Behind the Book: Author Update 6

Thoughts on the journey of writing a book.

February was tough. January 22nd was my dad's 1 year anniversary of his death, and was a hard milestone to hit. Especially because he was such a big part of the inspiration for my current novel. Then, exactly 1 month later, my godfather passed away. His loss was a major shock because he was so young and healthy. It was a terrible loss.

So, I've been spinning. I've managed to keep up with the routines of work, barn duties, and taking care of my family. Internally, however, I feel like my grasp on control and order is slowly slipping through my fingertips.

And now, my exterior world is starting to reflect my inner chaos. My house is a complete disaster. My office is a complete disaster. My bedroom is a complete disaster. It's all just a complete disaster. Like the biggest tornado swept through, touched down on my little house in Covina, wrecked havoc, and then picked up and took off.

And here's a little secret about me.... I don't work well in chaos. Clutter, disorganization, and mayhem make me anxious, overwhelmed, and stuck. And that's where I am right now... feeling paralyzed by the disorder around me.

So, I'm going for a reset. I'm using March as a chance to get organized and complete pesky tasks that have been lingering and cluttering up my life and free time. I'm reflecting on my goals, working hard to establish clear expectations from myself on what I want and how I'm going to get there.

While I'm resetting, however, I don't want my books to sit and wait. So I'm making simple goals for myself that will keep moving production of Dissent forward, while also creating time and space for reorganizing my life.

The Plan: My goal is to run 1 chapter of Dissent per day through my editing software. It's simple, doable, and keeps me marching forward. Here we go!

Reminder: I've been sharing snippets of Dissent on my social media accounts, and revealing different themes that pop up throughout the story. Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads to catch little tastes of this upcoming dystopian romance.