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Thirty-eight weeks after the first day of the second new year

The last two posts were A Word by Claire, but this one isn’t. I don’t expect there will be such a post every week. As you might have noticed, I choose to write A Word by Claire post for the same reason I choose at times to post a short saying on Wednesdays instead of an Author Terminology: because something has caught my attention. Usually it’s an issue somewhere in our small world that has bothered me, has angered or saddened me because of the injustice of it, and has made me contemplate how we can make things better. So I can’t say when A Word by Claire will appear. It just happened, the concept. If you’ve read the Oracle books, you’ve seen its roots there. A Word by Claire comes from the same place the Oracle series does, I think. As for where it will go, that’s a good question. Right now Kate and I are still contemplating where to go with it. We’ll see, won’t we?

It certainly seems that this blog is undergoing a transition of sorts, And it’s time for that. When I just started, or actually when Kate and I started this, our focus was on learning how to produce a real book—how to turn stories into published novels and how to make readers know about them. How to create and build us, Author & Sister. But it’s been a while, we’ve learned a lot and learning and improving has become part of the flow of the work. I’m writing our fourth book now, and Kate is busy working on our sales strategy, now that she actually has books to sell. We’re both ready for the next stage, of looking at what we do in a more extensive and experienced manner. And since we care deeply about what is happening to our world, to life, to you, that’s going to be a part of it.
And this blog is bound to reflect it. Although there’s still relevance to talking about writing and publishing and about lessons learned and the plans ahead, that, too, needs to evolve. Of course, evolving takes time, and the transition of this blog, whatever happens with it, won’t be pushed. Kate says that things happen when it’s time for them to. I’m thinking this is one time I’ll accept that.

And slow is the way to go here, because right now the book, my next book for you, is what’s taking up most of my time, and it will continue to do so in the near future. It mandates this attention because it’s in the advanced stages—I’ve now transferred the advanced draft into Indesign and am working on preparing the print format alongside an advanced review of the content, and a similar step with the ebook format will follow.

And that’s where I should be now, working on the book. So until the next post, whatever it is, what I would like to end with is this tip: don’t stay in one place. Allow yourself to evolve, dare to take a step further than you thought you would, or that you thought you’d dare to take. Mind you, it’s not easy. By evolving, you’re actually putting yourself in a limbo of sorts. You don’t know where you will end up, and if what you’re doing will succeed or not. But on the other hand, there’s no sense in limiting yourself just because you’re afraid to venture on. You’ll just end up wondering what if.