I’m currently experiencing the sort of let-down I do after I finished my last two books. What do I do with all my free time? Shouldn’t I be working on something? My brain longs for a story to be ruminating on.
But I think some rest is wise, so while my queries are sent out, flying far and wide and stretching their wings, I’m taking a break for a couple of weeks to just read other books, catch up on TV shows and movies and try not to think about writing so much.
I’m struggling because my ordered, organized, semi-OCD self thinks I should start on book 3 of my three-part young adult fairy tale adventure series. It irks me that the story feels incomplete. I like to finish what I start. And while I am eager to wrap that up and get back into that world, my inner 16-year-old self is jumping up and down and squealing, “start your retelling of Sleeping Beauty!” I have an outline for a novel and I’m so excited about it, every time I close my eyes and try to lay down to go to to sleep, I can’t get the story out of my head – it’s just right there, waiting!
I also know that book 3 of the series I’m working on may be the hardest – all the loose ends have to wrap up and make sense, the action has to really build and the characters need a great ending. It feels like a lot of pressure. Except for the good thing is, nobody has read it yet except me and a handful of friends, so really, no pressure at all. I can’t imagine what it’s like to write two books like Veronica Roth, and then have the whole world be eagerly awaiting the third! That’s pressure!
So we’ll see. Maybe I’ll do something crazy and simultaneously work on two books at once. Is that even possible? I have no idea!
Yesterday, I read Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch from start to finish. A lot of things about her world reminded me of my young adult series world, and it was an enjoyable place to spend the day. Meira is a great main character. I also love that she started writing this story when she was 12 and here she is, seeing it in print now as an adult. So awesome. Just goes to show you that the stories we love when we’re younger never leave us.