The life of a writer:
Wake up.
Think about your writing.
Edit your writing.
Worry your novel isn’t good enough.
Edit some more.
Worry some more.
Write more and delete more and rewrite the damn thing.
Pretend like you don’t actually talk to your characters like a lunatic.
Drink a lot of coffee and curse a lot of curses.
Write. Edit. Write. Edit.
Publish.
Celebrate.
Collapse.
In all seriousness, I do want to collapse.
And I’m just starting to think about the “celebrate” part, but I’m not quite there yet. Next week on campus, on Tuesday evening, we will officially LAUNCH my new novel, LITTLE MILESTONES, in conjunction with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The book is for sale now on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, but the launch is next week.
I set out a year ago during NaNoWriMo to prove a point to my writing students, and the point was this: that yes, within one year, you can write and edit and publish a novel if you so desire.
I guess I desired it badly enough, because novel #4 is in the books.
And, it’s my longest book to date. So I really must have wanted to prove that words make a difference, that attitude is everything with writing, and that storytellers must not feel as if they cannot tell their story.
This novel came to me in bits and pieces, and only over the summer did I decide to add the different voices and perspectives. I always find it a little more interesting when reading novels to hear from various characters, as it keeps me wondering and on my toes. I wanted this book to have that feeling.
It’s 8:30 at night now, and honestly, I’m exhausted. Writing at crazy hours and under your own deadline is stressful! So I’m going to just say THANK YOU to all of you out there who read this and support me. I’m going to say thank you to all of my colleagues and friends who push me to always want to do better, both in life as a person and as a writer. And, I’d like to thank my wonderful family for always giving me the space I need to do my thing.
I love them dearly.
