Find the wonder of support from the other writers HERE.
Meme Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
The awesome co-hosts for the October 7 posting of the IWSG will be TB Markinson,Tamara Narayan, Shannon Lawrence, Stephanie Faris, and Eva E. Solar!
[/asg-content-box]Hey all. We returned from Bali Monday midday, whereupon we collapsed for 24 hours with jet-lag (over 20 hours in transit). I’m still fighting a little brain-fuzz so bear with me. 🙂
Bali was, as you might expect, beautiful, sunny, and smiles from the locals graced us everywhere we went.
Check!
It wasn’t all so idyllic, however.
Hubs works hard and paid a lot of money for a once in a lifetime experience at Melia Bali Hotel and Resort, including all-inclusive access to food, drinks, and VIP areas. Unfortunately, the food/cocktails/evening entertainment was … disappointing. We tried all of the restaurants in the hotel, but it seems they shared a chef – a bad one. : ( The cocktails (even the mocktails) were also horrendous (with ‘off’ fruit and sub par booze), and the only ‘entertainment’ was a lounge singer – who couldn’t sing! The suite hubs booked was not as pictured in the website either (where it looked brand new and not battered and beaten), so we changed rooms to a much better, though smaller room with access to a pool.
They did this without making us feel awkward and were wonderful about it – the staff were lovely.
In fact, the best parts of the holiday for me were the friendly Bali people, the stunning views, and the sea breeze (which I badly needed in the heat), and seeing hubs relax in the sunshine for hours. He does so love to sunbathe.
I could bore you with the details of places we visited there, like the Elephant sanctuary, rice fields, coffee plantation, villages galore, and the Ubud Palace, where the royal family still live while allowing peeps access to the gardens/courtyards, but I won’t. See the pics instead.
We also purchased a laughing Buddha carved from wood (those Balinese peeps are super talented creatives) which makes me smile every time I look at it.
Here are a few pics of those moments:
The Rock Bar was incredible by the way. If you go to Bali I suggest you go take a look and indulge in their food/cocktails – YUM!!!!
What’s all this got to do with IWSG?
Well, because I don’t really enjoy sunbathing, I hid in the shade next to hubs and read several books around the pool. Unwinding with a good book is the best way for me. Seeing my husband smile, relax, in spite of his love of sun damage, makes me smile.
Another way for me to relax is to write. So, on my iPad, I also worked on book two of the Supes series while hubs sunbathed on our patio in the afternoons. This is awesome for me because, after a manic episode over a year ago where I totally ruined (and lost a great portion of) an almost finished MS, I’ve been unable to even look at it. It was way, way, way overdue and decided to take down Finding Esta (part one of the Supes series) as a result. It seemed right for the readers. Thankfully my family/friends convinced me to leave it up for sale (it has some great reviews) and to move on to other projects for a while.
So I did just that. Ghostwriting has kept me busy, as well as writing romance for my pseudonym (first of which will be released in a week!!).
In fact, I’d almost given up on ever finishing the Supes series until this holiday. Reading similar books helped to inspire me. But it was being able to unwind with my best friend which helped me to rewind to the original enthusiasm I had for the series.
Thank you, Bali!
MORAL OF THE STORY:
Next time you are so stuck you want to abandon a project completely, STOP! Switch off. Change direction. It might just lead you back to where you need to be.
Quick book mentions for #specfic readers:
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Awesome! I completely agree. I was having a beast of a time getting into my current manuscript, and then I worked on something else for 3 weeks, a project I’m totally in love with. That’s all it took. Now I’m back, full speed on my book and loving it.
Those pictures are epic!
Unwind to rewind!!! 🙂
Gorgeous pictures!
I’m so glad to read you’re back working on it! I do remember when posted about losing a portion of it, totally felt your pain. But yay for a great vacation that got you back writing your own story (apart from the romance :D) . . . too bad for the horrible food and drinks though, that sucks :-/
Thanks S.K. It’s been a long road back and anyone who read the first in the series has probably lost faith in me to complete the story. I still need to end it for me, and just hope I can persuade readers to come and read it (when it’s done!)
That saying is so true.
Dig the photos. The Rock Bar looks cool.
Sorry the resort was such a bust. At least the people were nice. Now you can warn others to save their money. And you got some writing time in.
Cheers Alex. The best lessons are learned when we stop trying to learn them, don’t you think? It’s like love comes when you stop searching for it. 🙂
I’m so glad you had the inspiration to return to your series! I needed to read this today. The photos are stunning and I’m glad you and your husband were able to relax and have a good time in spite of the problems with the resort.
Wow! Great pictures. Sorry it wasn’t exactly what you’d hoped, but it does sound like it worked out for you in the end. Thank you for your nice comments on my blog. Heather
Your pics are absolutely stunning! Private pool and such a BIG one! It looks like heaven, even if the food and drinks weren’t quite up to par. I’m glad you are working on your series again. Anything that makes you smile has to be a good thing!
That’s a shame the food and hotel weren’t quite what you were expecting, but it still looks like a lovely place. I’m glad you found the time to unwind and be able to find some love for your series too.
Pics are great. A bedroom with access to the swimming pool – fabulous.
No matter what happens, if you get to curl up with a good book, it ends well! Sounds like fun. I don’t like sunbathing, either. As a teen, when I felt pressured to have a tan for prom and such, the only thing that made it bearable was reading while I sunbathed.
Stephanie
http://stephie5741.blogspot.com