Just in case
there’s anyone who’s interested in following the series of books I’m trying to
write, I thought I’d let you know about how things are going right now.
 |
| Coming to Smashwords Dec 17th! |
The second
part of the series, School of Hard Knocks: The Re-education of Jim Reid, was
just released as an e-book on Amazon this summer and will be moving to
Smashwords and other sites sometime in December. It’s a different book than Commencement, but
the core values and message are the same and I hope anyone who decides to pick
it up will enjoy it. That being said, I
know there are a lot more ‘open threads’ from Commencement that have to be
closed and I’ve heard from my publisher that there’s at least one person who
wants to know what happened to the other characters. That in and of itself is
enough to encourage me to press forward with the rest of the series, but at
times life throws you a curve.
I had
started working on the third part of the series over the summer and have only
gotten a third of the way through. Even at this stage, I realize that my draft
needs a LOT of revising and editing. This is the book where we find out what
happened to the other characters and while I don’t want to give away much of
the story line that I have now, I will say that Jim’s return home will cause
some drama for the rest of the characters. There is no way, everything will be
wrapped up in this book, but the reader’s most pressing questions will be
answered. I was hoping to get the novel finished completely by spring of 2014
(if the Lord allows me to live to see this date and it’s His will), but there
have been some complications in my personal life that may interfere.
The workload
at my job has skyrocketed 200%. Actually, make that 400% (If you work in the
field of education, you’ll understand). In addition, my boss is very demanding,
which is putting it nicely. I am currently putting in 12-14 hour days on my job,
which is very draining, then there are all the things that I have to do to
maintain my household on the weekends and it seems like I have absolutely no
time for writing. (As a matter of fact, School of Hard Knocks would not have
been written at all, had not the Lord intervened on my behalf to sequester me
from work for a whole week, during which I did nothing but write.) I haven’t
written in two months and it’s killing me. I’m reduced to blogging and just
jotting down notes, here and there, but I don’t get the time to flesh them out
into chapters and I’m frustrated to no end. I, too, want to see what’s going to
happen with these characters. I would love to quit my job and just write, but
then I have to make a living (no one makes money writing books anymore - unless
you’re writing about a teenage love triangle of some sort), and there are
others that depend on me, so that is not an option. I’ve been praying to the
Lord to help me find the time and to give me direction on what to do. Right now
I’m waiting for Him to answer.
I don’t know
if all of these intrusions on my writing time are God’s way of challenging me
to press on and continue, or if it’s a sign that I need to give up my writing
and focus on more on allowing God to use me in the career I’ve chosen. There
are times when I think it’s the latter, but ever so often I get a desire to
write something and I just have to get it out there. I start feeling like
Jeremiah: it’s like fire shut up in my bones. It’s like I feel I have to finish
what I started.
So in any
case, there is a third installment coming, although it may not come as soon as
I want it to. As I said, I want to be finished by spring of the upcoming year,
but given the fact that I only have about twenty chapters completed that need
to be thoroughly revised (yes, it’s another long one – sorry), my goal may be a
bit unrealistic. I’m starting to think the fall of 2014 may be a better
estimate. ‘Why does it take so long?’ you ask. It’s because I want to give
anyone who reads a quality, inspired work. I know some authors churn out book
after book in rapid succession, often compromising quality for quantity. Their
purpose is solely to entertain and grab some cash. I’m hoping the works that I
write do a little more than that. I am hoping that God uses me to speak to
people – to encourage them, convict them, strengthen them, and/or convince them
to follow Him. Such work takes time and should God choose to speak through me,
He can’t be rushed. Everything has to happen according to His plan.
In the
meantime, I’m going to keep on believing, praying, and trusting, and if you’d
like, you can pray with me about this work I’m undertaking. I definitely could
use it. In any event, I’ll let you know if I get a breakthrough.
Peace.
LC
No comments:
Post a Comment