Recuperation Period

Yes, I survived. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to send me love and good wishes. Yes, I have a wonderful husband who is taking good care of me, but it's nice to know other people are out there, too. Someone once said they didn't feel they needed to check on me because The Big Guy was there, and he is, but does that mean he's the only one who cares about me? It's nice to hear from EVERYONE, to feel the love and support. Did I mention the basket of cookies I got? The perfect gift for a cookie monster.

A week out of surgery, I figured it was time to start thinking about the new story again. My head is clearing, I'm moving around again, I'm getting antsy.

I'd planned to get some serious writing done while I'm on leave, and while I'd made a couple of attempts at Chapter 1, I'm envisioning something different. The direction I've started isn't bad, but it's missing critical elements, like where is this story going? What are my characters' goals?

To get into the mood, I'm listening to a podcast my son recommended to me. It's sort of like listening to Mystery Theater, a radio show I listened to when I was a kid. I also read a book by Victoria Holt to get me into the mood, and I discovered I picked a lemon. I always knew I didn't like her Australia books, but this one was badly outdated and did NOT withstand the test of time. I wanted to slap both of the main characters for acting so poorly and playing mind games with one another. As I look at my TBR pile, I've been trying to decide if I make a dent in that or re-read a Susan Elizabeth Phillips that paid homage to the Gothic authors we grew up with. I still have a hankering to write something like that, but as I've learned, the stories will be what they will be. All of this amounts to ways to kill time rather than put words on the page, and I'm anxious to write!