Talented and Talentless

Guess what's happened to me recently? No fooling. I've become tone-deaf. I wonder why. I'm actually tone-deaf. Now I know how it feels. I'm not ALWAYS tone-deaf, it's just when I try to sing a new song non-acappella that I become tone-deaf. It's like a whale in pain trying to moan over a guitar. It started a few weeks ago and doesn't get better no matter how hard I try. I can sing acappella just fine, but stick the guitar under me and I fall to pieces. It's like I've gone completely Mark Wohlers. Maybe it's psychological. Maybe I've just not been singing enough lately. But it's never happened before. I didn't think it COULD happen. But I'm living proof. I honestly think I've heard child performers who have sung better. I'm not too concerned though because I assume it'll go away in time. If not, I've gotta be the first case of this ever happening chronically. In better news, I'm now reading a new novel that's blowing my mind. I stayed up until 6am reading it and even then I was so riveted I could hardly tear my eyes away. There are only two things about this novel that make it unique: 1. it's unfinished by the author, and 2. I am the author. Hmmm....Seriously, I've never read a book I liked better. Almost. This was the book I was working on a couple months ago--it was taking up all my time and I was even dreaming about the characters. I loved it. Then I got hooked on this other one so I put it aside for a while. It's around 400 pages which is awful because that's only halfway there and once I finish what I've written it's on me to actually write the rest of the book. How irritating! What if I can't? What if I'm all drained of ideas? What if the second half will be stupid? On the one hand I'm excited I could write this well; on the other I'll hate myself if I don't finish the rest of such a cool book. It's weird being author and audience all at once. Leave it to me to be in such a strange position: shocked I can write so well and shocked I've forgotten how to sing.