After a Time in the Wilderness

      Hi guys,

      Long time, no blog! Yes, it’s been like that. Okay, it’s not the Golden Crowned Lurgy keeping me down. I might’ve blogged more if that was the case. But life’s been, well, interesting, not very writey, but I’m making some headway into The Ways Out – chapter three, baby!

      So, how does it feel getting onto book two when I haven’t gotten anywhere on selling, much less advertising, The Ways In? And noting my style has tightened, and in a sudden side project (#writerlife) has seen me get even more economical? And that life’s been a bit more alluring than writing, and going to church?

      Okay, I really don’t know where I’m going with this blog. But in the spirit of perseverance, here goes answering.

      I feel weird writing TWO. In fact, I felt like I had to re-write the two chapters I’d already committed. Thanks to a text narrator read through, these read well, and are sitting much better with me now. Just a niggling doubt now, but I think I can leave that until editing.

      The weirdness kept me writing just snippets at a time. Today is almost two pages, when courtesy of a conversation that ended with “Can’t wait to read your next blog post,” I turned to writing this. Back to TWO, post readthrough, it doesn’t feel like I’ve gone bits at a time. But where I had planned a one page get through to a main moment, it’s stretched to two pages and I don’t know how long the next moment is going to take.

      In fact, I’m plotted out until the end, but found I have too much going on for the chapters I had planned. The aim was 23 chapters, same as with part one, but I think there’s going to be a few extra chapters by the time I’m done, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.

      Maybe I’m just being hard on myself. Maybe those parts of life that seem good, that have kept me company in recent weeks, have just been too alluring to get into writing. I think I let things get between me and the writing, and that much needed me-time. Or it was really just my meds change that was screwing with my sleep. Or everything, thrown in with pure lazy. I’m complex like that.

      I’ll leave it there, don’t want to wallow. But I’m going to plan to blog three weeks from now, let go of the ambition and leave myself room to keep it meaningful. Oh, and being that wonder of tax time, do that all important return, and spend some money on an editor and a cover – I need one for Smashwords.

      And a Jesus fish and a Darwin axolotl. And there’s a blog smile :D.

      Hope to be back to this sooner, and a bit more twittery to boot.

      Have a good one!

      T.M.