I marvel at those who can summon the energy to work a full-time job, promote their book nearly every weekend, participate in multiple online forums, read, write, and take care of everything else that life throws at them without dropping dead from a heart attack. They truly are special people—a rare breed. Together, Stef and I can barely manage all of the above mentioned without falling into deep despair. Sure, everyone is different and everything is relative, but we wish we could sip from the same fountain as those super authors.
Alas, there is no such fountain, and we are well aware that we will not be garnering any sympathies from anyone. We gave up long ago trying to get people to understand our lot in life. Truth is, we chose this lifestyle and people probably expect us to suck it up and just deal. For the most part, they are right. However, if you are one of those people telling us to cope, then don’t expect the next entry of our series to be published by next year. We’re busy!
When I say that we’re busy, I mean it. If we’re not working six days a week, we’re visiting our families, running errands, promoting Raven’s Heart, writing blogs, and lamenting a deficit in time to create. Writers are supposed to write every day. That’s EVERY DAY. With our schedules, we’re fortunate enough to write twice a week, two hours a sitting. That’s not very productive, and sadly, that’s why we’ve been depressed.
Our new series, Black Earth, has been idle for many, many months. People expect we will have the first book of the trilogy published by next year. They’re wrong. Dead wrong. In the event of republishing Raven’s Heart, we realized that our abilities as writers had grown since writing the first draft of the Black Earth. Truth-be-told, we were nearly finished with the new series. Having reviewed it, we decided that it had to be rewritten…from the ground up. That’s about 1,100 pages up in smoke. Four years gone in an instant. Were we depressed? YES! But we knew it had to be done for the betterment of the series. Accepting a satisfactory draft is not our style. We want our writing to be the best it can possibly be.
With that being said, we found ourselves faced with a gargantuan task in the midst of a very difficult time in our lives. Debt. Nuff said. How do we focus our creative energies on something so monumental when most of our efforts go toward paying the bills? I wish I had the answer, but we are coping. Slowly, but surely, we are learning to scrounge time, ignore the world, and write. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves during this trying time, that we can persevere no matter the trial. That’s reassuring. I learned that I need my wife now more than ever, and I’m awed that she’s willing to love and take care of me. Without her I’m nothing. I can’t say that about her. She’s always been strong.
I know, I know. Shut up, and get busy writing. We are, dammit! How about you so-called fans read our book and write us a review on amazon.com? You know that a little reciprocation can do wonders for an author’s fragile ego. Just kidding…kinda.
Sorry. That’s the stress talking.
-Matt
Alas, there is no such fountain, and we are well aware that we will not be garnering any sympathies from anyone. We gave up long ago trying to get people to understand our lot in life. Truth is, we chose this lifestyle and people probably expect us to suck it up and just deal. For the most part, they are right. However, if you are one of those people telling us to cope, then don’t expect the next entry of our series to be published by next year. We’re busy!
When I say that we’re busy, I mean it. If we’re not working six days a week, we’re visiting our families, running errands, promoting Raven’s Heart, writing blogs, and lamenting a deficit in time to create. Writers are supposed to write every day. That’s EVERY DAY. With our schedules, we’re fortunate enough to write twice a week, two hours a sitting. That’s not very productive, and sadly, that’s why we’ve been depressed.
Our new series, Black Earth, has been idle for many, many months. People expect we will have the first book of the trilogy published by next year. They’re wrong. Dead wrong. In the event of republishing Raven’s Heart, we realized that our abilities as writers had grown since writing the first draft of the Black Earth. Truth-be-told, we were nearly finished with the new series. Having reviewed it, we decided that it had to be rewritten…from the ground up. That’s about 1,100 pages up in smoke. Four years gone in an instant. Were we depressed? YES! But we knew it had to be done for the betterment of the series. Accepting a satisfactory draft is not our style. We want our writing to be the best it can possibly be.
With that being said, we found ourselves faced with a gargantuan task in the midst of a very difficult time in our lives. Debt. Nuff said. How do we focus our creative energies on something so monumental when most of our efforts go toward paying the bills? I wish I had the answer, but we are coping. Slowly, but surely, we are learning to scrounge time, ignore the world, and write. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves during this trying time, that we can persevere no matter the trial. That’s reassuring. I learned that I need my wife now more than ever, and I’m awed that she’s willing to love and take care of me. Without her I’m nothing. I can’t say that about her. She’s always been strong.
I know, I know. Shut up, and get busy writing. We are, dammit! How about you so-called fans read our book and write us a review on amazon.com? You know that a little reciprocation can do wonders for an author’s fragile ego. Just kidding…kinda.
Sorry. That’s the stress talking.
-Matt
