The thing is, having a baby and publishing a book are two incredible, amazing, phenomenal events. People spend months to years trying to get pregnant or achieve a book deal. I've been there. I know how depressing it is to watch seemingly everyone around you get what you crave so badly when you're working SOOOO hard. I get that.
But the flip side of it is that, once you get pregnant or get that book deal, you're not allowed to complain about anything related to those privileges. EVER. Or you're considered ungrateful. So, even though there are a lot of hardships that go along with growing a baby or revising a novel... you're not really allowed to talk about them.
I guess that's why I haven't been posting much lately. I've been grappling with a lot of physical discomfort, and no one wants to read about that. I'm working on a SLIDE 2 revision that my editor and I are really excited about, but I'm kind of putting all my creative energy into that, which doesn't leave much motivation for blogging.
BUT. Despite the stress, this is one of the most exciting times of my life. Even though I'm not sleeping much and am undergoing all the indignities related to pregnancy (seriously, coughing uncontrollably while a 6 pound baby pushes down on your bladder... you get the picture), I am sooooooooo thrilled to be welcoming a new member of our family into the world in the next two weeks. Even though it's incredibly difficult for me to concentrate on my revision, I know how much better it's going to make my book. SLIDE is going to hit the shelves in four months. My mother has almost fully recovered and is enjoying her life after suffering a brain aneurism last fall. On Thanksgiving, I got together with my family and friends and enjoyed some delicious food. 2011 has been an extraordinary year for me.
And, for all these things, I'm beyond thankful.
P.S. I'm also thankful for wonderful friends/critique partners like Megan Miranda, who just sent me this:
*melts*
