… and they’re constantly telling me so. They want a life on the page and, if I’d let them, they’re prepared to hang out there in the books for the rest of their lives (and mine). If I don’t put them out in public, they’ll continue to haunt my drowsy musings with ever more sarcastic comments.

Remember A Little Princess, and the concept of a girl’s “last doll”? Well, I’ve got a “last series” stuck in my head and, best of all, it’s a unending series which can continue indefinitely, something I quite enjoy (both reading and writing).

I stopped producing drafts about five years ago when I was caught up in the whole cancer thing (which ultimately ended very well and with permanently improved health — well worth the crisis, from a health perspective). But all this time I’ve had partial drafts for 5 series entries so far, and throughout recovery I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night to scribble notes down about this scene in that book and this other new character in a mysterious introductory predicament, etc., etc. I’ve been plotting my way through them one scribbled note-pad page at a time. I have 2-inch thick binderclips of notes for each series entry so far, ready to be digested and adjusted into finished material.

And then, just as I feel fully recovered in health, just as I start to ambitiously reattack the writing, I discover the joys and irritations of Alzheimers, and exploring that development becomes a whole new complication. Suddenly I’m facing a theoretical mental sell-by deadline which is more personally irritating (since I can watch it happening in maddening detail) than just our common mortality. I get to watch my skills retreating in all the technical areas I used to master, and that’s a blow. But, you know what? I’m still jotting down writing notes about these books to myself, and I can still write. I don’t look forward to re-educating myself about the pile of technical self-publishing steps, but I do have some of my old notes about that to follow, so I don’t despair of that part.

So… I can’t leave my characters hanging, waiting to come to public life. They have important things to do, places to go, problems to solve. And I want them to have that life, while I still have mine. This article is a sort of public stake in the ground to keep me grounded in the process. I’ll be letting everyone know the ups and downs, joys and irritations of diving back into the writing as I go along. I’m too stubborn to quit while I can still get a kick out of it.

As evidence of my firm intentions, I’ve already gotten back in touch with my Polish cover artist who did the first 3 covers, and he’s rarin’ to go, too. So there!