Status Check

So it's the second of September. School has just started for the younger two children, and is about to start for my Beloved Spouse (who teaches). Oldest Child gets back from his mission in a week, and we're back from our summer excursions Out West. And I'm ready to get back in the harness and start being more regular about posting on this blog again — and about my not-for-hire writing in general.

Not much to report on the N0 Going Back front. I've had one new blog review since I posted last, from One Literature Nut. She wrote in part: "There were many layers of conflict built into this story, which I think does a nice job of touching on some of the realities that must surround a teen who wants to admit that they are gay…. There aren't any easy or pat answers given in the book, which is probably for the best, but this story tries to tackle them head on.  For starting a dialogue and giving voice to teens also coming out, this book does a really nice job." As I wrote to Chris Bigelow (my publisher), at this point I think the only thing that might impact sales of No Going Back are either (a) a random meteor-strike event, such as being endorsed (or condemned) by Glenn Beck, and (b) getting something else published that's a lot more popular and leads people to wonder what else I wrote. Which isn't going to happen unless I actually write something else…

Which brings me to the realm of my other creative endeavors. After taking several months off my creative writing — due in part to the press of other work projects — I'm now hoping to get back into writing more regularly again. The first step is probably to get more solid plotting done on the story I'm working on most seriously right now. Then some rewriting… As always, the biggest challenges are (a) keeping myself on a good schedule, and (b) getting my nervousness so that I actually do something instead of whining about it. We'll see how that goes…