Congratulations! It's a . . . BOOK!

My book will be published the first of 2011!

I listened to writers tell how long they worked on their novels—three, four, maybe even five years—and thought to myself they must be doing something wrong.  It takes that long to write a book?  No way.   That naïve belief was the first of many mistakes I made on my journey into the magic realm of writing.   Happy to say, however, the voyage ended successfully.   Soldiers from the Mist is the result of a 3-1/2 year long, often frustrating, but never boring adventure.   

After shouting my good news to the four corners of the world, one of my friends made the comment, “Big deal.  It’s not like you had a baby.”  

Hmm . . . maybe I should re-think that friendship.  The words hurt, but there was a grain of truth in them.  Even though I’ve never been pregnant, I think writing a book must be a lot like having a baby.

Soldiers from the Mist was conceived on my living room couch one lazy Sunday afternoon. (Bet that sounds familiar to a lot of you out there.)  From that moment on, my life changed.  Soldiers consumed and controlled my every waking and sleeping hours.  The book became my world. 

Sounds like pregnancy to me.    

Like an expectant mother, I racked my brain for just the right name to call my bundle of joy:  A Soldier’s Promise?  Five Promises? Ghost Soldiers?  I researched names, places, events, and family bloodline.  All the while, my “baby” grew from a tiny seed into a literary fetus connected to my soul. 

The tadpole of an idea began to take on personality, developing its own story and background from DNA imprinted from previous lifetimes.  
I watched in awe as Charlie, Jessie, and Emmie evolved from a twinkle in my eye into fleshed-out individuals, alive and kicking. The book took on life.  It cried, pouted, and demanded my attention, 24-7-365.  A bond formed.  I cherished it. Lived for it. Loved it.

Soldiers from the Mist will come screaming into the world sometime in January if the doctor has the due date correct, either a Capricorn or an Aquarius.  Earth or Water.  Stable, ambitious, humorous, friendly, honest, loyal and original.  A must read.  More will be revealed.  But for now:  

Three men.  Three promises—two were broken; one should have been.  Thirty-five souls are trapped for eternity because of those promises.  These souls wait and search for the fourth promise that will set them free . . .