Hi there, folks! I figured it’s about time that I poked my head out of the hole I’ve been hiding in since February and rejoined the world.

For me, the stretch of year between February and early April is the absolute pits. The holidays are over and the festive spirit is dead. It’s still cold, particularly where I live in Northeast Ohio. And when the snow finally melts, the world is cast in that muddy gray blah that makes me want to burrow under the covers or fly South.

Since jetting off for a Mexican vacation wasn’t in the cards, I chose to burrow. So for the past couple of months, I’ve been spending most of my time reading, writing, ignoring social media and people in general, and willing the earth to hurry up and turn.

At first, I tinkered with a new romantic suspense novel. The nascent project had already gone through several iterations, and after much deliberation, I decided to let it simmer. Too much air kills a flame, so I tucked my outline, partial draft, and notes away and resolved to return to them when the weather got warmer.

Instead? I pulled out my trunk novel. Everyone has one of those, right? The book you started writing years ago only to shelve because you just couldn’t make it work?

In any case, I have one, and on a whim, I decided to fish it out of the depths of my hard drive and reread it. And, whew boy. If there’s one thing I learned from the experience, it’s this: writing improves with practice.

I hadn’t looked at my trunk novel in nearly five years—it was my first real attempt at book-length fiction—and it’s so bad. Not I-want-to-pitch-myself-in-the-river bad. I still like the premise; it’s just a beginner’s embarrassing first attempt at writing. So much passive voice. And unnecessary backstory. And cheesy dialogue. And adjectives. And…and…you get the idea.

So I started replotting. And revising. And just plain having fun with it.

Even if I ultimately bury a knife in its chest and this book never sees the light of day, I’ve enjoyed flexing a different set of creative muscles than what I’ve been using for the past year writing brand, spanking new romantic suspense. Plus, it’s practice. And practice only makes you a better writer.

What else have I been doing between bouts of trunk novel revision while I hide from the world? Happily drowning in books, of course.

Laini Taylor’s newest YA novel, Strange the Dreamer. Absolutely beautiful and imaginative and so much YES. I want to crawl inside of the pages and make a nest and just live there forever. Maybe not in Weep, but somewhere in Laini Taylor’s haunting brain.

I read new-to-me author Amber Bardan (2017 goals, woot!) and some of her scorching romantic suspense. I gorged on three of her books—King’s Captive and the first two novels in her Bad for You series—and can’t wait to read more.

Toss in some Isaac Marion, Rebecca Brooks, J.R. Ward, Victoria Aveyard’s entire Red Queen series, and anything else I could get my greedy hands on, and I suppose I can consider the well of creativity refilled.

As I’m writing this blog, it’s finally warm enough that I’ve opened the window next to my computer. The daffodils outside are standing tall and proud and trees are beginning to bud. I have no doubt that pollen is floating in on the breeze—at the moment, I’m suppressing the urge to scrub my face off—but nothing could make me shut the window right now, nothing. I’ve been waiting too long for Spring and it’s finally here.

My energy levels are powering up like a solar battery. I feel the urge to rejoin the world and refocus my writing life. What’s in store? Who knows. Pretty soon, I’ll re-examine that romantic suspense novel I let percolate. It’s about time to revisit it and forge a writing schedule for a new project. And my trunk novel? Maybe it’ll stay buried in the trunk. Maybe not. We’ll see.

In any case, bring on the next chapter, 2017! I’m out of the burrow, and ready to take on the world. My little corner of it, at least.

How did you handle the winter blues? Do you feel as energized by Spring as I do? Share in the comments!