About a week ago, a fan of Karen and Laci sent me a message wondering if everything was OK. It had been awhile since I'd posted anything, he pointed out. He hoped I was still writing it. That gentle nudge reminded me it's been nearly a year since I posted anything on SOL. Clearly, it's time to reconnect, even if it is nothing more than an interim blog entry.
I want all who are interested and loyal enough to stick around to know I am indeed still writing the story of Karen and Laci. Unfortunately, I've had some significant health issues play out over the last six months, which has thrown a proverbial monkey wrench into the works.
Even in the best of times, I'm not a fast writer. It's something I do in dribs and drabs when time becomes available. Then, as I write it almost always becomes apparent that the course I've initially laid out is not going to work. It's not at all unusual for me to write 5,000 words before I realize it's all wrong and I have to start over from scratch. Lather, rinse, repeat up to three times. I am never going to be a prolific writer. I truly admire those writers who can routinely put out a steady stream of high quality material. It doesn't come that easily to me.
I thought I was making (for me) decent progress writing Chapter 2 as summer arrived. Then things went haywire. Life threw a rotten tomato at me, just as it does to so many of us, and it's taken me nearly six months to get things subdued. There are sure to be bumps in the road ahead, but now I'm in control.
Even when I was feeling most overwhelmed, I managed to continue writing, even if only in brief spurts. It acted as an escape for me. Just visiting the World of Karen and Laci in my mind gave me a respite. I'd say I'm about two thirds of the way through the chapter now, and it looks like I should have a stretch of smooth(er) sailing ahead of me. I doubt I can finish it before the story goes inactive, but I promise I haven't forsaken our heroines.
I should mention I had a wonderful reminder that for every rotten tomato life flings at you with one hand, it often hands you a bowl of juicy strawberries with the other. I knew everything was going to be OK when I finally became a grandmother for the first time. Am I really old enough to be a grandmother? I guess I am, and it makes me very happy.