A sticky note of sorts to say… while I’m waiting for galleys for Burning Sky, which will be my last chance to make any changes to the story (a sobering thought for this fiddler), I will be tackling:

1. Preparing two finished manuscripts (one set in 1793-94, the other 1757-1776) and the proposals for their sequels for my agent to have on hand. That process entails:

A. Trimming another 10k off each of the finished manuscripts. As of today, both of those manuscripts sit at 129,000 words long. Even though they started out (or ended up?) much longer, 129K is still a bit long for CBA historicals right now.

B. Researching the historical background and story frame for the sequels. One of these needs far more research than the other. I have a stack of books to read. I’m working through them.

C. Preparing the proposals for the finished manuscripts and their sequels, using the form my agency provides for this.

D. Writing the first few chapters of one of those sequels.

E. Polishing the first few chapters (already written) of the other sequel. 

2. Writing several nonfiction articles and devotionals for booksellers, as part of the promotion for Burning Sky.

I had to lay aside the new story I’d begun researching and writing back in January after what I already had on my writing plate, and knowing I’ll be promoting Burning Sky (huge learning curve there) and editing my second novel for WaterBrook in the coming months, began to feel overwhelming. It was hard to make the decision not to try and write a new book in 2013 (or not before I finish the above mentioned tasks). It was a decision I struggled over in thought and prayer for weeks. But as soon as I made it, I had a peace that I’d been lacking the past couple of months.

Sometimes it’s wise to let go of things I want to get done NOW, and trust that God has a better timing for them, and that He’s not going to answer that prayer for two or three me-clones to get it all done in my own strength, on my time table.

Which is a probably good thing. I doubt I’d get along with me very well. 🙂

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