“Craft: Have you ever stopped abruptly and taken up a
different project and never gone back to the old one?”
First of all, an apology and a warning…I’m sick and feeling
sorry for myself; having nursed Husband through a nasty head cold, he thanked
me profusely then had the temerity to infect me. I hate head colds – few things
make me feel as incapable of thought as having to breathe through my mouth
making a horrible wheezing sound with each ragged, heaving intake. UGH!
So, my short answer to this week’s question is no, I haven’t
left an unfinished project behind; I’m a goal-oriented completer-finisher…the
idea of leaving something half-done or unfinished fills me with dread.
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| Everything traditionally published (to March 2017) |
Sometimes that’s annoying, other times it helps when the
going gets tough – like this week, when I really could have done with a total
rest, but know I’m on the road so much between next week and the end of June
that I have to get ahead or I’ll never catch up, so I’m sitting here working my
way through a box of Kleenex and tapping away. It’s weird what we do when we’re
sick, isn’t it? (I also have an insane craving for bread and butter with lashings
of Marmite – something my dulled taste
buds will be able to detect…but that’s not your problem. Luckily I have a
squeezable container of Marmite in the cupboard, so I can give myself closure
on that count, PHEW!)
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| Soon to be re-written |
A Post Script about returning to previously completed
projects: later this year I’ll be rewriting my first two self-published books –
MURDER: Month by Month (a collection of twelve short and not-so-short stories)
and MURDER: Season by Season (a collection of four novella). They contain within
them the “genesis” stories for both my Cait Morgan Mysteries and The WISE
Enquiries Agency Mysteries. I’m looking forward to looking back – they’ll need to
be totally overhauled because I hope I’ve developed as a writer over the course
of creating twelve novels (with eleven of them already published). It should be
an interesting process, and I hope readers will be engaged by the idea of
finding out how Cait first met Bud, and how the WISE women became just that.
Now I need to get myself that Marmite-y snack, then lie down in a dark room and make gentle
groaning sounds…I wish the dogs had opposable thumbs, then they could be much
more useful when I’m poorly and it’s snowing and the snow shovel is calling my
name. Hey – I warned you – these are the ramblings of a feverish crime writer…you’re
lucky only Marmite and snow shovels wormed their way into this piece.
Cathy Ace is the Bony Blithe Award-winning author of The
Cait Morgan Mysteries (#8 The Corpse with the Ruby Lips was released on November
1st) and The WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries (#3, The Case of the Curious Cook, was released in hardcover in the UK on
November 30th and in the USA & Canada on March 1st). You can find out more
about Cathy, her work and her characters at her website, where you can also
sign up for her newsletter with news, updates and special offers:
http://cathyace.com/
8 comments:
Get well soon, Cathy. Nothing worse than being sick and wanting to get things done.
Thanks, Paul - I know I'm a complete wimp when it comes to head colds....I'm so lucky it's not something more serious. I'm feeling a little better today, though I will be having Marmite on toast for breakfast as that's all I seem to be able to taste ;-)
Hope you're feeling better soon, Cathy.
Have you considered the idea of a horror novel centred around a squeeze bottle of marmite? Just the idea that such a thing exists is deeply disturbing.
Ha! Thanks Allan - I'm feeling a bit better - must be all the vitamins in the Marmite! Oh no, a story about Marmite would be about home and hearth, family and security ;-)
So sorry you've caught the nasty cold that's been going around. My hubby is on his second round with it, and I haven't totally shaken the flu-cold-whatever-it's-called that hit me before New Year's. Almost, but not quite. It's frustrating. I hope yours is short-lived.
I guess I'm a finisher-completer, too. I've finished all the novels I started -- at least, they're finished in more than a first draft effort. I've undertaken various craft projects through the decades, oil painting being my favourite and most commercially successful. I put it aside when we moved from the Island because the move coincided with the startup of my dog show business. It was meant to be a temporary hiatus but I have to admit I've never returned to it. The older I get, the more interests I pursue and the longer it takes me to get things done. LOL.
Hi Cathy - I hope you are soon rid of that annoying cold! One of the things I really admire about the writers I know is their ability to see a book through to the end .... being self-disciplined to "write through" all the trials and distractions thrown their way. Kudos to you for being someone who completes the process of putting your creative ideas to paper so we, as readers, can enjoy the results.
Nancy Reid (Posting as Anonymous)
Hello Carol - I had my flu shot this year, but am still on the floor with this "ordinary cold"! I know what you mean about more things needing to be done - and therefore "completed"...maybe one day I'll learn to be more careful about what I start :-)
Hi Nancy (anonymous) :-) I have to say I faded rapidly at the end of the day yesterday, then was wide awake though the middle of the night! Today, I'm doing what i can while I have the energy to do it :-) Thanks to readers (like you) who read to the end, as well as writers who write to it :-)
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