OK my mysterious lurking friends, I'm back up again. Various people, chief among them my wife, three friends (Michelle, Rick and Don) and my sister in law have all given me great advice.
Three principle things have been advised my most. Not everyone said all three but these were the things I needed to hear.
1) See professional help. LOL! Yes, I could always us that kind, but what they mean is "Get the opinions of an editor". I have gotten a lot of help from friends, family and other writers. It's time to pay a professional editor to look for what can make this puppy shine.
2)Don't quit. Now I may go on about my stress, lament the process and cast negative aspirations about my abilities, but the truth is this novel series and as a whole, writing in general, is in my blood. Don't worry. I can't stay away too long.
3)Take a break. This does not mean take a break from writing. I go on and on about Annabelle. I tweet about her, I have a Myspace page I never update devoted to her, and so on. I have my reasons for that. Chief among them is the fact it's a drive to share her stories with kids, for Annabelle and Roland to inspire and entertain children. So that's why I'm all about her and her book.
But every writer knows that we get too close to our books. We need to step away for awhile. Write something else. I do have other ideas, formed into notes and plans. I don't discuss them because I want to keep it under my hat. Family and close friends know about them, but that's all. It's time to begin one of those other novels. I have three chapters left of book two. I'll finish because I don't want to loose the momentum. Then I'll shelf book two and take a break from her world. I'll begin my fantasy novel that has no vampires in it at all.
So there you go. My plan of action.
