Ever Wondered. . ?

Ever wondered what writers do when they’re between books? It something I’ve been thinking about quite a lot recently.

Obviously they do the everyday stuff like everyone else, in my case I work full time, but how do they fill the space that every day for the past six months, year, ten years they’ve been nurturing their baby?

I guess if you’re a full time author you have plenty to do. Publicity, answering mail, book signings – but if you’re like me a debut and/or part time author – how do you fill that creative gap in your life?

I’m currently in that peculiar position. My second book in the “Soulseer Chronicles” series “Cursed” is with Nicola, my lovely editor, for line editing and I finished the first draft of the third book “Bound” three weeks ago. So there’s nothing to be done on book two yet and I’m trying to be patient and leave book three alone for a couple more weeks before I start the second run through. I did the first straight away, I couldn’t help myself, but now it’s patience, patience, patience!

For me, and I suspect other writers are probably the same, there’s that wonderful moment of euphoria when I finish the first draft, type those fantastic, but sad words, “The End” and punch the air knowing I have a beginning, middle and end to a story that’s hopefully worth telling. Of course it will need more work. A thorough checking of grammar, punctuation, timelines, consistency and all those other things that can trip an author up and leave egg on face, but that will come later after I’ve left it to rest for a while. So what do I do while it’s “resting”? This time even before I’d finished my victory dance, it started to dawn on me that I’m suddenly in limbo – what do I do now? Weep into my wine glass? Eat lots of cake? Write something new? Hmm!

Anyone who knows anything about me and my writing will probably say I’m a bit obsessive – well actually a lot obsessive! I’m not happy if I’m not writing. Before I got my book deal I would have just immediately launched into something new, but now I’m not just writing for myself – I have a job to do; a job I love, but a job all the same.

Over the past three weeks I’ve spent my usual writing time reading through three of my back catalogue just to see if I’m as happy with them now as I was at the time. Now I’ve got to the stage that even that isn’t placating me.

Last night my long suffering husband asked me whether I was all right – “you seem a bit down” he said. When I told him I was missing writing he suggested the obvious – start something new.

As tempting as it is to start a fresh project, and in the wee small hours of this morning a glimmer of a concept was bouncing around inside my head, it’s probably not a good idea. It’s not that I’ve never had two (or at one time three) novels on the go at the same time, I have, it’s just that I know sometime soon Nicola will be sending me back the line edited copy of “Cursed” for me to go through. Then I’ll have to start the second draft of the third book, if I haven’t already succumbed, so do I really want another project in the background trying to seduce me away from what I should be doing?

Hence today’s blog. Although I’m not creating a new world or new characters at least I’m writing.

However, even as I type this, skipping around inside my head is a new character. She hasn’t got a name yet, I’m not quite sure who her nemesis is – other than he or she is going to be thoroughly nasty, and I’m not sure whether my new leading lady lives here in our world or somewhere else. What I do know is she is going to be kickass bad. She’s going to be strong and tough even when she’s alone and scared, though actually I already have a suspicion that she’s not even capable of being scared – well not much!

Then of course I could start on the sequel to another novel I wrote last year (in between “Cursed” and Bound”) and I must admit the characters from that story are calling to me.

So – what am I going to do now? Hmm – would it really hurt to perhaps write the first chapter of one – or even both stories. . ? It would save me from crying into my wine glass or eating lots of cake.

A lovely pressie from my good friend Max. She made this from copper and silver in celebration of my book launch party.

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