In the Beginning...

Once Upon a Time...

It was a dark and stormy night...

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

All great beginnings, especially that last one. If you read my "About Me", you know my writing beginnings started in the mid-1990s. It's been too long for me to remember when, specifically. My computer files have changed so many versions of Windows and Microsoft Word, the original file date has been lost. I might have a hard copy of Psylam still in existence which has a copyright year in the footer. I'm pretty sure it's 1995.

So, why am I trying to remember that year? Well, it's now 2024 and I'm re-beginning to write. I don't have a degree in English or "writing." I'm self-taught. I purchased many books about writing back in the 90’s and learned. They taught me a lot about the basics of writing, but not all. Still, I plunged ahead and in 2011 wrote Eric’ War – The Cougar and the Lamb.

Critics, or critiques, “ruined” it for me with Eric’s War. My own pride and impatience got in my way, and I didn’t listen to them. I thought I knew better than they did. After all, it was my book, not theirs. Those professionals with years more experience than me couldn’t possibly know better than me how to write my book.

Okay, you can stop laughing now.

It's taken a long time for me to realize what I didn't know about writing and what to do to fix it. I reviewed all those critiques from back then and realized they were right. (Ooo. What’s that I hear? “You gained wisdom!” Okay. Okay. Proverbs 3:13 KJV – Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. Yes, I’m a happy camper.) I needed to make a lot of changes, practically rewrite my book.

I needed to do this right. But where to start?

Back in 2011, I had joined the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) group, but let it lapse after the first year. They would be a good place to start again. There is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom in this group of fellow writers/authors. I learned and am still learning many things from them.

They have a sub-group of people which critique each other’s work. My nerves almost prevented me from joining, but I knew this had to be the correct path to take. And it was. As I rewrite Eric's War into The Paladin Awakens, it is being critiqued. The feedback I’ve received has taught me even more.

It will take a lot of time to rewrite my book. A lot more time than I wanted it to take. Maybe by Spring 2025, it will be complete. Patience. Got to learn to be patient. (Why does it take so long?) In the end, it’s going to be worth it.

I hope you’ll join me on this journey. There are bound to be ups and downs and twists along the way. I plan on posting at the beginning of each month, at minimum, starting January 1, 2025. If something special happens, you just may see a post in between.

Thank you and welcome to my world.