time warp

As previously mentioned, writing a story means focusing on past, present, and future simultaneously. I need to think 'big picture' and hold the entire chronology of events in my brain while I work on a single scene. I must remember how I've started the story so I don't drop plot lines and am able to maintain consistent (or at least plausible) characterization. I focus on the current scene I'm writing to fully develop it, balance elements of action/description/dialogue, and keep the tone and voice intact. As I write the current scene, it's got to lead to what happens next so there's a through-line of cause-effect relationships and the story doesn't wind up some herky jerky mess. It's a lot, but everyone loves it when the whole story comes together in the end, right?

Writing a series makes the whole business even more challenging because every scene I write occurs within the context of the book AND within the context of the series, and the further along I get into the series, the more context I need to remember. Also, there's always something going on with different books as they're in different stages of development and publication, so the flipping back-and-forth between titles is constant. I honestly don't know how sci fi and fantasy writers do it--they have my full respect because I only have to remember characters and plots and settings in a familiar universe, not a wholly imagined world.

Now imagine accomplishing this work on an

old school typewriter and give your laptop an appreciative pat.

This week is a great example of the time warp I endure as a writer. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I worked on revisions in book three in the Nun the Wiser Mysteries. That's not to say book three is finished, however, it just means I've cleaned that book up to my satisfaction before I send it to my editor. It'll come back to me at least three more times before I let it go and it reaches your virtual or actual bookshelf. While that was going on, Tuesday afternoon I received the first round of mock-ups for Old Habits Die Hard, book one in the series which comes out in April. While I considered the elements of the six book covers the design team at Tule had drummed up, on Wednesday I opened the file of book four and started over on page one in a first round of revision. During all of this, I'm wrapping what's left of my brain around my book launch plan. And sometimes (and this is the part that truly overwhelms me) I get ideas about a book I haven't even begun to write yet and I need to scramble to get those ideas down so they aren't lost forever before I re-enter the world of what I'm currently working on. My imagination interrupts me at least 3 - 4 times a day.

All of this is to say that if you run into me at the grocery store or at Purdy or en route to the literacy center and I have a fogged expression on my face while you talk to me, it's probably because I'm stuck in my writing time warp and haven't quite re-entered the present moment. Feel free to repeat your question or clap your hands in front of my face and help snap me out of it.

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Spill it, reader. When does your time warp happen?