The Fallow Time

Or--What Happened to Summer? Not to Mention Spring?

You may have noticed a lack of activity on my Substack. I look back, and see that my last post was a note about fall events. Before that, a post in January, when David Crosby died. Since then, Jimmy Buffet, Tina Turner, and Gordon Lightfoot have died with no recognition on my part, so I figured that I had better post quickly before the death toll rises.

It’s not that I haven’t been writing. I am working on Bane of Asgard, book 2 of Runestone Saga, my Norse Mythology duology. (Note: auto-correct keeps changing ‘runestone’ to ‘rhinestone’ so if one of those slips through try to unsee it.)

Savvy readers might ask, ‘WHY is it taking so LONG?’ given that this is my fifteenth book in as many years, and a person would think I had the hang of it by now. To paraphrase Neil Gaiman, I never know how to write a novel until it’s done. It’s the same with every novel. All I have is the memory of having succeeded fourteen times before. Sometimes, that’s not enough. Some books take longer than others.

The evil editor in my head has been unusually active, looking over my shoulder, muttering and rolling her eyes. You’re trying too hard. You’re not trying hard enough. Your eighth grade English teacher was right—these stories suck. Under those circumstances, trying to write is like repeatedly kicking a concrete wall with your bare toe and pretending it doesn’t hurt.

Do note: this editor in my head is in no way like my real editor, who has been a goddess of patience as one deadline after another appears in the rearview mirror.

Many of my series have been trilogies or quartets. Two books are easier than four, right? Well, maybe. Because I’m working within the framework of two books instead of, say, four, there’s a lot of heavy lifting here in book 2. My writing process is, basically: set everything on fire and then figure out a way to put it out. I don’t recommend that, but it is what it is. Gotta lotta fires this time. I’ve written more than 190,000 words in Bane, and we’re down to embers, smoke and ash. I’ve submitted the full manuscript to my editor, waiting for notes. So, for now, it’s perfect.

And, sometimes, magic happens, when you approach your work as a reader, not a writer. I’ll read over a few chapters that have had time to marinate, and I’ll say, “Wait just a minute! This is better than I thought! This is actually good!”

And the sun comes again. Happy Yule, everyone.