A Writer's Week #10: A Book for All Ages

Before I get in to what happened during my writer's week, I have to mention that this is the 100th post for the blog! I don't know if this is a particularly meaningful milestone or not. It seems to be a big deal for TV shows, but then a show has to be around for four or five years to make it to that point, so that's an accomplishment.





Be that as it may, I'm still dazzled by round numbers like this, so I figured why not. The blog's been around for just under five months, so 20 posts a month is a decent average. When I started, I never thought I'd be able to write five times a week. It's been fun so far!

Okay, now that I've got that out of the way, on to what this post's really about. I received a call from a friend of ours whose daughter used to babysit for us. The daughter is grown and teaching music in a school out west (boy, how old does that make me feel?).

He heard about my book, The Deliverers: Sharky and the Jewel, and decided to get a few copies. He stopped by to have me sign a couple of them. He's sending one to his daughter and one to some relatives. That's great, I'm glad he took a chance and ordered some books.

When he called to ask if he could stop by to get them signed, he said that he'd read the book and could not put it down. He said it was great. He said he hadn't been so engrossed by a "children's book" since Harry Potter. That made me feel real good.

Children have loved my book, but I've also heard from their parents who had read it and said they liked it. While kids have not been able to put it down, this is the first time I've heard an adult say that. I really appreciate that. I think the goal of any fiction writer is to write good stories, period. To me, a good story is one that will be enjoyed by people of all ages. To know that I've accomplished that in some small way is very gratifying.

This week was my best writing week yet. I wrote 2,500 words, and the new book is now at just under 20,000 words. I've pretty much finished setting the stage. Now the meat of the book is coming up. This is where it gets tough, because now I've got to map out the details, weave in the themes and begin to connect the dots that the characters have laid out.

I reached that point on Sunday, but didn't have any time to follow through. The rest of this week wasn't any better. So now I've got to sit down and map things out in as much detail as I can. There will be some surprises and things that don't go according to script, I'm sure. The characters will see to that. But that's what makes a story good, and the writing of it fun.

My goal for the coming week is to get that done and not worry about word count. However, if I get it mapped out quickly enough and am truly inspired, maybe I can have my cake and eat it, too. I'll let you know how it went next Friday!