Moving Forward Into A (Brave?) New Era

So here we are entering the third decade of the 2000’s. Wow, that’s enough to make you feel old! Still, I feel it’s a really great time for me, because this is the era in which the culmination of all my previous learning about the craft of writing is being presented to the public forum.

That process began in earnest last year, when I published the first book in my Humorous Historical Fantasy trilogy, Atomic Goddess – Isis Reborn. And so the saga continues as I prepare to launch the second book, Isis Rising, into the world.

I still have some editing to go, but it won’t be long now before Isis Rising is published. *YAY!* The bulk of the remaining editing work lies with the third book – Isis Revealed. I was hoping to have it ready mid-year, but to be honest, I’ll be happy if it’s published by December this year. That seems to be how life goes.

So you may be asking why I haven’t set A. Specific. Deadline. for publication yet. It certainly would be ideal to say ‘YES, it will definitely be published on THIS date, no ifs, whys, or buts’. After all, it’s what other authors do, more or less successfully. And I do plan to work like that after I’ve finished with this trilogy, when I’m more sure of how long things will take me to complete. Read: ‘The best laid plans of mice and men (and obviously authors, too…)

I feel the worst thing I can do is to choose a date on which I plan to publish a book, only to find I haven’t allowed myself enough time to have finished all the associated work connected with it – and be forced to postpone the publishing date at least once (or horror of horrors, several times!)

This is certainly a drawback as far as publicising and marketing my books, but once I feel more certain of how long all the processes take, there’ll be less of a problem with timing and getting things done by the chosen date. Thankfully, I’ve got the covers for the two remaining books ninety per cent finished, and I’m confident with most of the post-production work – file conversions, getting the books onto sites, etc.

For me, this new era means more than just a giant leap forward in my writing career, advancing beyond having short stories and poetry published in other people’s anthologies. Once I master the process of self-publishing, I’ll not only be able to publish my novels, but my own collections of shorter works, which is something I’m looking forward to. (Various ideas here – a collection of my short works of horror, maybe one of humorous works, a poetry anthology on the theme of cats…)

What has gone before has been a remarkable learning experience – both in the art and craft of creating stories, and in the work necessary to make them available to the public. I still have a whole lot more to learn (oh boy do I ever!), but I feel the forward movement, the momentum, of what I’m doing, and I absolutely relish the path ahead through the 2020’s and beyond. (Cue evil laughter…)

As I look forward, I also look back – not to dwell on previous lessons I’ve had to learn, but as part of integrating those lessons into my now and my future. In fact, I believe the present is the most exciting time in life – it is the crucial integration point between past lessons and future planning. It is vital, alive with promise and possibility, the awakening of new ideas and development of older ones, striving towards their best and most perfect form.

I hold my future in my hands, literally at the tips of my fingers! How exciting to pour forth creative ideas, to shape and mould and stretch and twist into fantastic new forms the words of my language, the concepts and emotions and humanity waiting to be expressed – from my mind to my fingertips and back again as I write, and research, and edit, and proof, and finally publish. And then to contemplate the next piece of writing work even as I collapse in an exhausted heap before my computer…

It’s not always glamorous. It’s not always fun. It’s not always rewarding. But it is the passion that I have burning in me, the art in my eyes, the language in my soul, the creativity in my veins. I couldn’t be happy living any other life. And to me, the next ten years look like they’re going to be AWESOME!

Disclaimer: I could also be completely wrong about that… (But I don’t think so)

Keep a smile on your dial until next time, and peace and love in your heart

From Lana Lea and her time-travelling muse