Saturday, March 29, 2014

Dealing with the "In Between" time…

English: A new incarnation of Image:Question_b...
English: A new incarnation of Image:Question_book-3.svg, which was uploaded by user AzaToth (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
What now?
An important question, indeed. The book is finished, published, out in the world for one and all to consider and buy (I hope!) and read and eagerly await the next one!

This strange little “in between” time seems to be perfect for catching up on so many things that there just wasn’t time for during the hectic writing, revising, editing, formatting, and publishing stages these past few months.

For instance, my writing desk hasn’t been this tidy and organized in over a year, although the side cabinet shelves next to my printer still need attention. I’ll get to that, I promise myself.

Plus, I’ve even donated a large bag of old paperbacks I’ll not need again, clearing some much-needed space on my tall book cases here in my office.

And I must say, it’s a very good feeling to actually be “weeding out” and eliminating all of the flotsam and jetsam that has slowly and steadily crept into my workspace.

I've also begun some Scrivener “housekeeping” as well. Since I like the settings that I used for The Good Luck Highway, I created a template from that project and will be ready to hit the ground running when I begin work on the next book, without having to fiddle around with anything—especially Compiling!

And, of course, there’s the all-important marketing aspect of promoting The Good Luck Highway. So far, I’ve had a nice response from friends and strangers, but I’m finding that this marketing thing is a never-ending process.

Wouldn’t it be great to have an agency to handle this and do it up right! Alas, that’s not going to happen anytime soon, so I have to do the best with social media, word of mouth, and my charm. (Well, two out of three might work!)

Regardless, this whole thing is fun. Some people collect things. Some paint. Others build birdhouses. Still others work on old cars or remodel and “flip” houses. I write. And, yes, it’s fun—even when the words won’t come and the ideas have gone the way of the dodo bird.

I read once that an author, after completing a book, will find himself caught in a sort of “dead zone” which usually requires readjusting to a normal pace, free of the daily grind of pounding out the words to reach a deadline successfully. Although I never gave it much thought until now, I realize the truth in that.

It’s much like going through a form of withdrawal—getting away from the story and plot and conflicts and characters that I’ve lived days and weeks and months with. I must admit, it’s a little hard to say farewell to those guys and their adventure! Kind of makes me wonder if they’ll show up in another story…

So here in my in-between “dead zone,” I’m taking care of some important duties around
photo
Two copies of THE GOOD LUCK HIGHWAY resting on the corner of my clean and tidy writing desk.
here, clearing out the rubble, and making way for the next stint. I’ve caught my breath, stayed away from writing anything all week, and have the table set for the next project. As I said, it’s all fun!…MLA
Enhanced by Zemanta

No comments:

Post a Comment