“And we the persevering ones / Do surmount and overcome each humdrum day / In hopes that the ebullient streaks of color and light illumine our otherwise drab lives.” – John Gibson (“Interrupting Streaks,” a poem; 2021).
Life is like that. Mundane and routine, with only the rarest of blessed interruptions that add color, excitement, and uniqueness to our otherwise cold little worlds. I hope and pray that each of you are finding nuggets of originality in the middle of the day-to-day. I certainly am struggling to do just that amidst not only the routine, but also some fairly significant life changes that I have coming up; change of job, moving back to our permanent home, and other small, trifling matters.
Life has been busy, to say the least. But I – along with my family – am blessed.
Things continue to progress – ever so slowly, but surely – on the writing front. Last month, I eagerly reported that I had forayed into the wonderful world of children’s literature, after having written a draft of what I hope will be a children’s book – “Melodia Merry And Trill The Canary.” That is still a goal. However, I have been advised by Tammy Koelling, my wise publisher, that now is likely not the opportune time to publish something that is “outside my brand.” In other words, as a relatively new author, my focus should be on building a reader base, centered on a “brand” of sorts (i.e. – think “horror” for Stephen King, and “legal thriller” for John Grisham). Since my brand is more closely aligned with hometown, Southern drama, I will be pursuing a project along those lines – at least for the time being. For me, this means working on the sequel to “Soul Sprints,” my award-winning novel that was published back in late 2019, and leaving other outside-the-brand projects (i.e. – children’s books, short story collection, etc.) on the proverbial back-burner.
Disappointing as leaving behind the aforementioned creative projects is for me, I must confess that there is a lot I don’t understand about the publishing business; though I do understand that it is – fundamentally – a business. At the same time, I am excited to get going on my sequel and am hoping to have at least the first draft completed by the end of the year. It is also my hope to schedule at least a few more book events once we get moved back home to Florida. So hopefully more to come on that front.
As always, I thank you all for your readership and support, and I look forward to staying in touch! God bless.
-John
