Time for a bit of bookish news, where we check in on my writing and reading and other book-related topics. It’s been far too long since I did one of these. I really need to do them more often.
Writing down the rabbit hole
In terms of writing, things have been incredibly slow. Like snails covered in molasses glued to the wall in the frozen tundra slow. I have never had a period of such little progress with my writing as I have of late. For all of 2021 I’ve only managed to finish draft 2 of Rimewinter (book 2 in the Swordspeaker Saga) and get a little over halfway through draft 3. But you know what? I’m okay with that.
You see, something funny happened on the way to my authorial dreams. The first was that I realized that I needed to spend more time focused on my family. For various personal reasons, God made it very clear that they really needed my time and attention far more than what I had been giving.
The second thing was that almost everything I was doing on the publishing side of things lately has been coming back empty. I’m not sure why, but a whole series of setbacks really ground my author journey almost to a dead stop. stopped getting both sales and reviews. All of the advertising I did for it was coming up empty. The boxed set released to a flurry of bad reviews. I did a giveaway on Amazon and almost 3,000 copies were downloaded, but shortly after the promotion and the negative reviews, sales and interest in that book dried up as well. My website traffic dropped off dramatically. My short story Prince of Brazen went out to my newsletter subscribers and got zero feedback. And on and on it went.
Finding a way in the wilderness
Apart from a belief that God has called me to this journey, I surely would have just stopped altogether in the face of these mounting failures. Even with that belief, I’ve really been praying for God to let me know if this is the path he wants me on. I shared my struggles with some close friends and asked them to pray for me as well.
And God has answered those prayers. Not in dramatic, writing in the sky sorts of ways, but in quiet little encouraging ones.
Someone let me know how much they loved Truesilver. A lot of times I honestly think people are just being nice when they say things like that about my work, but I could tell that he really enjoyed the book.
The Last Motley got accepted for a promotion at Hello Books, a new service pioneered by best-selling author Mark Dawson (look for that coming in July).
The Last Motley was also the June book of the month for a small book club in Maryland. I was able to join them for a Zoom call and answer questions about the book and about writing in general. This book club is amazing because the ladies have been meeting together for over 20 years!
It was one of the most encouraging evenings I’ve had in a long while. Most of them seemed to truly enjoy the book. I wish I could replicate readers like the ones in that club a million times over. It was a night I will certainly never forget.
Reading? What’s that?
I do feel like I may have turned a corner with writing. I’m no longer on the path to “Nowhere”. Instead, I am once again on the path to “Somewhere.” Even if I don’t know where that somewhere is.
As far as books that I am not writing, I’ve even less to report. I’ve read a grand total of 1 book this year, Sherlock Holmes, The Complete Novels and Short Stories, Volume 1. That’s right, I haven’t even finished volume 2. Ah well, the game’s the thing. I’m enjoying these stories immensely and that is its own kind of success.
I’ve also been doing a buddy read of The Silmarillion with a friend, but I fear he is an even slower reader than me (when it comes to fiction, at least) so we’ll be doing well to finish it by the end of the year. But again, the enjoyment there is through the roof, so I can’t complain.
See you…Somewhere
And that’s all the bookish bits for today. Hope you’re own adventures in books have you on the road to Somewhere special.
For me, Rimewinter is on the horizon. And the road goes ever on.
I’m sorry about the discouraging stretches of the writing road . . . but happy there have been some good ones! (That’s so cool about the bookclub!) These last six months have seen the least amount of writing I’ve ever done in that stretch of time in a decade and there do seem to be . . . slower times. I guess we just have to press on. I’m glad you’re enjoying Sherlock Holmes and a Silmarillion reread! Both are some of my favorites! Thanks for sharing this update and all the best on the writing, reading, and other things!
Thank you, Deborah. Life has its seasons, doesn’t it? I hope your writing picks up as well. I really appreciate your friendship and encouragement and for your faithfulness in checking in on my little musings here. It mean a lot. It really does. Hope you have a wonderful week.
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had a rocky path writing-wise lately. I was reading this post and nodding along and just very much relating as this was how most of my year last year felt. And there are days even now when those feelings return and I am somewhat paralyzed in my writing journey. But God is good. And He keeps calling me to write new things. So I press on.
I’m glad that God has breathed encouragement into you in small but tangible ways.
Please don’t stop writing… I really love your books and I am very excited to see where the Swordspeaker Saga goes. Truesilver is next on my list of reads (I got a little bogged down in ARCs somehow… I don’t even usually sign up for ARCs because I’m picky about taking on books I “have” to read, as my ornery side kicks in and immediately doesn’t want to read anything I am on a deadline for…) but I’m eager to see what changes you’ve made and just dive back into the story and be reunited with the characters. 🙂
I’m glad you’re enjoying Sherlock Holmes and The Silmarillion! Those are both rather massive, so I don’t think you have anything to feel badly about reading-wise this year. And it’s not a race. The enjoyment is the important thing!!!!
Thanks for your encouraging comments. I’ve appreciated when you’ve shared your own struggles as well and I admire your honesty and transparency. Writing is certainly not for the faint of heart and it’s comforting to know that others share with you in that journey.
In so many ways I am grateful for the work I’ve been able to do and the people who have been kind enough to read my books and share positive words about it. I sometimes wonder, though, if I’m just not a writer for “today’s market”. I don’t enjoy much of what’s popular and wildly praised so why should I be surprised when the same people who love what I have no interest in don’t enjoy the kinds of stories I write? But I had hoped there were more of “me” out there in the world somewhere.
The negative reviews are hard to take, though, especially when a book is right out of the gate. It can feel like it is doomed to failure before it ever got a chance.
I’ve stopped reading actual reviews, but I still see the average star ratings and so I know more or less what people think of the books. That is where the shift in focus needs to come. That is where I sense God working on my heart, to see my writing as a gift, a blessing that I am trying to give to the world instead of as a “success” or a “failure”. If people don’t appreciate the gift it’s fair to question if there might be something wrong with it, but I’m also learning that that does not mean I need to stop trying to give. And so I keep soldiering on through the wasteland, hoping to produce something of worth that others may one day enjoy. Who knows what lies just around the bend?