It's Not Writers' Block, It's Sunblock!

Well, it finally happened. The Arizona heat got to me. OK, maybe not the heat, but the humidity that seems to be hanging over us like a sponge, just waiting to wring itself out. Trouble is, it never does. And as a result, my head feels too heavy for my shoulders and trying to write a coherent thought becomes a major process.

Even the dog gave up tormenting me while I write. He sprawled out on the tile floor and became a permanent fixture for most of the day. The cats didn’t even bother to scratch on the door to get into my office. They gave up, too. One of them tried to cough up a hairball, but even that was too much effort.

And this is in a house with air-conditioning and overhead fans! 

I’m now in the editing process for a new novel that should make its debut sometime in 2014, but at the rate I’m going, 2015 is beginning to look good. I know I’m suffering from heat related inertia because the only progress I’ve made so far is to argue with the contents of Chapter IV, “Words and Expressions Commonly Misused,” from the fourth edition of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style.  Once I even swore I would get even and find my copy of the Chicago Manual of Style, but that would involve bodily movement and I just don’t have the energy to get out of my chair. 

But this is different than just being tired. I honestly think the combination of heat and humidity has caused some of my brain cells to stagnate. I spent fifteen minutes trying to decide if the word I wanted was “tact” or “tack.”  And another ten minutes deciding if I was going to use either of those words! 

The calendar may say September, but here in the foothills of the White Tank Mountains, it’s still summer and still monsoon season. It’s not the sky that’s cloudy, it’s our brains! Everyone is messing up and it’s not their fault. From serving the wrong coffee at Starbucks to medical billing nightmares, everything is off kilter. I can only count the days until the dry air returns and the fog from my head lifts. 

Meanwhile, I’ll make the most of it. I’ll pride myself on being able to open a word document and remember how I filed it. With luck, I’ll finish my new novel before the next millennium.