I’m back! It has been a long hiatus, but I’m really feeling the energy right now. Like waking up with a huge albatross not weighing around my neck. I’m sure plenty of people have felt the strain of four years of constantly assuming crash position. Four years of waiting for “it” to happen; that sense of dread that never seemed to lift. Things are looking much brighter now, but it is still a lot of transition to process. And a sense of collective Stockholm Syndrome (“Is he gone yet?”) that will take time to disperse.
I myself stepped away for a bit while dealing with the aftermath of an initiated divorce. Which is still unfurling. That in itself has been like stepping through a doorway into another lifetime. It was a long marriage. (Coerced engagement in my teens, etc…) And a very oppressive one. One in which I was held under such control that I was not allowed access to bank information. Or any other account numbers. Or even our WiFi password. It was a marriage of the type more commonly seen in Saudi Arabia than the USA. Now he is gone. The freedom was too much, nearly frightening at first. And then, of course, there was the issue of dealing with my traumatized daughter. But she, for someone of her age, has managed to work on herself and overcome a lot. Though it hasn’t been easy for her.
Anyway, I have been getting my ducks in a row. We have been rebuilding our lives and figuring it all out. First just the two of us, but now with the help of my loving and supportive partner. Things are better. I do have a fourth novel in the finishing stages. And, most curious of all, I’m back into writing short fiction! I never expected THAT. There was just something about the pandemic that got me into it again. The liminal nature of the time. Or maybe that sense of urgency about it. Always that sense that time can’t be taken for granted so I want to get things down, fast!
You can read my latest new story here: https://www.eclectica.org/v24n4/erickson.html
More to come!
Chemtrails and Roses 