The first obvious problem is Chloe being gone. She was an integral part of Anipal Land. Heck, the first story about the war with the Queen of Bavaria conures was based on something mommy saw at Parrot Mountain when they adopted Chloe. We loved writing and sharing those stories with you, but it leaves you confused and floundering when one of the protagonist dies. Mommy said that her efforts to carry on Anipal Land in Chloe’s absence feel forced, and not as good. There have been a few short stories, but she hasn’t cared for them as much, and didn’t get the same reactions from the online community, either. I think we can agree that everybody feels that void where Chloe used to be when it comes to Anipal Land (and Twitter). We feel the void from all of our anipals who have gone over the rainbow bridge.
The second issue is that mommy isn’t interacting with the bird community on Twitter as much as she used to. The writing community has taken off, thanks in large part because of the #IndieApril event and hashtag. She’s got a lot of new followers and her interactions with her writing are taking off, but the bird community seems to be decreasing in proportion to the writing increasing. Maybe it’s the result of the “results go where attention flows” thing. She got really focused on writing when she wrapped up and published her book series in March and April. Then Indie April happened, and that ball’s been rolling ever since. Interactions with the bird community on Facebook have picked up the past few months, but Facebook is more about interacting the post right in front of you than checking out other media. Things on Twitter have changed, and things on Facebook are different. It's nobody's fault; it's just life. All things change in time. It happens.
The third problem is her monster case of writer’s block. She’s thinking about retiring Anipal Land and starting something new, but the problem is what that new thing will be. She needs to have a concept to recruit anipals to join the adventure, but that drawing board is still blank because she’s drained dry from finishing and publishing a five book series. We don’t think it would be particularly smart, effective, or fair to ask “hey, do you want to be in a story about something, somewhere, sometime, eventually?” Of course not. You’d want to know what you’ve volunteering your likeness to be a part of.
So mommy isn’t giving up on writing those fun bird stories. She just doesn’t know where to go from here, or whether there’s any interest in continuing it or trying something else. It’s like she says to the question of what to watch now that Game of Thrones is done: something new will rise. You just have to give it time. So roll on, and when that next new thing comes, you’ll know. And when it comes to this, we’ll be sure to let you know just as soon as that light goes off over her head.
Then again, you might see it yourself. Or perhaps it’s emerging already, and the signs are subtle right now.
That’s all today. Take care, and have a great week.
Luv,
Zack