Into the Fire

One would think upon completing another novel there should be some excitement, contentment, a little celebration perhaps? One would think . . .

I’ve nicknamed this one “the Ugly thing”. The reason for this is probably something that makes little sense to anyone but me. This is the novel I was working on when I quit it just near the end to write and easily complete Breath of Life which was technically my 7th novel. The ugly thing is number 6, and it’s real name is The Fixer.

Here’s the blurb:

The long affair between a photographer and his beautiful model produces three illegitimate daughters and a legacy of heartbreak. One sister bears the burdens for her other two as their lives are in crisis from a warped concept of relationships.

You know, I liked the characters and the story, but I really tried to write it to “fit in” with the desired word count and a meshing of chick lit/women’s fiction/romance formula. I succeeded in the word count: 88,516 which is an all time record low for me. I doubt it will ever happen again, and I’ll tell you why.

This is a simple little tale of three sisters and the men who love them. However, in order to keep it within the prescribed parameters of current publishing trends for the genre, I had to restrict my style and limit my story to the point where it became so difficult for me at times, I kept taking breaks from writing it, and those breaks were longer than normal for me. When I got the prologue for novel number 7, I was near the completion of The Fixer and knew the ending. But I couldn’t write it. I never finished it and went on to write the next one with little trouble.

Something came up which made me think I could finish “the ugly thing”, so I set to re-reading the story and completed it this afternoon. All done. Seven novels finished.

You can find my “voice” in The Fixer, but it isn’t my kind of story for the simple reason that although we get to know the characters, we only really know them in the present. I want to know so much more about them to feel satisfied.

On the other hand, it’s cool that I was able to go back to it after all these months and get the ending done. Add it to the list. So, Hip Hip Hooray, I guess.

Lord, thank you for this. I learned something about being me. I have to be the one you made me to be, with me ever decreasing and you ever increasing. Help me in that, Jesus. God, you are so gracious to me. Thank you for it all. Holy Spirit, keep pushing me onward, closer to you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.