The January Blues -- Joy Kluver

 I’m sitting here, wondering what to write for this post. And the truth is – I don’t know. I have a book coming out next week but I don’t feel compelled to tell you about it. I could write about pantser vs planner but that’s not grabbing me. Settings maybe? No, not loving that idea either.

I think the January blues have already set in and this apathy is indicative of my writing too. I have to start something new but not sure what it’ll be. I haven’t written a new book for almost two years as I’ve been editing three books for publication, the third coming out next week. Just before Christmas, an idea I’d been working on for months was rejected by my editor. So I have to come up with something else. I have a couple of ideas mulling in my head but no idea if they’re feasible or not.

I had an email from Jericho Writers recently, titled, ‘What do you want, Joy?’ When I opened it up, it continued ‘What do you want? I mean really?’ It was an illuminating email about authors who thought they wanted something in particular, only to discover that it wasn’t the right thing for them. They took a different path which worked out better.

So, what do I want? Really? At the moment, it feels like I’m sitting on a precipice. Do I climb the cliff to write what my editor would prefer (it would be quite different from my other books) or do I dive into the unknown and write what I want, knowing it might not sell? That’s my dilemma. Perhaps in my February post I’ll have an answer. But in the meantime, I want to end with something one of the authors (Debbie Young) mentioned in the Jericho Writers email - Oh please, yes, let me just write for a while! In 2022, I just want to write!