Wednesday, December 26, 2012

2013- No Retreat, No Surrender

December 26, 2012



It's easy to settle into a reflective frame of mind as cold Winter wraps her arms around my world.  The old year is ending - which is better than the world ending as many feared. The New Year is a mere handful of days away, and I feel it pulling me forward. But for me, going forward means keeping one foot grounded in the past. I believe the past made me the person I am today and it's important to always remember where I come from.

But this blog is about the part of me that embraces being a writer, not those other sides of me that are partner, daughter, cousin, friend, and co-worker. That part that is writer is only ten years old - or is it? I’m a life-long reader so perhaps every book I’ve ever read was research, or at least I like to think so.

The year just past, 2012, was a year of “rest” for the author side of me. There are various schools of thought about scaling back, not that I put a lot of stock in them. The author is the single most important thing about a book - any book - and the trick is knowing how to nurture that element.

So just where was the author in 2012? With family, for the most part, and loving it. Did me a world of good, too. Writing is the Solitary Art. It’s just the writer and all those words ready to be plucked out of the air to form thought. Is the finished product the accomplishment, or is it the work itself? For the sake of this particular blog entry, I’ll take the side of the finished product.

What did I, the writer, accomplish in 2012? A Cat Named Hercules (book five of the Men of Marionville series), Eye of the Beholder (a story about voyeurism), Leather Jackets (book six of the Men of Marionville series), River Walk (the third Sundown story), and the newly released Doors of Time. Not at all a bad showing.

This leads us to the New Year, to the undiscovered country of the future. What lies ahead? Will the author continue several popular series, or forge into virgin territory? Not to admit to being in a holding pattern to echo 2012, but the answer is both.

Look for Desert Snow the first weekend of January 2013. No, it’s not about snow. In fact, it has nothing to do with snow. The story takes place at the Palm Springs White Party. Palm Spring = desert. Thousands of guys dressed in white - like snowflakes, each unique and beautiful. Ergo - Desert Snow. (I like the title and I’m the author so allow me to have my own way for once, okay?)

Expect another Sundown and Fallon story in the New Year, this one more light-hearted than River Walk. Our shapeshifter flees his responsibilities for his first-ever vacation and Fallon has his hands full, as usual. Private investigator Ian Coulter is back with a case of a cyber-stalker turned real-life stalker. Ian turns to Rick for help.

There’s a possibility of a new Marionville couple as part of an upcoming PAX. The story will be written and submitted by September 1, 2013, but it’s up to the powers that be at the publisher when it will come out, but to the writer, it’s a 2013 project.

A new project I’m very excited about is, um….can’t tell you the title for fear some enterprising so-and-so will steal it. Really. It’s happened before. Can’t trust anyone. Anyway, I’ve had this one on the back burner and it’s simmered to the boiling point. It’s time to get it written. There are a few more ideas taking shape, but will they be for 2013 or 2014? I’m not sure yet, and I know better than to force them into the light. The story will come in the proper time.

Where I’ve been and where I’m going. A glance into the past and a vision for the future. And between the two is a “now” full of contentment. I’ve made choices, good and bad, that guide my way. I’m right where I need to be to welcome the New Year, and I’m ready. No retreat, no surrender.

Will you step into 2013 with me? 

KC Kendricks
My home on the web- Between the Keys: http://kckendricks.blogspot.com
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My country life at Holly Tree Manor

 

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