I’ve never given birth to anything other than books. So I really don’t know if I qualify as an expert on the birthing process. But what I do know. Depending on the book, writing a book can be a painful experience, or it can be sheer bliss.
A Wakening of the Heart: Shavon Sun Cloud initially had moments of agony and bewilderment. I was writing in a genre I was totally unfamiliar with, and I was writing that one of my primary characters was a woman. I know lots of women. I don’t identify as one, so writing a female lead character and ensuring I was not biasing her. Based on my conscious and unconscious biases, it was, shall we say, work!
To add to my challenges as an author. I was writing in and about a country I had never visited. So to say my apprehensions were high, and especially about following up on my novel writing after a 6-year gap also added to my concerns.
I also had concerns about my writing abilities. I was writing in a new genre, with new characters in a new realm. Was this arrogance? Had I bitten off more than I was able to deliver? I was faced with all the fears I would assume many parents have felt.
So I could only take a deep breath in and trust it would work out in the end.
So in my rocky on and off again relationship with the book “A Wakening of the Heart: Shavon Sun Cloud,” I finally found my writing voice. The words came slowly to me, and then when I truly surrendered to the writing process. The words came to me quickly and easily.
Partway through my writing process, I sent out the beginning chapters to a couple of beta readers. They returned back to me with happy expectant faces. They wanted more and loved the characters and the story.
All of this is to share that I have completed the first draft of my book, and I have sent it off to the editor (Tina Thrussell), who has edited all my books except the very first one. I am excited to see what gets returned back to me!!!
