The stack of books on the table beside my bed grows daily. This doesn't bother me. The only time I freak out is when that stack gets down to one or two.
The pile I'm concerned about is the invisible one, the books that I have not yet written. That pile is driving me batty.
I have two completed novels, twins, in their second year of revisions. The two stories get along with each other and rarely compete for my attention. I was joyfully working with them at a comfortable pace when out of nowhere, four more stories show up and demand to be told. Quadruplets.
These unwritten novels are so impatient. Their characters wake me up early in the morning, telling me what they're doing, jockeying for my attention. Each story shoves the other aside like five-year-olds at snack time, insisting their story must be the next written.
Don't take me wrong, I love these stories like children. But their older siblings require my full attention right now. Once they're all grown up and leave home for good, I will have to face the challenge of deciding which story gets to come out first. In the meantime, I hope none of them decide to run away from home.
So many stories, so little time!
WHAT I'M READING THIS WEEK: Wintergirls (Laurie Halse Anderson) If I Stay (Gayle Forman)
I love this post! So fun to think of your books as babies. ;)
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