Amidst all the current chaos of the political scene and the overshadowing effect of AI and just trying to get attention for The Witch’s Foundling series, I’ve been struggling to write another book. I’ve previously mentioned working on a spinoff series featuring two of the supporting characters from The Witch’s Foundling, Book One. In that first book, I had developed a fair bit of back story for Tobias Dahlrimple and Agnes MacGregor that simply did not have a place in Sally’s tale. However, ideas for the pair kept bouncing around in my head and The Light Seekers (working title) series was born.
I jotted down all the thoughts for stories and then wrote the first book. That book is sitting with my Critique Partner/Alpha Reader right now. Then, I began writing the second book or, I tried to write the second book. After writing three chapters, I realized I needed a stronger opening scene. I went back and wrote a ‘punchier’ hook. Unexpectedly, that opened a whole idea-dump in my head and suddenly nothing about the old story seemed to work. I started from the beginning again then hit a wall. A big blank. Attempting to get around the block, I actually tried putting together a more detailed than usual for me, outline for the book using an organizational app called Trello. Made some progress – hit another wall.
It wasn’t until I had begun gritting my teeth and figuratively banging my head against a wall that the thought about returning to my original approach occurred to me. That approach was to write my outline by (gasp) hand. I know, radical. It’s strange but the physical action of writing has made the act of organizing and forming a direction for the story, more streamlined. Was it perfect? H*ll, no. Did the ideas begin to open up? H*ll, yes. After two and half months of little to no progress, it felt good. There’s still lots more to do but I finally feel the creative juices flowing again. And this is the ultimate fear of every author, or any creative, that one day the ideas will just stop.
However, for now, the work continues. I’m still pushing The Witch’s Foundling series and have three appearances set up. See our News page for details. Also, if you liked the books, please consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice. I can still be found on Facebook, Instagram, (and their Threads app), Tik Tok and Bluesky (only on mobile), not to forget this website and our SillWill Saga newsletter. It’s a lot of distraction from writing. And reading, which I also recommend for blocked writers. If you’d like to read the first chapter for free of Book One of The Witch’s Foundling series, it’s now available here. If you like it or think a friend might, spread the link around. Whatever you do, please DO NOT feed it into an AI program. You can see I have enough to deal with, right?
FEATURE DESIGN OF THE MONTH
A creature of the mythical seas, the Hippocampus also lends its name to the area of the brain responsible for memory and spatial navigation. Let its magic guide you through turbulent times with power and grace. You can purchase this design through our Redbubble Store. The stickers are particularly cool but I must say the t-shirts are perfect for summer swimming and surfing.