writing progress

The Brave Ones

Janet FisherLeave a comment

Delicate. Exquisite. Brilliant in yellow. The daffodils of late winter brave every kind of weather. Pounding rain. Skiffs of snow like this morning’s chill. Sometimes they wait. They seem like long-term weather forecasters, setting expectations by the date of their appearance. Will spring be early this year? Or late? But whenever they come out they give me hope. It’s why I call them the hope flower. They let me know. Early or late, spring is coming. It always does.

It’s a little bit like being an author. The delicate lines across many pages. The bravery of putting words out there. The battering critique. The wait. The joy of acceptance.

Followers of my blog know I get a little daffy every year when the daffodils start to rise. I’ve been watching this bloom for quite a while. The swelling bud. Another bud started sooner but something nipped it off before it had a chance to open. And this one dared spread its petals first. Weighted down by drops of rain it bows still. One day soon it should lift its head and glow.

Progress on my work continues. I finished the outline for my next book today. That’s the frame from which the story will flow. It’s the sequel to the one my new agent has ready. Exciting times. Hope rises like daffodils announcing spring.

The Silence of Progress

Janet Fisher

When we’re called to shelter the walls may feel tight. Yet I’m grateful to be able to shelter on our farm. Walks on the mountain have brought daily joy. Spring has come and gone. Summer’s here. The lavender’s in bloom.

I’m also grateful my work is here, and I can immerse myself in that. I’m working on the series, two trilogies, one centered in ancient Minoan Crete, the other in ancient Ireland. They’re complete now. But before my agent sent Book One to a new publishing house recently she suggested I review it.

Review it.

Two simple words. But it meant going through the whole thing. So in silence I entered that world once again–and found places to heighten the tension, smooth the flow. After she sent that off it occurred to me that if I found places to improve in Book One, maybe I’d better review Book Two–which led to reviewing Book Four, one I had recently revised dramatically. And once I read that I thought I’d better make sure the required changes in the opening of Book Five still worked. I got caught up in that story and didn’t really know where to stop, so I read it all. Book Six is a bit long and I think I should see if I could trim it a little–which will require a full read. But I got to thinking about Book Three, which I had skipped because it has always read so well, thanks to my muse who breathed so much of that story into my ear. What if I could make it just a bit better? I reviewed it. No big changes but worth the read.

Because I have been so deep into this, I haven’t been on social media much. It’s in the silence that I make progress.

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