Author J. R. DuBois

  I did it. Books 1 and 2 are written and printed (that image shows both books, printed double-spaced but also on both sides...). I have begun Book 3 and will continue to add to it, but my goal is to actively write Book 3 and try to edit/rewrite Book 1 by June so my 91yo (will then be 92yo) Grandmother can read it. I think it'll be definitely a stretch goal, but achievable with focus. This last week of the year, I've been visiting my father and stepfamily. It is very laid back here and the pace of life is completely different. I absolutely needed some chill time, but I desperately miss my kitties (so much; irrationally so; illogically so; I don't know if I've ever missed them so much, and for the first time, it FEELS like I've been gone a long time, when usually vacation feels very short). I've been using this extra time in the midwest to write more. I've tried to write every day. Not all days have been very productive. Yesterday, my husband gave me a shot i...

 So I wrote the prologue to Book 3 and started Chapter 1 and then today, I'm very lethargic for feminine reasons, and so I've decided to read. I started reading, then decided I wanted to work on my book but not actually write. Currently, I'm summarizing the plot of Book 1 right now (have decided to pause for now), and trying to truly discern the plot of Book 1 to make sure it fits into the over-arching meta-plot of my series. In order to do this, I had to write-out what in the spells (haha, yes, one of my Liren curses) the meta-plot is. So... I think I did? I actually think I really did, but I really want to have a god element in my book, and right now, it's not mentioned in the single-sentence summary of the meta-plot. Can it still be in there? Yes. But even if that element doesn't have to be in the single-sentence, my creative process requires me to write it out... which I'm not doing right now. Because... my head hurts, haha. I've just started reading the...

 ...And we're onto book 3! It's funny; I wrote the blog post the other day professing how much I just... must write! But ever since I "finished" drafts 1 of books 1 and 2, I've been fretting like, "Oh em gee, can I write? Should I write? What do I write? If I write, will I be able to edit? I can't believe I'm not writing! I don't want to lose steam; what if I get rusty and the writing sucks? Am I really... done? Like, I know I have to edit and tweak and add scenes, delete them, etc, so the story isn't done, but the story ISN'T done, so like... I'm not just going to stop writing in the middle of the story am I?" And what did I say? I said I was going to write. So today, I wrote for almost two hours on the prologue to book 3. It was a half-focused, half-distracted (I'm a lady and Aunt Flo is coming, and thus mental turmoil) session, but it is actually going quite well, and... *BIG SIGH* I feel amazingly better and instantly more...

 Today's the first day I came to the page after having completed the drafts for my first two books. All day, I was working, focused, not distracted by my eagerness to get back home to write and yet... I was EXCEEDINGLY distracted because, once I did get home... what now? Well, I have a-whole-nother book (or two... or three) to write. But do I just keep trekking along? No; I need to make sure I have the whole notion of what's going on before I do that. I should edit books 1 and 2. Ah, but I'm not really ready to edit yet (that whole "give it some time" thing -- which... will likely just be until January, or even earlier, since I'll be with family in the midwest with naught else to do for 10 days over Christmas). And, I REALLY don't like the idea of just... not writing. I've gotten into such a routine with it, I feel like I've finally become who I've always known myself to be (or rather, not BECOME; I've always been a writer, but have this ye...

Drafts of Books 1 and 2: Written. Book(s) 3 (and maybe 4 and 5): To Be Written. Enter I now into the world of editing with jubilation, trepidation, determination, and fear. It is quite powerful to become what you've known yourself to always be. Now the real work begins. Book 3, I will be writing you within this coming year, but you'll likely have to come more slowly, as I polish your predecessors into works deserving of review, and, God willing, publishing -- though that will be quite some month's yet. ... You know, it's funny. I realized on, er... Wednesday this last week that I would finish my book(s) earlier than anticipated. And when Friday came, I piddled and barely wrote. Then I wrote more in earnest, but still piddled on Saturday. And I've been piddling all day today, Sunday. It is almost like I fear being done with the drafts. The fun part comes from the creation. The true, TRUE work comes from the editing. So I've a new focus. My focus is now on polishi...

 *Big sigh* So we are already nearing the middle of December. The original goal of this year was to write book one, and at least get a feel for book two. I did that and wrote pretty much all of book two. Now I'm in the throws of trying to tie it neatly together, STILL with the goal of finishing it before year's end. I REALLY don't want to go into 2021 without at least the drafted ending of book two. Why? Because that's what I did on the VERY first draft of book one 7-8 years ago (which again, is notably different than it is now). Also, because I have a tendency to want to finish things in a nice, neat little manner and am afraid that if I leave it hanging, I won't come back to it. (Ironically, sometimes tying it off neatly then leaves me in a state of staring at the blank page with a blank look like, "Oh, great, well how do I start another chapter/book now? It would've been better if I just let it ramble right on into the next thing..." [and, fun fact,...