It’s been such a wonderful September with the Romancing September Across the World with my friend across the pond, Rosie Amber. I’ve learned a lot from the different authors. It’s crazy how different all of us are, but in so many ways we’re the same. We all face the same hurdles and somehow we jump them and run toward the next one, but what happens when you jump one hurdle and fall in a hole on the other side?

I just recently released Emma Rose. It was a challenge to me for many reasons. If you’ve never written historically relevant material you might not understand this, but let me enlighten you. I’m constantly reaching for my timeline to keep dates correct and world happenings. You can’t put the cart before the horse so to speak. Well that wasn’t the only challenge with Emma Rose.

Emma Rose presented another problem. When I started out I was headed in a certain direction, but when I got to a crossroads I floundered, in exhaustion I went down the wrong road that took on another persona. I wasn’t happy, but I was too far in to go back, or was I? As I neared the words The End my heart kept telling me it was totally wrong. The story completely lost it’s meaning to me. I had jumped one hurdle and landed in a bottomless pit, falling into writer’s oblivion!

The Saturday before the release date on the upcoming Friday I took a leap that helped me to see the light at the top of that dark hole. I went back to where the story meant something, over thirty word document pages. I highlighted them and saved them in another file and then I did something drastic. I hit delete. As my finger hovered over that ominous black key I struggled with indecision, but finally did it. I deleted 5 whole chapters of a manuscript I’d stayed up late and got up early to finish before the deadline.

I sat for a long while staring at the void in my manuscript I’d just created. I know I saved it but that didn’t lesson my fear. I knew deep down that if I was planning to meet my deadline I had to get scrambling to repair the void. I stepped back, worked on something else that was going along pretty well.

When I came back two hours later it was clear. With determination and some fear I started that section over. The words flowed freely from me as they didn’t when I’d first worked on this section. The story became clear. No longer was it unfocused and dull, it was crisp and clear with a purpose that blowed me away. I knew where it had to go and when I did eventually type The End I was satisfied and teary eyed.

I’d jump a authors worst hurdle, fell in the dark hole and made my way out with exhuberance. It left me totally at peace with the decision and now I know that when it happens again, it’s for the best and just do it.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…