Postus interruptus

What happens when life trumps blog

Definition: 

• an interruption from regular posting on blog

Symptoms:

• few or no posts over period of at least 5 days
• lack of accompanying tweets over the same period
• increasing quiet
• growing anticipation
• irritability

Causes:

• ice storm that results in an extended power outage (minimum of 48 hours) 
• power outage results in no heat (though we're on a geothermal system), no water (since the pump for the well and the geothermal runs on electricity), no toilets (since no water), no electricity, no wi-fi  
• double-sided fireplace saturates air with smoke when burning for over 48 hours (although some heat produced)
• overwhelming concern for our furry little ones who refuse to eat due to change in routine
• major holiday requiring extraordinary commitment of time and energy
• inability to catch up on all activities suspended during power outage (is that a cause or a symptom or perhaps both?)

Risk Factors:

• reduced motivation for posting regularly
• reduced creativity
• impaired writing ability
• flawed use of conventions
• loss of confidence
• impaired memory
• bottleneck of reviews
• disgruntled authors and publishers hopeful of reviews

Treatment:

•  commit to completing one major post (e.g., of new releases for 2014 spring) before end of the month
• schedule posts for completed books, including Totally Unrelated (Tom Ryan), The Gypsy King (Maureen Fergus), A Fool's Errand (Maureen Fergus), Falling Kingdoms (Morgan Rhodes), and Driftwood (Valerie Sherrard), for the beginning of January so that they will be evident in the January blog archive for the full month
• reassurance that the condition is not fatal

Prognosis

• excellent
• return of regular posting of book reviews and other book-related posts can be expected