What is it about the middle of a story??

No matter how prepared I think I am, or how much groundwork I've laid in my notes... I always find my tires spinning in thick mud, sinking steadily deeper into a quagmire of the story's possibilities and needs. 

Why doesn't it just flow? 

I know that on the other side of the mud, when the four wheel drive finally kicks in, the terrain will be breathtaking, better than anything I had in my mind. 

It's getting out into that mud, sinking down to my knees in it, feeling it suck off my shoes, that's the grunt work.  The real creative proving ground.  Where sweat pours down your neck as you fumble in the gritty mire for the slick hub locks, praying that you get traction and make some meaningful headway again.

That's the real test of story.

First draft winding to an end...

Finished chapter 53... but I'm fairly mired down sorting out the last two chapters... or so... of the book.  Writing the end feels about as spacy as the wading through the middle of the book did. 

The delays are frustrating... as are the days where I get zero written.  Three days of gnawing at it already.  It needs to gel soon.

Chapter 43 on the horizon...

Chapter 42 ended today... my characters surprised me a few times today.  That's always fun!  The story is spinning itself toward the finishline, I can feel the threads weaving into a solid pattern.

Looking forward to seeing where it all goes...

First Rejection... I have ARRIVED!!

So, today I got my first rejection slip... my first badge of courage in a writer's world... bittersweet excitement!

I have ARRIVED!!

Writing... writing... writing!!

Spurred by my new glasswork creatures... last Fall I began a new journey. One where the pictures in my head could take on life in the form of words. Then the floodgates opened, and I couldn't stop the words from moving and growing.

Four children's stories, plus illustrations, and 38 chapters of an adult novel later... plus countless new ideas... and I think I'm hooked on writing.

Time will tell if it is meant to be, or just a season, but the ride sure had been exciting!

Perhaps I've finally found the glass slipper to my fairytale.