It’s so easy to get caught up in the writing and reading. It’s easy to forget that life is a story; it deserves to be chronicled.
I used to be so good at keeping a journal. I don’t know why my enthusiasm in journal writing faded; maybe I have too many journals and not enough drive to stick to one. Maybe I’ve been channeling myself into my novels, so there’s not much left for a piece of nonfiction.
Blogging is also a hard routine to keep, because the Internet has so many distractions; still, I keep trying.
For those of you who don’t already know, I finished a draft of Elegy last week and two hours later decided I didn’t like any of it. It took the encouragement and reassurance of several friends to convince me against scrapping it and starting over.
I can already hear the words of a new first chapter whispering in my mind; I can’t really see what the harm would be in starting over if I already know the order of things, but the general consensus among writers is to give it at least a month before you start the rewrite, so instead I have embarked on a new project.
All I can tell you is that there are ghosts, and a ship, and a ghost ship. I binge-watched all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies in a week, and read tons of ghost stories from the 1800s; my imagination now brims with gothic fiction.
To distract myself from the temptation to rewrite Elegy–which remains a working title, as the book has strayed far from what I titled it–I have started a new project, this ghost story, and am not going to bother with an outline. It helps me get a feel of the characters to start new novels from scratch.
I’m still struggling to figure out marketing plans. However, it’s humbling enough to know most of my closest friends have Dissonance in their homes or Kindles. Meanwhile I’m planning a blog tour for the end of August. The process of publishing burned me out; perhaps I needed a summer off to get energy to dive into the project.
There are a few reviews up–including Kayla’s and Alexa’s. Soon there will be more! I’ll keep you updated (and cross my fingers that these reviewers enjoy my story overall!)
I will send an eBook review copy if you want to help out. Shoot me a message and let me know if you’re a book blogger; I could use the exposure and would love to know what you think!
My adventures this year are far from over. I’ve read wonderful books and seen wonderful people; if I can’t find the drive to keep a personal diary, it’ll suffice to keep these memories in my heart.
Because bookworms never run out of adventures.
Mariella Hunt 