Here it is, December 21, and I'm about to start writing again. I'm holding off until Christmas to be official. Laura wanted me to take a break from writing, and she gave me a date when she felt it would be both beneficial and relaxing for me. She told me sometime around mid-October that she wanted me to stop writing until after Christmas. I think writing on Christmas night should work. I think that's fair. I think that's adhering to the general essence of her well-wishing. I have four days to wait.
What will I begin writing? Oh, that's an easy one. I'm writing my 6th novel that isn't a Nick Posh book. I was sitting on the couch earlier, with the dogs, all of the dogs, because they like sitting with me when I write in my journal. I was sitting there, writing in my journal, when I couldn't remember exactly how many books I have actually written. I know I told everyone I had written 20 books, but then I started thinking about it. Was it actually 20, or was I just spitballin'? Well, it's 20. I counted.
So, my new book "Cumberland" will be my 21st book. It's my 13th novel, and as mentioned, my 6th novel that isn't a Nick Posh book. "Cumberland", like "Dion", is a little creepy at times. It's darker from the beginning and remains so throughout the entire book. It doesn't have a happy ending. It's a book with hollow and scarred characters. Life isn't always happy, and not everyone experiences the joy that others do. I will try to make it entertaining, of course, but it will also have deeper and often sinister moments, where even the hero has to get a little dirty to do the right thing.
The fact that I haven't written in several weeks won't be a problem for me in terms of getting right back into it. I could have written another book between the last one and this one; I know that. It's just that I wanted to rest, get my head straight on the depth of each new character, and it gave me time to watch videos about the area of the country where this book takes place. I want it to be authentic without being real. It is a fiction piece; not to be considered to be true or even based on any specific true event that took place in the early 1970s in the hills of northwestern North Carolina.
I try to write from the perspective of a narrator most of the time, a bystander looking at what's taking place. I don't pretend to be the bringer of good tidings or the bearer of bad news; I just write and let the characters take me where they take me. I do use AI for that, but if AI writes something I don't like or disagree with, I won't keep it in the book. If it writes something I like or agree with, I'll keep it, but rewrite it so I'm not using their words. It's funny because to date, it's not considered plagiarism if you use the words that the AI spits out at you -- even if you use them verbatim. (But I still don't do it, I just can't. It's not in my soul to do it.)
"Cumberland" will be finished around the end of January or the first of February, and then tweaked and up for publication before March. The next book will be the 8th in the Nick Posh series. It's titled "Shadow" and will be really deep and involved. I have to do a lot more research about a certain group of people before heading off into Neverland with that one. I do want it to reflect many true events, but not give anyone or any one thing credence. It needs to remain a fiction piece without those who could be guilty coming after me. It does take place in 1934, so I should be good.
OK, so that's about it. I'm prepping to write. I'm watching videos to get ideas. I'm writing notes in the little books I keep. Each new book I write has a little notebook that I scratch ideas into. Most of the books have to share a notebook, but "Shadow" does have its own. I have a lot of small details that must be examined. I needed a full notebook for it. I'll spend two or three days just typing up the notes for that book. I write them first, then type them, and use the typed ones to review and check off as I write the actual book. After I write the book, I go back over the typed notes to be sure I included what I wanted to include. It's part of the fluffing and stuffing process.
Good times! I love writing. Just like I know where Laura is if I can't hear or see her in her office or the living room, she knows where I am when I write. Laura, in case you were wondering, can be found out in the pasture with the horse(s). She's a creature of habit for sure, as am I. The desk and office chair in my office know me well enough to know I'm never going to leave them for a horse. It won't happen, I promise. I do get up to grab a bite to eat, but they forgive me for that.
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