Announcement – The Month of May

Hello, all! I hope this finds you well. If not, I pray you have a ray of hope shining on the horizon. 

“We live in anxious times.” These are the words of a dear friend. We were chatting over the weekend, and she admitted that she has been stressed and very anxious. I honestly do not know of anyone who is not. If the daily news doesn’t get you, something else will.

Our conversation led me to think about what I am doing that may be adding to my own anxiety levels. Being a bit of an over-achiever when it comes to my passions, I am prone to over-extending myself. There are so many things I want to accomplish; I sometimes forget to stop and take a breath. What about you?

Since starting THCountzWrites in November 2022, I have mentioned that I am working on a novel titled, “The Red Chair.” As I write this, I have twelve chapters written.

My plan was to have a complete manuscript by the end of 2023. Here we are staring down the barrel of May and I have twelve chapters. 

Writing a blog and a short story a week has been wonderful, but takes a lot of T.I.M.E. This leaves little space to focus on “The Red Chair.”

SO… for the month of May I will not be posting any new blogs or short stories. Given what many of you have shared, this will be a wonderful time to catch up on all the stories and blogs you’ve missed. Life is busy; I get it! I invite you to use May for catch-up time. I have provided links for both archives at the end.

As for me? Well, I have assembled a small group of Beta readers. I will start sharing chapters for them to read and critique. The hope is by the end of May, I will have the first draft together. I will then make the necessary changes and work toward a second draft. The goal is for three drafts to make the rounds before I start searching for an agent to help publish.

After much thought, I will not be self-publishing unless there is no other way. As with any creative endeavor, the competition is fierce. I know there is no guarantee I will procure an agent, but you do not know unless you try. 

I ask for your well wishes and prayers as I start this process. “The Red Chair” will be my first adult work, and is a story about mothers and daughters. Pretty heavy topic, right? Naturally, there will be a bit of a mystery woven into the story. I am working on that part right now.

Just a quick note about the title. My mother had a dark red leather chair that she sat in daily. She read hundreds of books in that chair, and prayed thousands of prayers. As luck would have it, I am now the owner of that chair. It sits in my living room.

A couple of months after my mother passed, I had a dream that she and I was talking. She handed me a book with blank pages. She told me that I should write this story. (Emphasis on this.) I asked what story, and she replied, “You will figure it out.”

The next morning when I awoke, I had a fully formed story in my head. I have carried that story around for three years. It’s time to get it out of my head and onto the page. I need space for other things!

So, there you have it. No news posts for the month of May. Please use that time to catch up on stories you may have missed or have a coffee with a friend.

Wish me luck!