The Recipient of Secrets

"I think I'm done with writing."

"Oh really? Again?"

I had been contemplating for some time the dreaded conclusion that it was no longer in me to write a novel to completion. I had a long list of reasons for why I had come to this disheartening conviction. But my husband's response silenced me, and sent me back to re-think how I had come to such a conclusion. (Again)

 I had started the Recipient of Secrets over 4 years ago at that point. When I began, I had hoped to have the book finished in a year or two. Alas.

To be fair, a lot had happened. I had a baby. (Good!) I developed chronic back pain. (Not so good! But better than it was.) I also mourned the passing of my mother. (Very sad.)

All of these events made me 1) happy that I chose to self-publish this series, because a hard and fast deadline would have been the end of me. 2) resulted in working on this ONE book for a LONG time.

And you know, it turned out to be an ambitious book in its way.

But, as you can see from the exchange with my husband, my real foe was familiar. Self-doubt has been my companion for as long as I can remember, and frequently rears its unsightly visage when I attempt to write. Particularly when I'm three quarters of the way through a book.

When I was writing my first novel, I had this lovely idea that if I could just finish ONE novel, wow! I would be able to lay all these doubts to rest.

Turns out, no. The doubts hang around, like the bad characters they are.

To be honest, the doubts are not always bad. They make me ask questions. Does my book stink? Can I make it better?  Does it have weaknesses? Can I fix them? It's instructive.

But one must learn when it's time to put them aside. If there's a secret to this, I haven't learned what it is yet. Dogged perseverance in the face of a conviction of failure? Perhaps.

At any rate, thanks to a bit of positive feedback from readers (thank you readers!) I decided it was probably worth it to press on. And I am very happy to announce that The Recipient of Secrets, the second Jane Rochester Mystery, is finished! And it’s available!

And what is even better is that I love it. And my beta readers loved it too. (Thank you Beta Readers!) No doubt for some readers, it will have plenty of faults. But I think it has its good moments. I'm super proud of my novel's good moments. They tell me that I have grown as a writer.

Jane's voice has been with me on a long road, and by the grace of God, it was a good journey. I hope you read it, and enjoy.

(This takes you to Amazon via an affiliate link, by the way. In case you worry about that kind of thing.)