Blocked? Not Exactly...

Last week was not so good. For one thing, my writing output has really dropped off. Normally I get a couple of pages done in a day, but lately I'm lucky if I make it through a paragraph.

Stress kills writing. It kills my mood, and I can't write when I'm in a down mood.

And I had two really good reasons for being in a down mood this week. First, I found out that an author event I've been trying to set up at a big Indigo bookstore has been cancelled. Second, My boss told me that, starting Monday, my hours would be cut. It seems there simply isn't enough work to justify my position, at least on a full-time basis.

Two things led to this. One, the mailroom just got rid of some work. We were all very happy to see it go, but we should have known better. Two, we've been doing a process called Benchmarking for the last three weeks. This involves writing down exactly what we do and how long it takes us to do it. Looking at the numbers, and factoring in the work that's gone, someone's time had to get chopped. And when you've got three full-timers and one temp, well... it's a pretty easy choice.

The sad thing is, they were going to hire me on full time back in August. I went through two interviews, and then they went quiet. Now I know why. Too bad. I would have gotten dental benefits. I haven't seen a dentist in over a year. Suckage.

Heh. I remember I made a commitment to being more positive a few posts back. What happened to that?

I do have some good news. I have a book signing set up at a smaller Indigo store on December 18. It used to be a Coles, where I've done signings before. That will be fun. I'll have something good to blog about that day.