The Sweetest Words Of All

No, not "I've been a very naughty girl!"  What kind of blog do you think this is?

Famous photo of Adolf Hitler writing "Mein Cramp" on his laptop.  He was fond of Lenovos, oddly enough.

Actually, I was talking about the sweetest two words of all, the ones every writer longs for during the process of planning, drafting, reorganizing, and pushing through the uninspired quagmire that inevitably comes.  I got an idea for another Lara Demming story in March, one where she goes to Colorado and gets to see Holcomb interact with other witch-types . . . and finally, I got to this bit:

I finished another story, and that's good.*  But is the story good?

Who knows, and maybe at this point, I should pose the question: Does it even matter?  

You get better at writing by doing it, which makes it pretty much the opposite of any sport where the younger you are, the better (of course, I'm not talking about a nine year old playing basketball--we're talking adults here)(or golf, where Donald J. Trump is a world champion despite being in his late seventies).  I have written excellent stories decades ago, I'll admit it, but now I can see places where they could be improved and discover parts that just don't work, because of my years of experience.

This is my tenth Lara & the Witch story, one that takes place between "The People We Touch" and "Here To Help," and it didn't turn out as dark as I had intended, mostly because Lara Demming is a nicer person than I am.  I also found that the ending I planned for it no longer applied, and had to be entirely thrown out (although I started on a story called "Accept No Substitutes" last year that could use that for an ending, so maybe not entirely). 

I don't have a title for it, but I did try to come up with cover art . . . and did not succeed.  But Big has gotten better and better at taking two images and marrying them into one image, so it might not be a bad cover after all.  You'll find out in a year or so.

This image was a mistake, of me taking a photo of the glowing mushroom I wanted to use on the cover, to send to Big, but it caught my reflection, and when I tried to do it again on purpose, either my face or the shroom ended up out of frame.

*I should've finished it ten or so days ago, but I am easily distracted.  For example, I started this blog post a week ago.