I'm Not Dead

I haven't posted for a while, so I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive. I know you've been worried, because the emails are starting to sound frantic. (Just kidding.)

So here's a status report on the writing projects: My next novel (which I first blogged about here) is about to happen for a second time. It's the one that I started writing once before only to hit a brick wall after about two paragraphs.

I've been wrestling with it almost every day since then (except when I stopped for a couple weeks to dash off an unexpected short story). It's easily the most difficult story I have ever attempted to write, because it's very socially and psychologically complex and emotionally intense — and with that many big words coming into play, you can only imagine how frustrated I must be.

In a nutshell, the story is challenging because the main character has to go through a significant shift in the way he lives his life. Such a huge reversal in the main character just doesn't come easy. A lot of groundwork has to be laid in order to prove the change to the reader.

And to think I originally imagined this as a short story! I probably deserve a "Noob of All Noobs" award for that one. Anyway, once I actually start writing again, my posts here may be few and far between. I'll try to remember to post updates once in a while so that no one starts planning my funeral.