Kindling on the Fire

Yes, it would seem this year is starting off on a different foot than last year. Albeit, Mercury was in retrograde up until the 15th, so it's just now making its way BACK to where it was before it went retro December 26th. It will hit it's mark on Feb 4th—my birthday— so things should get back to normal for everyone in terms of communication, but most especially those of us who write. I'm already feeling a few minor "good" effects of it going direct again.

I got through re-reading the historical I wrote a couple of years ago. I did a few revisions/edits to it- I can't recall how many times I've gone through it, but it's feeling far more polished now than it ever has before and I'm glad of that. I read through 147 pages yesterday (had already done 216 pages over the past week or so already) and finished up the last 16 pages this morning.

The only thing is- re-reading it got me to thinking and it has put kindling on the fire of something I have contemplated before.

Originally I only had this one idea, so the story would be a stand-alone novel set around the 1790's—perhaps the early 1800's. My mom, who doesn't write, but had a really great idea for a story, brainstormed it with me, told me all the details she had in her mind that she didn't feel she could get on paper and told me to take it and write it. Her idea is set toward the end of the Civil War though- a few decades from the one I have written.

Now I'm at a crossroads. I'm still in the process of writing my 2nd contemporary series about brothers, but there's a niggling- a reminder reaching out to me that I should do more with my historical—that I can't just leave it standing alone...that perhaps mine is only the beginning of a family saga series, passed down over generations, all starting with my main heroine and working its way through other stories until it gets to my mom's heroine, a descendant of my own. I want to do justice to both of our stories and feel they don't work, individually, but that perhaps there should be a collaboration that creates a beginning and an end, with other tales in between.

If I have the family tree/time line in my mind figured up correctly, I could end up with another 4 book series. Of course, I have only been chewing on this idea for a little while this morning. Before that, I hadn't thought about it in a couple of years because I had been delving into other stories that needed my attention.

Having said that, I haven't really charted it or figured out the details, but I think the flame is starting to grow and the torch light is leading me to wander back into the realm of historical romance. Or if nothing else, only these few, because in all honesty, I'm more of a contemporary gal—but just as with anything else, sometimes a writer needs more than one outlet for their inspiration and perhaps they might be the only historical romances I ever write, but they are tugging at me and I feel they need to be told. My first priority is to my current series, but soon. Soon I will get to the others.

I hear the whispers on the wind, the words calling me back into the universe of my imagination and it's ALL good....My stories haven't forgotten me and it seems the portal into those varied and mystical lands are opening up, welcoming and bidding me follow wherever they lead, even though I have been away for so long. I have journeyed there many times in my mind, traipsed through the forests and across the bridges, but now its a matter of capturing the words- gathering them together to bring them to life on the page.

I feel as though I have been gone from my country of origin for ages, but perhaps my time away the past year will help me see more clearly, describe more vividly, and write more adeptly. I believe it is all writers' great hope that when they set out on this journey, they discover these things about themselves and learn to use and wield the tools to their advantage. Perhaps last year tripped me, perhaps I was wounded in an imaginary battle by an invisible warrior set against me, but I am healing and will find my way back into the action and back to what I love doing.

But for now- here is my battle cry—

Write On!