I’m not quite fond of March; the reason is linked to my earlier profession as a banking branch head. March meant meeting year-end targets, hectic schedules, and no holidays. However, life as a writer gives me an option to choose what I want to make of any month. Though it comes with the difficulty of not knowing when to stop and take a break, it also means that I hold the power to decide if I can balance my deliverables and afford to take a mini-vacation.
I remember blogging about my intention of writing consistently. Since this is my first post in March, it looks like I didn’t keep my promise. But hold on! I’ve not only been consistently writing for forty days unmanaged to churn out until today, but I’ve also managed to churn out 93k plus words for my second novel. Ideally, I should be able to finish it by this month and work on the editing process next month. As of now, it looks like I’ll end the book at a little over lac words, though I hope to cut it down once I start editing and rewriting.
Despite such a hectic schedule, a vacation was long due. The kid finished his Prep 2 assessment, the husband who’s been on duty since last March faced a high risk of burn-out and my eyes were aching from the number of hours I spent working on my laptop. So, we took off on a beach vacation to Mandarmani for three days after a year, and I’m falling short of words to express how special this holiday was. To see the kid running on the beach, playing football with his father, letting the waves splash against him was sheer delight. However, we maintained every safety protocol from wearing masks to sanitizing our hands at all steps.
We returned feeling rejuvenated. The kid is enjoying his session break, the husband is back on duty and I’m clocking an average of three-thousand words per day as I work towards the finishing line of Raya Ray’s second case.
Amidst all this, I thought of grabbing the opportunity of doing the Blogchatter A2Z challenge 2021 in April for the fourth consecutive year. In the first year, I wrote about Bengal as ‘A dollop of Bengal’ series. In the second year, I wrote about our pathetically ridiculous experiences related to Tuneer’s school admission process. Last year, I tried to bring humor into our grim lives by writing about stand-up comedians and YouTube creators in the genre of comedy. Like every year, I’m yet to decide on the theme this year. However, the thrill of getting back to daily blogging is unparalleled. Wish me luck as I conclude my second novel and take the plunge with the A2Z challenge next month.
Sharing one more gorgeous picture from the sun, sand, and sea vacation this month. Stay safe and take care.
soniasmusings 