WriteWriteWrite

I have a (somewhat-self-imposed) April 1st draft deadline, so I'm currently immersed in a writerly fog. I've just hit that point where I'm starting to feel fully enveloped in my characters and story. It's a wonderful and terrifying moment. On the one hand, I just want to hole up in my writing cave and bang away at the keyboard; but on the other, I'm feeling preemptively guilty about all the people and things I will inevitably blow off over the next couple months in favor of hangin' with my imaginary friends. Flipping this switch on and off is a personal struggle. Once I settle myself into the world of my novel, I hit a remarkably productive writing groove that makes it difficult to pull myself back to the real world. This, I think, is the real reason why I needed this year to focus solely on writing. I need to bring myself to this place in order to create good work, but lord knows I'm not getting anything else done while I'm here!

I am keeping up with my reading, though any reviews will be indefinitely delayed due to my writing frenzy. Perhaps in April? There are a few half-written reviews in my drafts folder from the tail end of 2013, and I'll have some more to add for the new year. So far, 2014 has included a quick and enthusiastic reading of Hugh Howey's Wool Omnibus, and about a third of Susanna Kearsley's The Winter Sea.

Speaking of reading...I just sent out my first "teaser" for the novel to be beta read! It's only the first couple pages, and I only sent it to my mom; but this is the first glimpse anyone else will have of what I've been working on, and I'm excited to finally get a little feedback. Writing in a vacuum is incredibly weird and frustrating. However, I've been hesitant to share anything besides a full draft for fear of ruining the magic of reading the complete story, as it's meant to be read. I don't want to spoil any surprises. This particular selection is about as spoiler-free as possible, though, so I'm hoping to make my mom happy and get a little positive feedback to cheer me on.

As Chuck would say,

...but also awesome. =)