It’s been a rather testing year. At the beginning, the troubles I’ve had with my neck for nearly 20 years abruptly escalated to the point where I couldn’t write. Physiotherapy and an MRI later and it seems like the problem is both a worsening of muscular issues along with the new complication of a slightly compressed disc and nerve.

Writing is the main culprit. It’s easy to tell it is. I can still paint and draw, if I stand up. I can dig in the garden. But if I sit or extend both of my arms for more than an hour even the strongest over-the-counter pain killers can’t cut the pain. Sitting and extending is worse.

(I should add: I’ve tried dictation software before, and it doesn’t work with the way I write. Please don’t sent me emails suggesting it.)

Keeping away from the computer for all but an hour a day for eight months has helped. So has reducing tweeting to a minimum – mostly just reading and replying to notifications. But it hasn’t cured me, and it’s likely this is a long-term problem that will only go away completely if I never write again.

That’s no fun.

I figure that, since I managed to write the last half of Successor’s Promise in an hour a day over about seven months, then polishing over another month, producing books is still possible. They’ll happen a lot slower, but that does give me more planning and plotting time. But before I launch into the next book, I’m having a rest for a few months (if you call physio, pilates and other exercise-related treatment a ‘rest’) to see if that helps as well.

I hope you’ll find it worth the wait.