For a rainy day

It's not raining today. Here in Alabama it's sunny with a high of 82 and everything is in full blossom. And I just made a breakthrough in writing my new book.

I am a plotter at heart. I try not to be. I am a very organized person when I have time, and that's precisely the problem. If left to my own devices, I will plot and plot and plot a book and never get down to writing it.

So in the past few years, I have just started writing without knowing exactly where I'm going. But that causes me a lot of anxiety. And then, one day...the storm clouds part and the sun breaks through, and I have figured out my direction.

That is always a great moment for me. I remember where I was standing in 2005 (on my back porch) when I finally figured out why Johnafter in Going Too Far was so concerned about his bridge. That book, which had really troubled me up to that point, gave me nothing but joy the rest of the time I wrote it.

And today, I am happy to report that I've had the same sort of breakthrough on the Novel With a Title So Cool I Am Not Ready to Reveal It.

My writing career has had its ups and downs, to be sure--sometimes biggies in the same week. In fact, I was feeling really down about another book yesterday. So I'm posting my triumph and happiness here today, as a reminder for the next time I wander through a rainy day. Sometimes the sun shines and the air is perfumed with flowers.