The Future

   I thought that I would update everyone on how I’m progressing with my writing. Wrong Fortunes is still on schedule for the 25^th, and I’m coming along very nicely on writing the seventh and final Wrong book. Yes, I know it’s weird that I’m writing my rough draft of a book that is coming out several months after Wrong Fortunes, Strange Visions: The Storm, and an untitled sixth Wrong book, but I love writing stories, and this story has been especially fun to write. I’m trying to go very big in this one, and I think that it’s working. I’m literally throwing every idea I ever had about the Wrong Series into this final book. Because of that, the chapters are longer, and I suspect that this book will be by far the longest book I’ve ever written.

   Now that everything is wrapping up, I am starting to wonder what I should do next, though. Yes, I know that I’ve said that I had some ideas about new books in the past, but I’m really torn about this. I’ve spent the last nine months writing about two sets of characters, and in a few more weeks, I’m going to be done with their worlds. In a way, it’s sad, but I’m kind of looking forward to the challenge of creating something new that isn’t anything like what I’ve done in the past. I have this idea for a very dark futuristic book that would pretty far out of my comfort zone. Oddly enough, I like getting outside of my comfort zone. I was very uncomfortable with the idea of writing a novel when I first started, but by the third day, I loved it. The Strange Visions series was uncomfortable for me, too. I always told myself that I wouldn’t write anything that had to do with psychics because most of the people that I know don’t enjoy stories like that. Then there was the fact that Trent and Ally are young. In fact, they’re in high school in the first book. When I had the idea for the series, I thought that older adults wouldn’t even give it a chance because the characters were young, and in some cases, I’m sure that’s been the case, but it was worth it to write their stories. At some point, you figure out that the hardest things to write about are the ones you really care about. You’re scared of what people may think about your work. You think things like what if they ridicule something that is so intimate to me. What people don’t realize is that most authors don’t sit around and think about what people want to read about. We write our daydreams, and sometimes we even live our lives through the characters we create. That sounds strange. If I said that I had friends who weren’t real in any other situation I would be committed, but you guys understand what I’m saying. When I went for it and wrote the story I wanted to write with Wrong Place, I saw the world and myself in a totally different way. That book wasn’t perfect, and God knows that I’ve learned a lot more about writing since then, but it’s still my second favorite book next to Wrong Life because that book and those characters helped me figure out who I was. Strange Visions was no different. It allowed me to push past a mental block of what people may think about character ages or sci-fi elements. For once, I just released what was inside of me. That’s the real thing that most don’t understand about people who write. I’ve heard a lot of people say it’s like a skill that you get better at as time goes on, but writing isn’t like that at all. Sure, your grammar gets better, but that’s all. When we tell a story, we don’t learn how to manipulate it over time. We just see what we see. The characters lead the story, and then we write things down. That sounds a little crazy. How can fictional beings tell you a story? That’s how it happens, though. It’s like a movie running through your head once you open yourself up to it.

   I’m really looking forward to seeing a new movie in my head as soon I’m done with the final Wrong book. For now, I guess I should enjoy the moment, though. Over the next three months, I’m going to be writing the ending to something that has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and I’m also going to be polishing what I have already written so others can enjoy it. I wanted to say thank you to all the new likes on my Facebook page and welcome any new people reading my blog. In my spare time, I would love to connect with new authors and of course readers, so I encourage all of you to send me a message sometime. I’m very passionate about what I do, but I’m even more passionate about getting to know the people I share my work with and others who love to write or create anything original. Thanks for reading, guys, and next time I might just have a teaser for Wrong Fortunes for everyone.