Fiction Update

Hello, loyal readers. I recently started what I'm hoping will become a novel. I posted two large fragments on my blog for your reading pleasure. I have decided not to post anymore. I am going to take it offline, develop it and hopefully publish it.

I wasn't sure I could sustain it and turn it into a novel. I am going to take a stab at it. I am also going to take part in a poetry contest my library is hosting. I am not sure what will come out of that. I'm a little terrified, as I don't normally share my poetry with the world. It usually happens in snippets and floats in and out of my mind.

In other news, this is the worst spring break ever. I had hoped that we would be able to frolic outside at some point. The temperatures continue to prohibit any outside play. I was even looking forward to being outside to start cleaning our backyard. It's just too darn cold to be working outside!! So far our activities have been heavily centered around the TV. We will be heading to the children's museum on Friday. I'm hoping to work some reading in somewhere.

I am indulging my love of staying up late this week. It's when I do my best creative work and I relish the idea of being alone in a quiet house. I have no expectations for how long my novel will be or how quickly I will be done. I am famous for starting projects but not finishing them. I'm hoping that I can use the extra quiet time this week to get a large portion done.

The book is very loosely based on my own life. I don't want to say to what extent because I'm drawing on experiences from friends and family as well. I don't want to break confidences or share too much because that wouldn't be fair to other people. I am hoping I've masked enough key details to shield people's true identities.

I wouldn't consider the book autobiographical. I will say, though, that I was taught to write what I know. The subject about which I am most familiar is myself. I know someone from high school who has had success writing YA fiction about vampires. Aside from the fact that I don't care about vampires, I don't know enough about vampires to make the books believable.

I am not sure what is going to happen in the novel or how it's going to turn out. I hope that I've whetted my readers' appetites enough that when I launch it as an eBook, I will be able to have some good sales.

Wish me luck.