The Strength Within – DONE

 

I love to write, it’s something that I’ve known all my life.  As I said in a previous post, I have written many small stories, begun several novels and spent a good bit of time doing interactive roleplay stories with friends.  Writing is awesome!

When I began writing the Luna’s Children series, it was a pleasant experience and I got the first book done in just three months.  The second took just a little bit longer, but again from brain to published within four months.  Broken Melody was a labor of love and to this day, remains my most favorite of them all.  I put a lot of my heart into that story, and I think it shows.  I’ve had some truely wonderful comments and several people have said it’s their favorite of the two.

Then came The Strength Within.

83,000 words, 34 chapters.

That is a third of the size MORE than the other two books individually.  For me and my writing style, its a monster.

This book has been my tempering.  Unlike the first two, this story has tried me like a petulant child, screaming for attention.  I have picked it up and put it down a dozen times.  I would write a few pages, then put it down again. It has tested me at ever chance and many times, found me wanting.

I have a small following of fans who have supported me every step of the way.  They have given me advice, suggestions, coaxed me along and when I needed it, a good kick in the backside or a “HURRY UP!!” when I deserved it.  My small following of fans have expressed their displeasure at how long it has taken to get this one written.  To you, I say “thank you for keeping me honest”, but this book has been hard.

(WARNING – Semi Spoiler)

The reason it’s been hard is partially because of venturing into uncharted territory – i.e. medical situations.  Thanks to a good friend of mine – Dr. Anthony Corso has answered so many questions and kept me (semi) honest and believable.

The other issue is the intensity of this story.  There are a lot of facets that I have had to work my way through.  Loss, despair, depression, death.

Yes, I said the dreaded “d” word.

These characters have been my friends for over a year.  I have laughed and cried, suffered and celebrated everything that has happened.  It’s hard to say good bye to any of them.   The decsion is not easy one to make, but it had to be done.  Sometimes, the good of the many outweigh the good of the one (Spock quote) – hence, sometimes the good of the story outweighs the good of a character.  If your favorite has perished in this story, I beg your forgiveness.  Please know it wasn’t easy for me either.

As I write this, Strength has been sent off to my Beta readers.  Once they return it with critical advice, I’ll get it edited for final publishing and finally, published.  With a little luck, I’m hoping that it will be out and available for purchase by the mid to end of next month.

So where do we go from here?

There will be at least one more book in this series, but not for a while.  I will be switching gears for a bit and working on a new story, still within the paranormal genre but not shifters.  I don’t expect the next book in Luna’s Children to be even started until perhaps the beginning of next year – well unless the story gets demanding to be written and i have to give in.  But until then, please keep reading and thank you all for your support!!!