(Warning! Much bloviation follows. You are warned.)
It was with a somber heart that I prepared the last chapter and epilogue of "Final Cut" and entered it in the queue for posting Saturday morning. This final release will wrap up both book three and the entire trilogy. Note. I already anticipate that the story will not end as many probably expect. But, it's important to me that it does end in some fashion. I've seen too many stories continue on past their freshness date and become multi-million word scroll fests. Thus, "Make the Cut" will reach a conclusion. But, hopefully I've left room for more as you will learn at the end of this post.
I started posting the trilogy nine months ago and it has been a wild and fun ride ever since. I've meet a ton of great and helpful people along the way and have enjoyed plenty of interesting feedback and comments. I've also found notable success by offering the trilogy for sale, not enough to quit my day job by far, but enough to enjoy a splurge or two with the royalties.
I've learned so much along the way. While I still consider myself a hack amateur and easily dismissible by the veteran authors of the site, I still can smile as I gaze upon the physical reminders of my efforts which sit on my bookshelf. You know what? The three volumes look and feel just like the hundreds of other works sitting next to them which I've loved and collected over my lifetime.
That reminder, and the knowledge that I was able to finish a trilogy of my creation will be enough. I've wondered all my life if I could write a book and I've at least proved that I can. Of course the quality and success of that is debatable by others, but to me, what I have done still feels wonderful.
Moving forward, who knows? It's been almost three months since I have finished the final edits on the final book of the trilogy. I'd like to say that I have been busy writing follow-on stories ever since, but I have to admit that is not the case.
Why not? We'll, one big reason is that I was/am lazy. It was nice to not have to get up an hour or two early each day in order to try and jot down a few hundred or thousand words to advance a story. Another reason is that I had other things to do which I had been putting off. The third was doubt. Would I be able to come up with a story and would my writing show improvement? Fear of the failure to achieve both is very strong.
The creative side of the effort is still there which I certainly enjoy. I've been a hobbyist and woodworker for all my life and love coming up with new things or trying new techniques. Writing is an extension of that and I enjoy the freedom to create in the story as well. But, I've also been known to take breaks from my hobbies. I guess I have been taking a break from writing for the same reasons.
Now, I'll wrap this self-ego stroking overly-long blog post up with a glimmer of hope for any deranged fans stubborn enough to still be reading this. I have begun the next chapters in John's world. It's early in the process but I think it's going well. The muse is responding at times with creativity that has me giggling in excitement. I've got a rough arc imagined that I hope is both interesting, entertaining and maybe, unexpected.
If something ever does come of the effort, understand that it will be similar to what you have already read. Although amateurish, overly wordy and simplistic, I write what I like to write and read so expect little to change. Timeline? Who knows? Not soon. I'll try and update when substantial progress has been reached.
That's all. Tune in Saturday for the last bits of the John's story.
Thank you all so much!
C. Brink