Late Morning/Midday, Friday, February 28, 2025, Miami, Florida
It’s a warm and muggy day in South Florida as the workweek – and the month – comes to an end and another weekend beckons. Right now, it’s 76°F (24°C) under brilliantly sunny skies, but with the humidity at 50% and a gentle westerly breeze at 3 MPH (8 Km/H), it feels more like a steamy 87°F (29°C). Tomorrow might mark the start of meteorological spring, but with the rising temperatures and the pervasive stickiness in the air, it feels more like the onset of summer.
Yesterday was quiet on the writing front. I’ve got this thing I jokingly call a “literary refractory period.” Whenever I finish a scene or chapter in Reunion: Coda, my brain just shuts down, and I’m left staring at my computer screen in silent (or maybe not so silent) frustration. These “refractory periods” can be as short as one day or as long as a week or two. It’s maddening, these unwelcome pauses in the writing process. No matter what tricks I try, they keep coming back.
But hey, that doesn’t mean I didn’t do any work on the novel. While Chapter 26 is still uncharted territory, I did dig into some epistolary material that’s been simmering in my mind since before Act III of Reunion: Coda. I wrote it late last month for the emotional climax of both the novel and the Reunion Duology. It looked good even as a first draft, but it needed some polishing. Since my brain wasn’t in the mood for starting a new chapter – whether by outlining the first scene or writing it outright – I figured I might as well work on revisions. Better that than wasting my Thursday playing Sea Power or any other game in my Steam library.
As for today’s writing session?
I’m hoping to produce something – anything – once I get back to my desk after my midday break. Right now, though, my mind is a blank slate when it comes to the novel. Maybe a nice lunch and a bit of R&R will help create a mental space more welcoming to the creative muse!
A Certain Point of View, Too 
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