Writing again

I am writing again. It is slow going. I have a good couple of minutes and then get stuck again. I outlined the next three chapters in my current work in process on Saturday, but got stuck there, not sure where to go to weave all the threads of all the stories together in a way that makes sense.

I started thinking about this book in November of 2021. It was an idea then, without much substance. Over the next year or so, it started to get more real in my mind. Storylines, characters, all of that. I finished two novels and a novella while this idea was incubating. I started working on this book in December of 2022.

I didn't know where my life would go as I was writing this book. I was still hopeful when I started it that Cecil would continue to respond positively to chemo and his cancer would stay in check. I didn't know he would die before I finished this book.

The main character in this book (if there is ever a main character because my books have so many stories woven together) is actively grieving and processing his grief. There is probably a lot of me in Ezra and his feelings.

Just like this blog helps me process my grief, so does writing this book. When I am writing, and walking and getting things accomplished, the days are easier. I already know there will be a spin off novella from this novel, and I have started working on that as well, to try to keep moving when one story stalls. It has been a fairly common practice since I embarked on my journey to be an author to have two works in progress all the time.

I really wanted to finish this book in 2023. That will not happen. It will mark the first year since I published in 2018 without a book published. It had to happen sometime. I'm hoping that I have really turned a corner this time, and my writing will continue, and this book and the next will be published in 2024.

I know one thing. When this book is finished, I will celebrate. Because writing a book is a huge accomplishment. Maybe, just maybe, this one will sell well too.