Distracted? Sept. 20, 2012

 

It seems very strange that her stories wind up at the top of the most hit list every week.

I’m not disputing the quality of the work, rather just the oddity that of all the writers we have, her stories consistently make the top five or so.

I’ve also noticed she does fewer stories these days than she used to do, sometimes a few as three when the rest of the writers have to come up with five.

Considering she has more towns to cover than the rest of us, you would figure she’d have more than enough to meet the five stories each week – especially now after Labor Day.

Maybe things haven’t yet picked up for her. Summers tend to be slow in every town and her towns tend to be weak in hard news, which is why over the last year she’s produced so many quality feature stories.

But even the quality these days isn’t as good as it was back in April when she was pumping them out, one really great story after another.

In one email, she admitted she was having a hard time finding stories in one of her towns.

But I suspect it is the tension getting to her. Of those stories she’s published since the beginning of this month, most seemed more scattered than the stories of the past, as if she’s distracted, each missing that incredible spark they had during her peak.

It has been a tough emotional summer and it apparently is wearing on her. Plus, with the boss back from maternity leave, there is more pressure to produce hard news – which is what got her in trouble with the mayor of the nearby town.

Her work seems forced, ill organized, and she seems distracted.

And I’m pretty sure this isn’t just about me.

She hasn’t posted a poem in three weeks, so there is no clue as to what is going on in her head.

Her poems provide some glimpse into her thinking, and I prefer seeing them even when I’m the target of her rage. This way, everything is a mystery, and I’m not sure if I’m to blame for her malice or not.

 

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