And Now We Celebrate

So I’ve done it again -sent out a book proposal for Peril at Stormsurge. This time it’s heading to Enclave Publishing, down in Phoenix, Arizona. I’m not sure what to expect. If I can be honest, I hope they take it. I hope it becomes a best seller. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, just yet. Or should we? Should there be a celebration based on the fact that I have sent it out? Well, there is a celebration of sorts. My coworkers and I (all three of us) are celebrating with ice cream. The good stuff, too: Ben and Jerry’s. No Neapolitan for us today!

You see, my coworker has also just done something amazing: she’s published her first book, and it’s now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Pretty awesome stuff. She’s worked very hard, and for a long time, on this first book. We expect great things from it. I expect at least good things from mine. Now her accomplishment is definitely worth celebrating. I mean, it’s out there in the world. You can buy it.

But what about mine? Does just sending a book out for consideration merit a celebration? I didn’t always think so. But you know what? I spent hours and hours and weeks and months making plans for it, making outlines that never saw much of the light of day. And then I wrote it. And the characters took over, and laughed at my outlines and notes, and did whatever they wanted. And somehow, it all worked out. So here I am, praying and hoping that this time around, Peril at Stormsurge will find a home, and find some readers.

And so you know what? Just sending my book out is worth celebrating. It took a lot out of me to write. It was lonely and frustrating and scary. I deserve my Ben and Jerry’s. And I’m not gonna feel bad about eating it. No sir. Now I just have to fend off my characters, because somehow, they think they deserve some, too. And I’m not going to share.

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Big Things Happening

So I’m on page 113 of Ghosts of WarCry, and already the plot I’d imagined for it has taken a big turn. I’m okay with it, but I have to admit, when it first happened, I wondered just what in the world was going on. And how was I going to roll with it? But the character that turned my plot on its head assured me everything was fine, and that he knew it would all work out.

As it turns out, he was right. I’m loving the new direction. It’s really freed up movement between some characters, and brought new characters in that would’ve only been seen in the last few chapters. And my gut tells me this is the right path.

Anything like this happen to you? When it does, are you able to roll with it, or does your stomach get all tied up in knots? Do you trust your characters? If not, why not? Sometimes trusting them can be difficult. You might think they’re leading you down a really wrong path. And, you might be right. But sometimes you just need to trust that they do know what’s going on, and they know how to handle it.

And if they don’t? Well, that’s what the revisions are for, right?