Challenges with Writing

Although writing is a passion of mine, and I love every minute of living in the world I create, there are some times where it gets really hard. With The Return of Sinestra I was very eager to get it published and share it with the world. I had coworkers and friends who were eager to read it, watching me write it from start to finish, and I was eager to fulfill my dream of being a published author. It was a wonderful experience that I wouldn't trade for the world. But the honeymoon phase has ended, and the reality has set in.

I knew full well that I would have comparisons to another fantasy wizarding novel series, but you will see that the story is not the same. Regardless, I have gotten hate about it, when I know they couldn't have read the book(less than 24 hours after the launch). I won't go into details about it, but it did, and still does, bother me. It was a slap to the face showing me that I needed to grow thick skin. Realistically I know that you can't please everybody; there will always be haters out there ready to cut you down. After all there are some people out there that hate chocolate! It was my first real challenge with the saga. But it isn't the last I've encountered.

Writing Lily's story out has been therapeutic for me from the stress I have in my life. It's a place where I can go to get away from the BS in our every day lives. But sales have been slow, which is a little frustrating, and I haven't gotten much reviews or feedback on the first book. Now, granted, after book 2 there will be more to talk about with the saga, I get that. But without reviews, I don't know what people think of the story. What they think of where the story goes. Reviews are super important to authors, because that is their way of getting honest feedback.

Writing certainly isn't as easy as everyone thinks it is. For me, I have a lot of ideas for novels that could sustain me for years, and I hope you all are interested in reading those ones as well. But in order to publish those stories, money is required. This is another challenge that I have, particularly with the Saga. If it wasn't for not having the funds immediately available, I would be publishing the saga a lot faster than I am. But I think slowing down a little on when I publish can help in the long run. It will allow more editing to be done which will only improve the book as a whole.

Another challenge I have is simply time to write. With work, school, and life coming into play, I don't have nearly enough time to write as I would prefer. There are only so many hours in the day, and there is so much that needs to happen for normal life to occur. If I can write a couple hours a day, that is a win for me. With summer coming I will have some more free time to write more. I want my being an author to be my career, but it will take time to accomplish that goal.

I have big plans for the saga, and a tentative timetable to accomplish this. I won't be going into that right now, but there will be no end to the Saga for quite a while. I will still be facing these challenges for years I'm sure, but hopefully it will be worth the effort in the end. I want to thank all of you for giving the Lily Black Saga a chance, it means a great deal to me.