Keep Looking Forward
Here’s my column from January 2012. It’s amazing how little I remember about what I wrote then.
Before I wrote this, I took a look at last year’s column, Looking Back and Looking Forward. I thought about how much things have changed. How much energy and expectation the writing radiated. It was an acknowledgment of many good things that had happened the year before and an expression of hope for more good things to come.
Needless to say, I could never have begun to anticipate what actually was to come. Things both wonderful and terribly frightening. Things that writers are supposed to be happy about, but aren’t the key to happiness. The realization that my body was tearing itself apart, and my desperate attempts to find a way to address the problem. Continuing to plod through the motions of my life, seemingly normal on the outside, while being secretly tortured and worn to a nub, physically and energy-wise. All this while knowing that things could be much worse. That great things were going on. Book sales were high. I even managed to reach readers in the UK, which was wonderful.
More importantly, I had a wonderful life, a great husband, a loving family, friends and many things to be thankful for.
Now, I could allow the horrible things to stop me, but I simply won’t. And reading that column has reminded me of why I picked this subject. Because it’s important to always have something to look forward to.
A while ago, I wrote a post on one of my blogs about how I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. [There was a link to one of my blogs there, but that blog no longer exists, as far as I know.] However, I do believe in setting goals and that you can do this anytime you want to. Having said that, the question of whether I can make a living as a writer remains an open one. Because even though I turned a modest profit this year, the matter of whether I can make a sustainable living as a writer is the question.
And you know what? Who cares?
Just writing those words makes me feel a lot happier. And one of my goals is to feel happier.
I will sit down and write every day, because that’s my job. And I will keep on blogging, not only because that’s how I market my books, but because I’m a blogger and I enjoy it. But if I have to take a break because of my infirmities, I will. Because if I burn out, I won’t be of any use to anyone.
I will look forward to traveling to new places. Hopefully, the UK. This year. That would be wonderful.
And I will spend more time savoring life’s pleasures. I will spend more time laughing.
On the writing front, I have a new novel coming out. I hope to release the ebook version in early February. It’s the third book in the Sam McRae mystery series and it’s called . With any luck, the print edition will be out before April.
I’m also working on a young adult novel called The Invisible Girl. [Well, that was the working title, anyway. I changed it at my editor’s suggestion to Invisible Me, which I realize now made it sound much less like YA science fiction. Which reminds me of a story I’ll tell you later.] It’s my first foray into young adult fiction. The kind of book I never expected to write based upon an idea that just came to me out of the blue. Goes to show that you just never know what might happen.
Don’t worry. This brief deviation into new territory doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned crime fiction. I’m not through telling stories about Sam. Not by a long shot.
And I hope to revise the standalone crime novels I’ve written and publish them someday, too.
I’ve always said that things have a way of working out. Let’s go forward and hope for the best. Okay?
PS: Okay, that novel Riptide? The working title had been Alien Shores.
Do you get the funny feeling someone is dying to write science fiction? 🙂
Oh, and we did end up going to the UK. And Ireland.
And that was awesome.
PPS: Up until now, I’ve never noticed there are Jammie Dodgers in this photo! OMG!
Originally published at http://randomandsundrythings.wordpress.com on March 25, 2022.
