The publication date for Watercolours in the Rain is almost here. The e-book will be available on Amazon this coming Friday, 7th October.Currently I’m in a sort of nomansland; I’ve some guest posts to get organised for the book tour next week and an independent piece I want to produce but other than that, the pressure is very much off.
I should be glad…relieved…happy shouldn’t I? I can breathe; I’m in total control of my day, I can relax. But crazy as it seems, it’s a case of always wanting what I haven’t got. When I’m writing I’m looking forward to reaching the end of the journey to publication. It’s a chance to recharge the batteries before moving on to a new project. Unfortunately, when I finally reach my destination, it seems I end up with withdrawal symptoms for those pressurised moments surrounded by all my writing paraphernalia. You know the ones – when writer’s block hits, or the rewrite you need to do simply won’t come good. They aren’t insurmountable problems of course, but they’re not ones which are readily solved either. With writing inspiration isn’t something that’s on tap. You can begin a day full of enthusiasm and positivity, only to find nothing goes right. Then on other occasions you start the morning weighed down by an unresolved problem with the story, start to write and the whole thing flows onto the page beautifully. Yes, the writing day can be an unpredictable one, but in some ways that’s what makes it so stimulating and gives you the encouragement to see the job through to its conclusion.
So this evening, much as I’m happy to be at journey’s end – to say goodbye to my characters and their story – I’m feeling just a little adrift. Because pressure in some ways provides structure – the need to prioritise work, meet your deadlines, achieve your goals. And that is what is currently missing – being surrounded by my work and knowing the clock is ticking. I guess on reflection I’m a creature of habit. When I had a 9 – 5 life I thrived on a full workload and absolutely hated moments when there was a lull and things weren’t particularly busy. Nothing, it appears, has changed.
Happily this phase I appear to go through at the end of every book won’t last for long. I’ve already begun the process of sorting out new characters and putting a plot together for my next book, whose working title is The Boys of Summer. Once the ideas begin to flow my current post book blues will be gone and I’ll be up and running again, working out my new targets and caught up in all the associated challenges writing a novel brings. Can’t wait!
Watercolours in the Rain will be on tour with Brook Cottage Books from 10 – 14 October, 2016
The first book of the series, Summer Moved On is currently on Amazon as a FREE READ from 4 – 7 October in the run up to next week’s tour.
JO LAMBERT BOOKS 