Hey there! It's been a while, I know. Life has been life-ing pretty hard recently so I've been taking a bit of a break from everything. However, in an effort to jump start myself, I decided I should jot down some thoughts in a blog post. Just for old time's sake, ya know?
So where do we start? Probably about book things! The problem is, I have very little in terms of book news. Bound To Parish is still getting reads, and I love that so much. Thank you to everyone that has given it a chance! I'm so excited every time I hear someone has read it or left a review, they make my days. Although it is no where near the success that I was daydreaming about prior to release, it's been my most successful book so far and I'm so thankful for that.
The downside is - and I believe I've mentioned this before - I'm having a hard time finding the confidence to follow it up. With the first three books, readership was low and response was overall positive but minimal. With BTP, I now feel the need to make something equal to or greater than itself, and I think that's giving me a case of writer's block. I've got a case of the "what-if-it's-not-good-enough"-itis.
This hasn't stopped me from trying, though. I started two new stories, completely unrelated to the previous books, but neither stuck in my head and gave me the urge to dive into them as much a previous books had. After feeling down about that fact, I reevaluated my position, what was speaking to me at the time, and decided to try my hand at a sequel to BTP.
I've always thought of myself as a stand alone author, giving you a story that is self contained and over quickly. I understand that series and sequels are a big way to keep people interested and hooked and coming back for more, but I've never has something that seemed deep enough to handle a series. With BTP though, the atmosphere and environment are so alive, so vibrant, that I was finding myself having a hard time letting it go. Trying to place myself into a new setting for a new story was problematic, and kept dragging me back to the bayou. So after a while, I decided that if the bayou was going to keep calling me, I should at least answer and see what it wants.
Then came the task of trying to find a story worthy enough for a sequel. (Spoilers for BTP if you haven't read it yet) At the end of BTP, Al's arc is complete, he's back in the Pointe and has found a purpose for himself. He's feeling good, loved, and safe, surrounded by friends and community. The girls are being cared for. Everything is tied up in a nice little bow. It was a good ending, at least from my perspective. And now I need to come up with something to shake things up.
In good news, I think I've done it.
It's not fully formed, and still just a vague blueprint of how things could work out, but it's something at least and that's all I needed. A start. Something to dive into and explore. And depending on the adventure along the way, it may turn BTP into a trilogy. We'll have to see.
Semi-related, I've also stumbled upon a few Louisiana Cajun YouTube channels (Dat Louisiana Life for one) that have helped me research a bit more for the story, and have given me a few ideas on what to add to the books. So, that will be fun to weave in throughout the tales.
Now, I just need to get my nose to the grindstone and start knocking out some words. It feels like each time I start a new project I run through the same pattern of emotions. Happiness and optimism from the last book release, followed by sadness and apprehension that I won't be able to complete the task. There's the struggle of making things work as I'm going along, the elation when the draft is finished, and the slog of editing and seeing the vision come together, and then release. Maybe a few weeks of happiness after it comes out, and then it's back to the same cycle. I think for BTP the downtime of enjoying release has been a bit longer, but I'm now solidly into the apprehension of not being good enough.
It doesn't help that day job work has been somewhat of a nightmare recently, and in trying to cope with that I've been spending the majority of my non-working time in a fog of "relaxation" that has made me extremely lazy when it comes to doing anything. Although, as I've mentioned in the past, writing has become a bit of an addiction, so even with my want to do absolutely nothing I've still been brainstorming and jotting ideas here and there.
Hopefully soon, I'll be able to actually get to the computer and get some words on the page. Until then, I'll be around, just floating down Angusta Bayou and taking in the sights.
-Dave
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