notes for killing off a customer support specialist in my next novel.

But all of this has left me feeling more than a little bit blocked.  I want to do one simple thing, but suddenly the simple thing spawned multiple problems and multiple frustrations.  Usually when I’m feeling frustrated I can dive into one of my writing projects to escape, but unfortunately I’m feeling blocked on many of those as well!  Book #4 of the San Juan Island series is holding until I can figure out who finds the body.  I’ve got it narrowed down, but I’m not sure who would be the best person.  My sci-fi version of Beauty & the Beast for the Galactic Dreams Anthology series is with my co-writers and I don’t want to write the next section without their input. So what’s the solution to this thorny issue?  Here’s what I came up with…

Step 1: Go blackberry picking

Step 2: Make pie.

Step 3: Eat pie.

It may be the long way around for pie, but it is a solution to a very thorny problem.

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Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she's not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.