Writing #13: Renewed Passion

 I know I haven't been posting consistently on this blog for many, many years. You can read several previous posts to find out why that is, but I have very exciting news. In my previous post on writing, I had given updates on Code Red. I finished the book initially on September 30th, 2017. I remember this night so vividly. I was sitting in  my grandmother's bedroom, watching my little sister, who would not go to sleep (the whims of a freshly two year old). I had just turned nineteen myself. I had spent months working to finish this story, my first ever completed work. I had other stories, but none that I had ever been as diligent about completing. The excitement I felt as I typed the final words of the epilogue, cementing the ending of the first book was breathtaking. 

I spent hours editing with a now former friend. The events that would take place in the short months after I had started editing would put a damper on my excitement. On January 17th, 2018, I was still recovering from a nasty car accident, when I was sitting with my grandmother, mulling over the epilogue, debating a character's death. I knew I wasn't entirely happy with the end, but none of the ideas I had meshed with what I knew the next two books would look like.. This was the last conversation I would ever have with Grammy. Some part of me hates that, that our final conversation was about death, hours before she herself would pass. Code Red is dedicated to my grandmother, she named it, she watched as I wrote it, talked to me endlessly about it. I couldn't touch the story for years, it brought back so much pain, to lose the person I had talked to about everything, who had supported my dreams. My very best friend. I've spent a lot of time trying to heal, hell even as I write this, thinking about her brings tears to my eyes. Grief is a strange thing, a hole that never refills in your heart, but I know her, she would never have wanted me to stop writing. She would be as excited as I am for what comes next. She'd be happy to know the cheerleaders in my life that remind me they're proud of me, and keep pushing me forward to grow. Thanks Dad, Angel, and Tyler. There's many more of you, but I have to give props to the main homies. 

At almost exactly five years later, I have finally finished the edits of Code Red. Kind of... There's many reasons it took me so long. For five years, I have carted around the chapters I still needed to edit on the computer. The pile had diminished over the years, I had only the final six left. An insane situation with my job led me to feeling glum and disappointed. You'll probably be seeing a post about that on going situation soon, but what happened motivated me to finally knock out those chapters. I want to publish a book, I want to share this amazing story with the world. Or at least a few people who might enjoy it. With the support of some every good friends and my partner, I am doing final edits. Finalizing what Code Red will be when it comes to an Amazon Kindle near you. I felt the same overwhelming amazement when I completed those edits. It's renewed my passion for writing. I've never stopped, I have so many stories to finish, Code Red may be the first, but it most certainly is not the last.