Spotlight on Writing
Book Swap.
Yes, the time has come. Ashley and I both finished editing our respective novels this week. Ashley got through The Price of Pandemonium and emailed it to me a few days before I managed to finish my edits on Darkness, Set Us Free. Which is actually pretty good timing, considering each book had its own set of issues to resolve. So now, we swap.
I have to say, I am quite relieved about this. Every writer knows the pain of repeated revisions of your work, and after a while you get so sick of the damn thing, that you feel as if you never want to see it again. Of course, that’s not true, and I’m sure that given enough time I will fall in love with it all over again.
But, for now, I am glad to see the back of it. If I had to relive our characters’ struggles one more time, I don’t know how I would have coped. My experience of editing Darkness, Set Us Free has been like watching a car crash. Repeatedly.
That isn’t to say it’s badly written, quite the opposite: It is very emotionally charged. And so, every time I read it, I found myself cringing even more. Hoping for a better outcome. But fairytale endings aren’t our style. We’re not the type of writers who let our characters off the hook easy; the endings have to be right. Believable. And that means, things certainly aren’t all sunshine and rainbows. Not yet anyway. Any hope of that rests with Book #4.
For now, Book #4 remains in the distant future. I am looking forward to reading (and editing) The Price of Pandemonium again, and then we’re going to take a break from this series and focus on something else that we’ve got in the works.
Personal Update
Right now, when it comes to study, I have all the drive of a crapped out, spluttering vehicle with a fried radiator and a fuel tank that’s down to empty.
It probably has something to do with being so close to the end. You know how sometimes you have that false sense of achievement, when you see the finish line, and you just want to throw in the towel and say, “isn’t that good enough? Haven’t I done enough yet?”
But every day, though it is a battle, I sit down and force myself to work a little more.
On the bright side, if I’m looking for even more procrastination activities, my guitar I ordered about six weeks ago should soon be arriving from America. As a leftie, it had to be ordered in. I decided on a Taylor GS Mini with a mahogany top. For anyone who doesn’t know, this is exciting because Taylor is one of the best guitar brands worldwide, but they have a very affordable price range and cater especially to left-handers without charging extra. The GS Mini is quite a bit smaller than your average guitar, but since I’m only looking for something to play around the house, and since my hands are so tiny, it suits me perfectly.
I’m still pretty novice, but I can’t wait to get practicing again. The clip below is from my time in the UK, in 2017, where I spent most of the year as a stable groom/babysitter. At that time, the guitar was my escape from daily life, and though I had a TV in my room, the reception was pretty sporadic. So, for nine whole months I didn’t watch a thing. Instead, I devoted myself to a variety of creative pursuits.
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