The writing energy is high right around ICON. I’ve been working on a book, but it’s been slow. It’s more of a series, because that’s what happens to some projects – they refuse to remain in just one novel. I suppose that’s for the best because the world-building this novel has taken is just so much.

I gave them a piece of a different project. Because the novel I’m working on is just a little too daunting at the moment. I thought I had a draft, and it turned out it was two books masquerading as one. Sorting that into the proper outlines has been quite the job, and I can’t say I’ve been doing a lot of sorting it out this year. 2020 has definitely taken a toll on me that way.

Though the pandemic wears on all of us unevenly, it’s a burden. My jobs have changed. Writing occurs in the quite moments when I’m not working or schooling the kids. The hybrid schedule is working decently for them, but we’re struggling with how much time we spend studying at home. I’m not able to keep a novel in my head while working out whether they’ve done the math or turned in the assignment or anything else.

But slowly, carefully, I’m pulling this novel back out, back together. And I let the Paradise ICON writers read something that hasn’t seen the light in a long time but I keep thinking about, keep trying to get back to. I’m sure it’ll take another outline to figure out exactly what order all of those items should be in, too. Maybe that’s something that can happen in the moments between helping kids with homework and running off to the gym.

I feel the writing season. It’s a beautiful thing.