SEEDLINGS by Aaron Paul Lazar

February 2010

Fini!

Aaron Paul Lazar

I just finished writing my fourteenth book, and I’m morbidly depressed.

I guess there’s a bit of joy riding along with these emotions (in the backseat). After all, the novel is complete and I had a blast writing it. But mostly I’m just sad, and that’s what always happens when I finish a book.

There’s this cloying melancholy that comes from knowing I won’t see these particular characters again. Maybe forever. And damn, I’ve had such a blast writing this one. I loved being twelve again.

It’s probably partially because I’m able to escape from the lands of Oh God will I ever get a job again and the which school should I apply to conundrum. (Not to mention that my daughter who moved home to help us just lost her job, too, which just feeds the fears.)

I’m really going to miss Tully, the crotchety old hermit with secrets that shocked the townspeople of 1965, and Penni, the spirit of the Indian girl who played pranks in Tully’s cabin and stirred up nature when she was upset. I fell in love with these two, and it’s as if I have to leave my best friends now. Is it silly? Or understandable?

In my series, I bring in “featured” characters for each book. Sometimes they stick around, but usually I just showcase them for one book in addition to the usual “cast” common to all the stories. If I kept all of my “guest” characters, I’d never be able to finish a book, and it would be like milling around a humongous party, trying to remember who everyone is.

No. When the book’s done, they’re pretty much gone.

Of course I go through the withdrawal with thoughts like this, too: Should I do a sequel with Tully and Penni? Make a new series within a series that could stand alone or be part of the ultimate pile of books I intend to put out there?

Man, it’s hard.

I’m also going to miss riding through the woods on Gus LeGarde’s fat and sassy black Morgan gelding, Pancho Villa. That part was incredibly satisfying, because it brought me back to my own childhood, where all my pals had horses and we raced all over the town playing Cowboys and Indians. None of us were rich, we just lived in a rural area where everyone had barns and horses were pretty cheap. What a healthy way to grow up, don’t you think? It taught us responsibility. I lugged water buckets from the house all winter (no running water), mucked out the stall, brushed my horse ‘til he gleamed, helped cut and bring in hay from our field, and made sure he got his shots and horseshoes when he needed them. Sigh. I miss those days.

But I digress. I’m now in that in-between-place that really stinks.

This one’s going out into the world to try to make me some good money. (LOL) I’ve done the query and a draft of the synopsis. I’m rereading it for typos. And I’ve sent out some requests for a new agent. We’ll see what happens. (And a huge public THANK YOU to S.W. Vaughn for helping me in every aspect of this endeavor, including writing a synopsis blurb that doesn't put people to 
sleep!.:o) )

Meanwhile, I need to make the awful decision of what comes next.

It’s not ‘cause I don’t have any ideas. I have tons of books waiting in my head. It’s because I need to either polish one of the seven books in either of my series that will be subbed to my wonderful publisher next, OR start the new one.

“Start the new one!” my brain screams. My heart is right there along with it. But I know it’s time to tear apart and rewrite those earlier books that need a bit of freshening up before they join their cousins in the series. But it’s so danged boring.

Sigh.

The next new book is going to be a blast, with themes of ancient essential oils being used to cure illnesses and the insanity that arises when modern drug companies are threatened. Oh, there will be some fun excursions into Egyptian deserts, too. ;o) But it will probably all change once I actually write it. It always does.

What do you do when you’re done with a novel? How does it affect you? Are you full of pride? Riddled with fear? Satisfied? Sad?

Let the MB4 community share your feelings in the comments below. And last of all, remember to write like the wind!

                                                                                                                       - Aaron