Second Love, First Time

Spring has sprung, launching itself onto my aching back and digging its claws deep. The garden looks wonderful, so I at least have something nice to stare blearily at while I power-chug black coffee and run down the list in my head of all that remains to be done. I wouldn't have it any other way, though. Even if I had the disposable income to hire some nubile satyr to yank weeds for me, there is no way I would give up the therapy of grubbing in the dirt and then sitting back and admiring my very own handy work. I did that a bit after my first book was done-sit back and stare dumbly while I tried to come to grips with the scope of what I had accomplished. The true meaning of "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" had finally become realized for me, in a very intimate way. In the past, impatience and myself had been bosom buddies, BFFs, my constant companion. I've learned the hard way how to slow down and follow through in the last few years, and I saw it pay off in spades in my manuscript. One word at a time, I hammered down 77,000 of them, all coherent (ok, NOW they're all coherent-thank you proof readers!) and telling a nicely original story. But like a good parent, I have to let it go to the wide world, and focus on the one left at home. Book number two is working its magic on me, catching me by surprise in the oddest moments of inspiration (writing plot points in gardening gloves is fun as hell), creeping into my thoughts the second I'm actively trying not to fall off ladders, or having me asking questions of my family such as "do you think leather gloves would singe or melt if set on fire?". The romance between the plot and I is still new and fresh, and we're both still dancing around that first kiss, but the thrill is back from the first time. Unlike a real relationship, I can see some of what is going to happen, and I know I get to steer. Ok, I'm delusional. My heroine will take the reins firmly in hand and drag my ass over the rocks. She's just that kind of girl. I love her to bits.