Two projects are racing toward conclusion. One is a ghostwriting project, a YA trilogy very loosely based on the Mahabharata. It’s been a grand project, a whole lot of fun. The client’s wonderful, too. I hope we’ll work on future projects, because we make a really good team.

The wonderful thing about a project like that is the collaboration. We schedule a phone conversation to discuss ideas and direction for the next chapter, decide what we’re going to do, then I write it. Sometimes writing the chapter veers a bit off-course. That adds an element of variability imparting a bit of extra drama or interest to the plot which develops as we go. 

I truly enjoy projects—and clients—like this. I think together we produce a superior story that meets or exceeds anything else on the market.

The other project is one of my own stories. I’m finally back to writing and it’s been going well. It’s strong. The wonderful thing about my own projects is that I can do what I want how I want. No one and nothing holds me back. The story goes in whichever direction my fancy takes it. Such is the writing style of a diehard pantser.

The new novel, estimated at 90,000 to 95,000 words, returns to the world of the Twin Moons Saga and, yes, it’s another fantasy romance. The romance in this one is gentler than in the others; however, I think the characters are just as strong. The writing journey on this book involved a lot of starts and stops due to personal reasons and family tragedy. However, the story persisted. It’s been gathering steam for weeks and we’re barreling toward the end.

Of course, you know the ending. It’s a romance, so there an only be one ending: a “happily ever after.” Nothing else is acceptable, except perhaps a “happily for now” type of ending that really isn’t an editing, but a “to be continued.” Every romance reader knows that. A romance that doesn’t end with the requisite HEA gets lambasted by reviewers who don’t tolerate violation of genre expectations.

So, just to build a little advance interest, here’s a bit about the new book.

• The release date will occur between June 30 and July 15. Look for Knight of the Twin Moons to debut then.
• The main male character (i.e., the hero) is very loosely based on the black knight of medieval lore.
• Yes, there really were black knights in the Middle Ages. They were mercenaries who painted their armor black for easier maintenance.
• My  hero is a mercenary of the justice-dispensing kind. He gets it honestly.
• The heroine is human, a divorced, former chemistry teacher who suffered a family tragedy and works as an HVAC technician. Of course, she doesn’t remain human. Otherwise, the story would be a tragedy, because humans aren’t immortal like the fae. (Remember HEA? HEA for the fae is “happily, eternally after.”)
• The periodical table of elements is involved.

And, just to ensure you know that I put my money where my mouth is, I’ve already contacted an editor to help me whip the manuscript into shape for public consumption.

Until later.

I’m active on LinkedIn, posting just about every weekday. I scan through my news feed on the platform and respond at whim. What I’ve been seeing there recently bothers me.

The first was a post by a member of the LGBTQ-etc. community complaining about the lack of gender-neutral pronouns in language and crying offense at being addressed as she/her by people who can’t immediately see that this person identifies as other than one’s apparent sex. Or gender.

At most, surveys and studies calculate that nearly 7 percent of the world’s population identify as LGBT; 1.7 percent as intersex, and 0.6 percent at transgender. Intersex and transgender are lumped in with the LGBT percentage. That’s a tiny minority around which the entire nation has been turning itself inside out to accommodate with regard to language, signage, and cultural mores.

I don’t deny that these folks exist or that they should be treated with the same dignity and courtesy deserved by every human being. What I do deny is that they are normal. Gender identification or sexual preference is natural; however, natural does not equate to normal.

Nature allows for aberration; but it favors normality. Normality is what perpetuates the species, regardless of species.

Language, expecially the Romance languages, tend to be oriented toward the masculine. Why is a group of children called niños when it’s likely comprised of both boys (niños) and girls (niñas)? That used to upset me. I resented it, because language seemed designed to ignore the existence of females. Then I grew up. I don’t mind distinguishing between actor and actress, chairman and chairwoman, waiter and waitress.  Did anyone ever call Frank Sinatra “Chairperson of the Board?” Of course, not. That’s just silly. Such specificity in words aids in our understanding.

The current push to erase gender or sex in language (“birthing persons” instead of “mothers”) is a deliberate assault upon the existence of females. Men and women not only exist, they are biologically and physiogically different. Why should we twist language and definitions to deny that? What we must remember is that difference does not mean superiority or inferiority. My husband is superior to me in some things and I am superior to him in others. Sex-based strengths and weaknesses are complementary.

The other post conflates intelligence with morality or good character. I responded to a post decrying former President Trump for declaring Russian President Putin “smart.” Putin, I wrote, is highly intelligent, but he’s also ruthless and determined to rebuild the Soviet empire. The original poster then responded with a snarky comment to which I responded that intelligence has no bearing upon moral character. Putin’s smart, really smart, but he’s not a nice man. Intelligence does not confer goodness, nor does goodness correlate with intelligence. One may be totally insane or evil and still be highly intelligent.

One of the things I enjoy about language is its ability to be extremely precise while also allowing for nuance and deeper layers of meaning. Understanding language requires perception and intuition and actually knowing what words mean. This leads to the benefits of a broad vocabulary and the ability to use the one right word that means precisely what you want to say.

Every word counts.

#henhousepublishing #writing #editing

I’ve made no bones about my extended creative hiatus. It’s been a dark 12-plus months, and grief delivered a sledgehammer blow to both mind and heart.

With my creative spark effectively extinguished, my business shifted to editing. Editing requires more of an analytical mind than a creative one. I consider very carefully whether I wish to apply for or bid on a writing project. Do I even want to do it? Can I handle it? Will it overwhelm me? Do I even care? It’s been easier to focus my attention on editing, to making someone else’s work better. That way I don’t have to be responsible for the ideas or their development. It’s a break I needed.

However, time is working its magic. The spark has flickered to life.

On Sunday, I didn’t feel like reading. I didn’t feel painting. I was restless. I picked up my laptop computer, opened the file of my latest and languishing work-in-progress, and began to write. I added 6,000 words to that manuscript. It felt good, cathartic even.

Last night, I added 4,000 words. That felt good, too. Proper. Natural. Right.

I won’t kid you or myself that this recent spurt of creative energy signals the end of that creative hiatus, but I do consider it promising. The story is coalescing, finding direction. I can think of what happens next.

I’m not writing this story for Matt. He never read what I wrote and considered my being an author of romance and fantasy as more than a little embarrassing. However, I would like to think that Matt would want me to continue to write and embarrass him, because that’s what Mom does. I hope he understands.

Regardless, I am grateful that this critical, integral part of me hasn’t been entirely lost. It’s coming back. Whether I will regain the earlier productivity of two years ago is undertermined. I do know I must care for my psyche and nurture this delicate spark so as not to extinguish it. It’s terrible to lose a piece of yourself.