Pre-publishing excitement

 

This week's RSAN EPP block; Baton Rouge. I have completed it, but felt this picture was more apropos for today's post.

Tomorrow I plan to release the second novel of The Enran Chronicles! Amid many sewing projects, the writing never stops, well, the prep for what writing produces. I've also (mostly) come to terms with the notion that actual WRITING might not happen again until 2025. Small sigh taken, then the thrill of releasing a new book overwhelms! Let's see if I can properly explain all that is currently on the creative bill....

Publishing a novel is a little like having a baby, just a little. The gestation ranges from months to years, yet the sense of nurturing a new life, or many of them, is similar to a human's nine-month gestation. A couple makes a baby, akin to how a story emerges from an author's experiences, but usually one person writes said book, just as one person carries that new life all those weeks. The process veers off once the first draft emerges due to all who are necessary to take a manuscript to the next level, but sidestepping that, it's up to the author to make the biggest decisions, especially in the independent publishing routine. The how's and when's and even a few why's need to be answered, then of course all the dotting of i's and crossing of t's and read-throughs that never seem to weed out every typo, lol. But once that happens, and a book cover is ready, ahem, (And don't forget synopses and tags and genres choices, oi!) then it's time for a novelist to add another child to the family.

I just sat back in my chair, pulled my hair into a momentary ponytail, then peered out the east-facing window. Light is barely hinting over the hills, a few clouds along the horizon, a clear morning currently in view. Fog might roll in soon, or not, always a surprise how the day will start along California's North Coast. It's currently 6.18 a.m. as I write this post, some mildly caffeinated tea fueling an early start to my day. I have one chapter left to read of what is the final absorption of Book Two in this series, strange to think how this all evolved in February of last year after I came home from bidding farewell to a beloved member of my family. Yet some babies are conceived in manners similar, not outwardly planned but just as necessary to the framework of our lives. These types of progeny are even more spectacular for the ease in which they seamlessly weave into our corporeal tapestry, their strands adding sparkles and depth not even the most comprehensive planning could display.

That unexpected beauty adds to the thrill, as well as reminding that even in the most dismal moments, good emerges. I realize I'm veering away from the whole publishing is like giving birth theme, but bear with me a few sentences. This novel began the whole dang series, assisted by a solitary chapter written a few years ago then summarily forgotten in hard and flash drives. I certainly didn't return from the Midwest last winter, my heart in tatters, assuming I was going to start another long, involved writing project. Crafting this story was merely to assuage my grief. But my firmest belief in why I write is this: To proffer restoration so another's heart can do the same for someone else. Brokenness healed allows a larger heart to beat within one's chest, enabling that person to do the same for whoever approaches with an equally aching muscle.

So.... Yeah, that's why I do this, not because I want to have three dozen kids, but that seems to be one of the outcomes. Thankfully these babies require scant attention once they leave the nest, lol. Just the occasional read-through to make sure they are doing okay, what I've been up to recently with The Hawk. Yet that novel needs to scoot over, for this week it's about Book Two of The Enran Chronicles, title to be revealed as soon as that book goes live!