On the Doorstep of December 2023

I’m scratching my head, wondering where this year has gone. It must have had wings. Like great, big dragon wings that ate up time with each flash of scales and leather.

The end of this year sees me at an odd point. As usual, I started out 2023 with my writing ambitions, except this year, I shot for the moon. I’m finding that was helpful in reaching certain goals and yet also came with unexpected consequences.

Zap Dragon was published this year. The writing of it flowed beautifully. It expanded the world I love from Discarded Dragons and was fun and exciting to produce. Beneath the bubbly joy of this adventure, however, was the deeper flow of working on Hidden Mythics II.

HMII has defied every attempt of mine to contain it into a specific timeline. Six months for initially writing it stretched into twelve. One month for first-round edits ate up three. Perhaps I just have unreasonable expectations or perhaps this book just needs more time to mature, but because I’ve repeatedly set a deadline, and then repeatedly failed to keep it, this book has dragged me across the bottom of the river. It’s flowing, but it’s painful in a way writing never has been for me. I hate to admit that, but it’s honest.

That’s the unexpected consequence of setting high ambitions for this year. My joy in writing is tinged with bruises.

But that’s okay. True adventure requires a certain amount of bruising. We’re fragile creatures that way. If we try to avoid it, I’m not sure we’re truly trying.

And so I come into December a little bit wiser and a little bit more experienced. This is the time of year, as always, when I step back and soak in the soul-deep joys of life while setting aside the crazy that has a way of distracting me during the year. I’ll sit in front of the fire, book and coffee in hand, and breathe in the aroma of baking bread while I read. The cat will probably burrow under my blanket and snore. My family will sit around the table a little longer after each meal, just enjoying the conversation.

And perhaps I’ll put actual pen to paper, which is my preferred way to write, and allow myself to wander moonlit paths and sunlit streams without any timeline pressing in at the edges of my creativity. I’ll gently press a lit match to my imagination’s kindling and see the smoke drift into the breeze as the pieces catch with flame.

We’ll see what happens from there. If you’ve read this far, thank you for accompanying me on this journey of writing. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I wish you a blessed Christmas. I won’t be posting during December, but I’ll return in January. Hopefully with an adventure in tow

Blessings,

Jennifer

P.S. HMII will be in the professional editor’s hands as of next week. Although I won’t be posting, I will be working on editing.