If somebody asks what I like most about writing, I’ll reply in a heartbeat, “Oh, ____, for sure” (as in, the current phase). That’s because I’m incapable of pinpointing why I willingly work on writing for the lion’s share of my scarce free time and more of my coveted sleep time than I care to admit.

However, the following might shed some light on the extent of my devotion to writing—or what others have referred to as an addiction or obsession.

When I finished what I’d hoped would be the penultimate proofreading run-through of my latest novel, Core Haven, I made a reasonable decision to refrigerate it for a week or so while working on the promotional side for its upcoming release in July.

But almost immediately, I thought, “Hey, maybe I’ll just pretend somebody else wrote it so I can read it for fun.”

After traipsing through two chapters without stumbling over any flaws, I found a word repeated in close proximity. No problem till a few pages later when it became apparent that some peat-repeat fairy dust must’ve floated on the wind and sprinkled itself hither and yon.

I mean, repetition can be an effective device in poetry and song, but I find it annoying as hell in my own prose. It’s one of the reasons I’ve joined those writers dropping the use of dialogue tags like a bag of rocks.

So I promptly did a belly flop right back into the middle of the editing pool, so to speak.

See what I mean? I’m so hopelessly enmeshed in my whole process that instead of maligning the minutiae as some choose to do, I embrace it all with gusto.

That’s not to say I don’t get frustrated at times and bemoan my fate to one or another Muse, but that just comes with the territory, right?

I’ve even convinced myself to take a deep dive back into the gator-infested promotional swamp of self-publishing, smiling like a Cheshire cat all the while—OK, maybe grimacing like a Cheshire cat is more accurate.

Keep you posted.

Drew

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I invite you to check out Lee Hall’s excellent video review, especially the first book he includes on his short list of memorable indie reads—uh-huh, that would be Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown.

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