The beginning of Lent 2021 brought home some realities for me as I am determined to put my life back on track after losing what amounts to a year of my own work in writing.
Essentially, what happened to me in 2020 was a loss of momentum. I published a stand alone novel, "Drive Into My Heart" on all platforms including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Smashwords, and more, and to date - one year after publication - the book has sold exactly four copies.
Place this with family drama that includes a family member discovering a lengthy list of chronic health problems in the fall of 2019 that continues now, 18 months later, and has impacted just about everyone in the family, and the year of COVID, and, frankly, until now, my heart just has not been ready to write again.
The catalyst for change, interestingly enough, was not so much Ash Wednesday or anything having to do with faith, but the "loss" of a kindred spirit on a group blog where I participate. That person chose another path, and is no longer a regular part of the group. Frankly, when that happened, I was sent into a bit of mourning, not unlike other episodes in my life where the void of a person's presence becomes a hole that needs to be filled.
In the last week, I've come to the conclusion that the void is just something I must live with as this person, to an extent, serves as a reminder that frequently I am attracted to that which I cannot have. And thus, a cold dose of reality was showered on me.
It's time to return to what I love even if there are disappointments along the way.
Of late, I have awakened in the night, and conjured up new characters and story scenarios. How all of that will play out, I am not sure. One of the themes in love and marriage I would like to explore is the job of spouses getting each other to Heaven, which is not exactly a Romance Genre theme beyond strictly Christian Romance, and there, the injection of the realism if the human condition can be a bit puritan. Humans have hormones, and they do run wild when one is attracted to a potential mate. That has to be dealt with, and I have tried to be realistic on this topic in my writing.
As of now, book 12 in the "Turn My Head" series was supposed to be the story of Declan Collins and Martina Hughes. Frankly, I don't like Martina very much. She's at a turning point where I am with the story, and will need to change. How that happens hasn't come to me as yet.
If I get too stuck, I will move on to Megan Dolan and Todd Riordan who meet on his dad's campaign trail.
And then Isabeau falls for her boss, a conductor.
And Helene's best fashion customer's brother sweeps her off her feet.
I haven't quite got Jean-Paul nailed down just yet.
And then there are all these other story ideas I have....
Well, time to get to work.
No time like the present to get started.
