It's Real

It’s been a while since I last blogged. In fact, probably long enough that maybe there are three of you who still read my blog. Oh well, I’ll write for the four of us. Invite your friends if want.

I’ve been working on the third book in my Harlequin Special Edition series, and like most writers, I’m plagued by, “what if.” What if the book isn’t as good as the other two? What if my editor hates it? What if I can’t make my deadline? But to be honest, those what ifs aren’t going away. Ever. I’m pretty sure they’re just part of my writing process.

 

Even after returning from my lunch with my editor—the first time I felt like a real writer with a worthwhile profession—I still looked at my manuscript, gulped, and thought, “Oh, God.” And I think I’m going to feel that way for the foreseeable future.

 

When I first started writing, and there was nowhere to go but up, of course I was excited. I was inspired and had ideas pouring out of my head. I had the freedom to play with them, to do anything I wanted with them because no one was looking for them. Once I turned this into a business and had deadlines, and requirements, and readers, well, I have to admit, some of my inspiration disappeared. 

 

I’m still writing. I’m still coming up with new ideas, and I still love what I do. Really. Even more so now that I’ve been exposed to people—editors, support staff, marketing people—who depend on me for their business to run. They take me seriously. They’ve given me a necessary piece of support that no one else can, no matter how hard they try. And I’m forever grateful, especially since I didn’t know I was missing it. 

 

But it doesn’t make sitting down at my computer any easier. I know what I need to write. I know where I am and where I want to get to in my manuscript. It’s the process of actually going from point A to point B that’s giving me fits right now. But I’m not giving up. As I say all the time, writing is a muscle, and you need to use it every day if you want to keep it in shape. So I’m writing, getting to know my characters, discovering new things about them two thirds of the way through the book that I didn’t know about them in the beginning (and making notes to go back and fix that beginning when I’m finally finished.).

 

In the meantime, book one—Home for the Challah Days—comes out in two months. It’s actually up for preorder now if you’re interested. I’m ramping up my marketing again, both for that new book and for my backlist—you can see some book recommendations here that I’ve made that will hopefully entice you to buy some of my books. And I’m doing lots of in-person events, including RomantiConn in July, which you can see here.