What's Next?

Since the debut of my first novel, readers have been curious about when my next book will be finished. “Have you started it yet?” What’s the topic?”  or most frequently, “You MUST write a sequel. In theory, I like the idea of a sequel, but I’ve spent so many hours in the minds of my characters It feels like it’s time to let them go. So what then? I have other ideas for novels. In fact, I have a list of story ideas I’d like to bring to life some day but none of them resonate for me at this moment… maybe down the road.

My niche is fiction. Stories about the intricacies of relationships within families, especially families who have overcome some hardship and evolved in a meaningful way. The endings are not always happy endings, they are real to life in the sense that some of my characters overcome and others are lost. In this way, I guess art for me is a real reflection of life.

But lately I’ve been gravitating toward a different genre of writing. I am seriously considering a work of nonfiction. Non-fiction is not my strength, yet I am suddenly drawn to it. This work would be a memoir of sorts in that it would depict an aspect of my personal life and how it has impacted my family these past few years. I’m not ready to disclose the details just yet since I am still trying to sort out how to approach it. I have years of journals to draw from, a chronology I drafted, research at hand in the form of medical and legal documents and my own up close and personal account. When I look back over my life, it seems as if I’ve been preparing for this project for quite some time yet have only recently come to realize it. Or perhaps life itself has been preparing me… has chosen me.

Do we choose how we express our art or is it the muse, Source, universe or whatever you want to call the Giver of Light. In other words, are we choosing or are we chosen? If chosen, dare I say no?