I mentioned recently that I am writing again, but I would kind of like to come clean about why it's been a while. It's for a few reasons. One, I've been busy in real life with a major writing project; that is done and out the door now (and possibly on sale at a store near you). Two, I missed the mark with my last story, More Maxine. [link] I was going for a really dark, sinister vibe and…people told me they thought it was melodramatically funny. Reading it again, I saw where I went too far into cliche; it was valuable, valid feedback, but it shook me pretty hard — how could I be so unaware of what I was writing? Had I lost my touch? And how long have I been completely ineffective at this writing thing? It was tough to accept and I couldn't reconcile it quickly, so my ego just said, "Well, let's take a break, then." The real-world project kept me busy enough.

I've finally sort of crawled out of that hole of confusion and self-doubt and just accepted that it is what it is. I had never intended to stop writing altogether, but I decided I would be better off waiting for inspiration to strike. And now that's happened, so I'm sort of letting it happen at its own pace, writing in little chunks. I have some friends on hand to read the draft when it's complete so I don't wind up making the same mistakes again — if it's a different story than what I intended, I want to know before I release it! — but I'm also trying to make it a more dense and involved story than most of my stuff. So, it's a good challenge all around.