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March
1, 2019 will mark the first anniversary of the release of my debut novel, Kelegeen. Much of this year has been spent on a very
steep learning curve, one that included educating myself on the publishing
industry and, even more so, on marketing. It was obvious I didn’t know what I
was doing, so I hired a marketing firm to guide me. They’ve been extremely helpful, but I still
had to do the work of putting my book and myself out there. It’s been a great experience, one that is
ongoing, as I’ve only skimmed the surface.
The problem is it hasn’t left me with much time to write. My 9:00 – 5:00 day job, teaching online
courses for the University of Dayton, and caring for my 92 year old mom who
lives with me along with various other responsibilities
and obligations on top of my new marketing tasks has eaten up what little free
time I had before this adventure ever began.
When
it comes to my writing, the most common question I’m asked these days is, “when
will the sequel be out?” My answer is
usually a non-committal “working on it.”
It seems I’ve been in the historical research phase forever. That’s not just because there’s a large amount
of research to be done, but because I’m not finding the time to do it. I knew something had to give. An overwhelming desire to get away from every
distraction and ensconce myself somewhere that would allow me to laser focus on
the sequel drove me to find a solution.
Enter
my cousin, Patty. Patty is retired, her
children grown, and her mate fully capable of taking care of their dogs on his
own for a week. Patty is also very fond
of my mom and lately has been repeatedly expressing a desire to visit her. So, in one of my hair-pulling moments of
frustration at not having time to research or write, Patty’s genial, smiling
face flashed into my mind.
I
texted Patty, laying out my plan before her.
If she could come down for a week (she lives in Vermont) and stay with
my mom, I could use some of my vacation time from work and go away to write. She loved the idea. Mom loved the idea. I’m head-over-heels in love with the idea. It didn’t take long to find a time that
worked for all of us, so I quickly booked a weeklong stay at a studio suite in a
local hotel.
Before
this month is over, I will have spent a week doing nothing but research and
writing. That entire week will be all
sequel, sequel, sequel. No distractions,
no other responsibilities. No, I won’t
be able to write an entire novel in a week, but I do expect to make serious
inroads on both the research and the writing.
Once I get that fully underway, I hope to be able to run with it from
there on out.
Though
I’m all too well versed in Murphy’s Law and the best laid plans of mice and
writers, I am hopeful. As long as all
goes according to plan, or at least close to it, my post next month should be
all about what an awesome, productive week I had.
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