I know I’ve been MIA lately, and haven’t been putting much out here on my blog, or had much of a presence in social media and so on, but I am still here and very much alive. Well, kind of alive. If you’ve read my blog entry that I posted February 22nd, titled The only thing strong enough to kick my own arse, is me, then you’re in the know as to what has been happening with my health. But putting all that aside, I wanted to let you know I’m very excited about the novel I’m currently writing.

After I finished writing Raven’s Undoing, I jumped right into writing Kat’s story. I made it almost through chapter one, and then my muse stopped talking. I worked on chapter one for THREE months; three months of silence because I couldn’t get my muse to talk to me. I just wasn’t feeling it. And if you’re a writer, you know what I’m talking about. If you’re not feeling it, and your muse isn’t talking, then you got nothing. It can’t be forced, and if it is, it will probably be crap when it’s done.

However, in the meantime, I’ve had a different story brewing in the back of my mind. And after venting my frustrations to a couple of other authors, one in particular told me to put aside Kat’s story and write something else. AND it doesn’t have to a Snowhaven Novel; you can always come back to that later. *Gasps* Put aside Kat’s story??? Abandon Snowhaven? But I’ve just begun to create this world, and Kat’s story needs to be told! That was my argument. The author’s reply to me was, “Well, obviously it doesn’t need to be told right now because your muse isn’t talking to you about it.” *Shrugs shoulders and hangs head in defeat* Okay, point made; and a valid one at that.

Unsure of what to do, I tucked away Kat’s story and stopped writing. I picked up a good book and started to read. While I was reading, this other story I’ve been thinking about started to rear its head and the characters started talking, and they just kept getting louder. So, two weeks ago I sat down at the computer and just started to write. In a few short hours, I had all of chapter one written. The more I wrote, the more my inner self was screaming, “Yes! This is it! This is the story you need to be telling right now!” And for the first time in months, I felt alive again and genuinely excited about writing.

No, it’s not a Snowhaven Novel. (My apologies to my Snowhaven fans, but I am going to put that series on hold for just a short period of time.) This book is completely different and will be a full length standalone novel. Also, I am taking a completely different approach to writing this book, and all around, it is very different from what I’m used to writing.

After I finished writing the first chapter, feeling unsure of myself, I asked a dear friend who is also a blogger, editor, and very talented writer herself to read the chapter and give me her honest feedback before I kept moving forward with the story. As soon as she was done reading it, she messaged me and said, “No lie, it’s fantastic. For a first draft it’s truly perfect. The end of the chapter really grabs you, as it should. You go girl. I’m having story envy. Lol. It feels like it just pours out of you…”

After receiving her feedback, it totally inspired me and gave me the confidence I need to continue writing this story the way I have intended. Seriously people, I am in love with this book, and I am just getting started!