So Diving In came out this summer. It was a great feeling, to finally see this book that I worked on for almost a year finally out there in the hands of the readers. I thought, I better get a start on the third book so I can get it out next year! And this will be even easier, because I wrote the rough draft of it two years ago for NaNoWriMo!
I was wrong. I spent three months rewriting the third book, and with each week that passed, my daily word count grew smaller and smaller. The harder I tried to continue, the harder it was for me to figure out what was supposed to come next. By the seventh chapter, my character was too tired to continue. I was tired. It sucked.
I tried rejuvenating myself with NaNoWriMo. I set aside To See Clearly and opened up GCA4, Flying Free. I thought if I focused on a different character and a different point in the charaters’ lives, I would be happier and type faster. And the knowledge that thousands of others were joining me in NaNoWriMo would spur me on to greater heights, right?
I got into the third chapter before I realized that November had suddenly passed me by and I was nowhere near the 50k mark. So much for that endeavor.
For NaNoWriMo, I do have somewhat of a legitimate excuse. My husband and I are in the process of buying a house. I’ve spent the majority of the past month packing and planning what kind of items we will need for our new house. Honestly, the situation has become slightly more stressful than I thought it would be. And thus, for the past three weeks I’ve hardly written a word. I haven’t even had time or the desire to read.
Then good news came this first week of December. The cover for my second short story was done. I received it from my cover artist, and with great joy I uploaded it for distribution to all e-book sales channels. By the way, A Telling, the second tale from Pocatello, is now available for the Kindle and the Nook!
But that’s not what I came to tell you about. (Although I would appreciate it if you bought A Telling—and read it.) I’ve avoided posting here for over a month because I was tired of writing and ashamed of that fact. I love Rahab and the Grover Cleveland Academy series, but writing books three and four have been frustrating and unrewarding. Diving In came so easily to me. Why am I dragging my feet so slowly on these next two? Where is the motivation?
So for the past two or three weeks I have felt really bummed because I wasn’t writing and I didn’t feel like writing and I didn’t know what to do about it. And then, as soon as my cover came back to me, I felt like writing again. Maybe it was the visual image of something I had penned. Maybe it was just the remembrance of what my ultimate goal as a writer is. Maybe I had just languished long enough and my ennui expired.
What I did know was that I couldn’t ignore the sudden urge to write, not after it had been gone for so long. I opened up my fourth tale from Pocatello and began typing. Maybe it’s not the manuscript my “fans” are clamoring for, but it is a story that I love to work on, and it is something that I plan to publish next year.
It feels so good to be writing again. With all the stress of moving and Christmas and making sure my kids are bundled up enough to go play in the snow, sitting back and creating another world is peaceful. It is the rejuvenation I was hoping for last month.
Now, I’ve only been at this a couple of days, and once we move and begin to unpack and Christmas springs upon us, the writing will probably be placed on the back burner again. But then when January rolls around I can remember how much joy writing gave me, and maybe it’ll make it easier to start up again. And maybe, next time, it will be on Grover Cleveland Academy.
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A Telling is the second Tale from Pocatello. Approximately 8,600 words.
Natalie doesn’t fit in anywhere. To the Nerjans, she is just another slave, the daughter of a long-dead rebel. And Les Tristes, her enslaved people, shun her due to her ability to hold magic. Rejected by both worlds, Natalie knows that it is time to take control of her own future.
Allowing herself to be sold to a wealthy family in Nerja feels to Natalie more like an adventure than a sentencing. If she can keep her magic hidden, serving the noblemen of Nerja will be much better than slogging through the swamps with Les Tristes.
But when a Wanderer discovers her secret and her new start is threatened, Natalie realizes how truly limited her aspirations have been. Can a slave girl overcome her destitute beginnings, reach her potential, and find a place to belong?