Yesterday, I finished the third draft of my fifth novel. While this might not seem like a big deal to some people, it was for me. Because I’m a working mom with a family, finding large chunks of writing time is impossible. Until the kids are grown and I either cut my day-job hours or retire, I won’t be prolific. It just doesn’t fit the lifestyle, but that’s fine. I’ve made my choices without regret and I celebrate writing milestones, big and little, whenever I can.
This third draft of a 340 page book took over eighteen months to complete. Another reason for the lengthy rewrite is that I really wanted feedback from my talented writers’ group, but my allotted critique time is only a few pages every two weeks. Also, last year I worked on the final edits for Fatal Encryption, then promoted the book. I did manage to write two new short essays and an article, plus start a couple of short stories, but sometimes it doesn’t seem like nearly enough. Other times, I feel tremendously productive.
I truly admire writers who’ve written, let alone published, ten or more books. I’ve been writing novels for nearly thirty years with four finished and two published. I often see myself as the tortoise who slowly plods along in the race with the hare. Only the hare’s so far ahead that I’m pretty much alone and free to daydream and realize that all of this really isn’t so much a race but a journey. It’s a pleasure to look up and pay attention to what the world is doing while I move slowly forward, and to know, with a certain measure of comfort, that I’m on this journey for the long haul.
To read excerpts of Fatal Encryption and Taxed to Death (both available on Kindle and Mobipocket) visit www.debrapurdykong.com
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