Whew! I kinda fell off the face of the writing world there for a bit. The holidays and renovating an old house seeped into my blood and my writing bug seeped out. But…I’m back! And I really, really, really want to get going on the final edits of the ghost story I’ve been working on.
However, last week I became motivated out of the blue. I had stolen a quiet moment to re-read A Storm of Swords when a friggin’ lightning bolt seared my brain. Really! So I jumped up, ran to my laptop and I’ve sat on my butt ever since, writing a new and fresh book (fresh for me, at least). I’ve created a wonderful character and a new world inspired by Katniss Everdeen, Arya Stark and – dating myself here – Cathy Dahl (if you don’t know who she is, I’m not gonna tell). These are strong young women whose lives had been turned upside down, yet they powered through their physical, mental and environmental tests the best way they knew how. I’m having a BLAST!
So…I guess I’m still procrastinating. But, hey! I can tell my writing technique has improved immensely – so that’s a positive. And maybe that’s why it’s such a challenge [read torture] to keep editing my first book. It has three years of my on-going writing trials and tribulations weaved in which makes it that much harder [read teeth-gnashing-anguish] to correct. The weight of my Irish guilt also presses on my shoulders given there’s a wonderful agent out there waiting for me to send my full manuscript to her. I know, I know, I’m not even Catholic but the guilt is strong. Good thing we Irish are so damned lucky!
“The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof shit detector.”
– Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)