Thursday, April 10, 2014

Here Be Trepidation

Trepidation.

That’s the name of the game here this morning.

With all the preparatory research done for my Revolutionary War-era “Six Brothers” project, I’m ready to dive into the plot, pinpoint where these characters are going and how they’re going to get there.

It’s time to flesh out the six brothers from nice names into real people.

Supporting characters at this point will start popping up everywhere, like surprise tulips in your garden of daisies. It will all be lovely and maddening.

So, why the trepidation? Why am I dragging my feet when the playground of storytelling has just begun to emerge from the concrete of research?

Two reasons:

One: Writhe. Yep, that novel of mine perched on the edge of release with Ravenous Romance. Hopefully, next week will be THE week. But since I don’t know for sure, it’s hard to plan.

Release day for me always means a flurry of activity. Scrambling around doing that final push of promotion, letting each and everybody in my world know that “Yes, a new Chloe Stowe is out! Available now! Available here and here and here!” It’s exhausting as I’m sure some of you know.  

Little else gets done that day or the day after.

Add in a writhing bundle of OCD tendencies and you’ve got gridlock of the head. (Try checking a website every thirty seconds for hours -literally, folks- for any sign that somebody out there might possible have bought your book. Not fun, very taxing on one’s paper-thin sanity and really rather sad.)

Two: Fright. Once I dive into a new project I always risk being swallowed up whole by it. Not a problem if I didn’t have Book Two of “The Lion and the Steed” Series due later this summer. Juggling my short story “Sicily” and a known quantity romance novel is one thing. Toss in a historical drama, that may or may not grow to sprawling, and I’ve got trouble.

*sighs*

Trepidation, I’ve got it.

The question is: what am I going to do about it?

*the screen fades to black as this morning blog ends with no answer.*

Until tonight…

Chloe

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