Well, the novel is with my editor at the moment, and I’m having such a difficult time focusing and not just pausing for a moment. I think the pause in work has been beneficial. It’s good to exhale after such a long period of writing has happened. Writing fiction is interesting. Even when pulling from reality it’s tiring to make the extension into the mind. Reaching through to the imagination is not a physical activity, but it can be just as exhausting. It takes every part of my mind to engage with it. I get lost in the world I’m making, and the feeling is transcendental. I can’t describe it well. It’s a place I never want to leave.
The world of Ondolor, where the story takes place, is one where the physics are constantly in flux, and I’m engrossed in each chapter finding new ways to envision the world where this is taking place. I won’t give too much away, but when I’m writing, I’m experiencing what the characters are experiencing. It’s like nothing else. I’ll never stop writing imaginative fiction. I found like I’ve found my true home in this process, and Ondolor is a treasured place for me. In the current pandemic, it’s almost like a chosen home I can return to at any time.
While the story in my novel is wrapped up, Ondolor is a place I always hope to return to, and bringing this story to our world is the most important thing I know how to do in this moment, it’s the only thing I can really offer to the world after all of the writing I’ve done in the last decade. So much writing practice: poetry, academic writing, short stories, all of it led to this moment, and I’m just waiting with rapt attention to receive any feedback I can. She’s encouraging, and has said that she really values the work, which I am grateful for. It’s the beginning of my writing career. I celebrated today with a rare latte, my favorite writing tool other than this computer. Until the next story, Ondolor is at rest. A drifting night where I can always return to and dream.
The Reluctant Blogger 