Hi Everyone,
I thought that I would take a brief pause from #NaNoWriMo2015 to provide a quick update of the progress.
The first part of this year's writing extravaganza was hard. I had an idea of what I wanted to do with the third book in the St. Aelred High series, but I really didn't have the motivation to work on the writing. I guess that is one of my downfalls in life is that I tend to shy away from things that take work. Granted, I do work hard for the things that I want, but sometimes my inner negative Neil comes out and says, "Why do that? It's not like you've made it big time as an author." It's that part of me that I need to quell quickly. I need to remain positive that many authors got their start just like me. They started with an idea. They put in the work. They took the rejection and moved forward. Everything will happen when God says that it will happen. So my first book hasn't come close to being a best seller. So what? I do know that some people liked it. It helped some others. Whether my ideas and platform help one or thousands, the whole purpose is to help someone. So that is my hope and goal.
As for my platform, I'm officially working toward a YA Christian platform. I want my books to dive into YA themes with characters that struggle and utilize their Christian faith to overcome obstacles. The first book in the St. Aelred High Series explored this aspect. It took the love of a character loss in order to change the perceptions of the main characters Alicia and Nia.
The second book is coming - I PROMISE! I am still working on it right now along with writing the third book. The second book deals with organ donation and transplant awareness. There are some other aspects in with the main theme. Right now, I'm at a point where I'm not sure how to make the bridge. It's like staring at the edge of the Grand Canyon and wondering, "How am I going to get to the other side?" I do believe that the answer will come to me soon.
So for the third book, we are going back to Alicia's story. Alicia has always had a ton of external pressures. This book will look at how she handles the thoughts and pressures of taking that next step - deciding post-high school education. In just three days of writing, I went through four alternate beginnings. I now have a clear beginning and direction. The novel is taking a life of its own and I'm having a difficult time breaking away from the keyboard to eat, sleep, and go to work. In three days since I finally nailed down the beginning, I went from zero to over 10k words.
It's really amazing how God helps me through the writing process. Just when I think nothing will ever happen, He opens up the faucet and the words just flow out of my mind to the typed document on my computer. Even now, with taking a break, I have the next few scenes flooding into my mind in vivid detail.
Things take time and I am ready for it to happen.
Have a great weekend - I know I'll be writing at some point.
#amwriting
Peace
