The Guardian Covenant is on a roll

So, after a long time of avoiding my word processor, Guardian Covenant is back up on the screen and I am making progress. What happened was that I began the novel again whilst I was pregnant with my first child and simultaneously joined an online writing group that critiqued my work.

Due to many, many critiques, I then felt that my work was a complete disaster and began starting over. Starting over when you're in the middle of the work is a BAD idea! I ended up with 130 pages, 60 of which were the new story and the remainder of which were part of the old story, and had the arduous task of--not writing--but melding and meshing the two stories together somehow. This involved a long series of flashbacks, fudging, and overall bad writing. Well, I have finally meshed all the parts of the story that are still relevant with one another and it has taken a LONG time! As I'm writing this, my son is 17 1/2 months old. So, the moral of the story is: writing groups are great and can be helpful once your work is completed. But don't seek their advice in the middle of your story. You end up with a million sub-authors that get into your head and stifle the writing process. At least, that's the way it was for me. I knew that eager-to-please aspect of my personality would get me into troubled someday.

So now, all these months later, I am finally in a spot with my current novel that I like. It still has some shady flashbacks that I could probably work out if I tried. But my new process is to just write in a forward motion and I will revise when the work is completed. I take notes in a little notebook along the way of things I want to change, and later I will be able to go back and revise to my heart's content. But for now, I am making progress with the all-important story-line. THE PLOT! And that's where I've been stuck for the longest time.

What is the story about? you may ask. It's about spies and family ethics. Strange concepts to put together, I know, but it satisfies my desires both to write about action, intrigue, and secrets AND to write about family, priorities, and the meaning of life.

The story is about Angus Chase and his goddaughter Mirielle Benedict. Early in the story, Angus mysteriously disappears in the wake of his house exploding. Mirielle, then only 16 years old, has to deal with the emotional turmoil this inflicts on her while trying to decide what to do with her life after high school and whether or not to believe her godfather is still alive and that she ought to go searching for him. There is romance, family, humor, and fighting. Whether or not it is skillfully put together, I'll have to bow to my readers for confirmation. But I'm finally happy with where the story is going and how it is coming together.

I've been praying for the inspiration to write this story so that it's meaningful. Why write if it's not meaningful? I just hope I fit the bill.