I’ve heard of ‘second book syndrome’… but after His Brand Of Beautiful, I didn’t struggle with writing book two, which turned out to be The Goodbye Ride.
But I am struggling with Book 3, which is actually a return to Book 1. For the moment, I’m calling it Fringe Benefits, but I’m pretty sure that title will change.
Fringe Benefits was the first book I ever wrote. Shortly after I typed ‘The End’ I turned my attention to His Brand Of Beautiful, which some 14 months later, was picked up by Escape Publishing and went on to become my debut book in March 2013.
I am having a real struggle getting back into the swing of writing, after what feels like weeks of hard edits, soft edits, tweaks, publishing (self-publishing) and promotion for both His Brand Of Beautiful, and for The Goodbye Ride. Actually sitting back down into some routine of writing is proving elusive.
I’m hopeful that if I stick with it, it will all begin to flow again. I’m blaming some of my problem on my workspace. I love to write outdoors. We have a wonderful verandah here in our little rental home. I love the sun and I love finding a space with the sun on my back for my writing.
But it’s winter now. It gets dark early. I can’t write when I’m cold, and so for the most part, I’m writing in bed with my laptop on my err, lap. (Where else would it be, hey?)
I’m writing at night and I’m getting really tired before I seem to churn out many words. And are they good words? I don’t know. I think so. I liked my opening scene when I started writing 2 nights ago and I’m really glad I’ve got a first draft down so I don’t have to start it cold.
Fringe Benefits is a darker book than my first two. H&H are going to have some fairly ding-dong fights along the way. It’s a reunion story and the break-up is fierce… lots of unresolved issues at the core, lots of blame. Huge amounts of chemistry though! Of course.
So I think it’s time I put my head in the bat cave and don’t come out for a while… keep warm, and hope that enthusiasm and flow will come!
Lily Malone - Author 