Can't stop...

...writing!

I never thought I'd be able to finish a manuscript. Let alone two. I read the likes of Roberts and Austen, Marquez and DuMaurier and thought I could never do that.

But a certain story in my head wouldn't be quiet. It kept bugging me during the midnight hour, whispering dialgue from characters I hadn't met, showing me scenes from the hero/heroine meet to the climax, until finally I had to listen.

I finished the first manuscript Nine Days in Joliet in three months. It was...still is...nowhere near ready to be seen by anyone other than myself and a select few readers I trust. I was a fool to query it.

Then my nerves took over. Would I be able to think of another story? Was writing something I could do mediocre at best and just for fun, to stop the story from taking over my head completely? It wasn't until RWA National in Washington D.C. that I began to realize I could take the premise I loved so much about the first book, shake it up a little, okay a lot, and make it work.

And I did. I finished my second manuscript in three months. Again. Must be my magic number. (FYI: It ended up being a COMPLETELY different book than the first. Nothing is the same other than a girl who has a vision. Period.) I've edited it to the point of delirium. I've rewritten problem scenes more times than I care to admit. And I still don't know if it's up to snuff for the publishing world. But I'm trying. Actually, trying is an understatement. I'm running full force into what seems like a brick wall. But I keep running anyway.

As I was rewriting the last scene a few days ago, my brain buzzed with a new premise. Something good. Everywhere I look I see things I want to incorporate into my new world. I hear things, mundane things, from people in theatres and restaurants that burrow and grow into beautiful, enchanting ideas for my characters.

I've finished researching for the third book. I think. I've scratched something on ten sheets of paper that resembles an outline or a plot diagram. I think I'm ready to write again.

Hold on tight. Here I go. This time let's see if third times the charm.