That last phase of a manuscript is a tough one. Almost time to let go of it…

It’s time to announce an official blogbreak. I know, I already am on a break unofficially, since I’m hardly ever posting or commenting anymore. But in my mind I’m still thinking about it, even though I don’t have the time (or energy) to actually do something.
I already know that March is going to be an even fuller month than February was. Not all bad things, luckily, but there’s enough already scheduled to keep me very, very busy. And of course there will be a lot of unscheduled stuff too. There always is.
I thought about doing another 30 days project, like I did last Fall, but it felt too much like mindless ‘blog-filling’ to me. I don’t like that.
So that’s why I’m taking a break. I will be back in April.

The girls got me some yarn for Sinterklaas. That makes me happy. Especially when it’s got bright colors and the traditional little rhyme accompanying it states that I can use the yarn to make things for the South-African children. So I did.
I had four skeins of very thin yarn, so I knit with two strands held together. I managed to squeeze four hats out of it and even had enough left for a square.
A double gift: first knitting (always good), then giving it away (even better).

It seems I always have a lot to blog about when I don’t have time to blog. Also this is one of those posts that makes me wonder if this bilingual thing is really working. But I don’t have the time to split things up again, so I’ll just make it work (for now).

Maybe it’s better not to translate the whole thing, but to just share with you that writing has been slow these days. And that’s not a good thing, since I sort of promised to deliver a book… uh… about now. My sixth book is nearly ready for printing, but that next book… it’s a struggle. And that makes me insecure. I keep doubting myself. Who am I to call myself a writer?

When people ask me where I get my inspiration or how I come up with these things I have a hard time answering them. Because honestly… I don’t know.
A lot of writers can explain in detail how they build their stories. But I can’t. I just “find” a character and watch her while she’s living her story. Some say that’s not how professional authors do it, but it’s what works for me. Unless my own life is a bit too big to handle, like it has been for a while now.
But… my newest character is done waiting for me. She pops up in my head constantly and forces me to listen to her. I like that. It seems this story is starting to grow. At least I hope it is.

The row of books-I-wrote is growing steadily though. A big print edition and a short novel came in the mail last month. And I found out there is another big print edition already for sale.
It still feels unreal to look at all those books, knowing that this year I may even add two or three to them. Oh my… I am a writer.