Merry Christmas 2012
Hello,
I know everyone says it, but I can’t believe it’s christmas. It just doesn’t feel like it this year and yet I know I am no busier this year than I was last! Particularly since book two was due this time last year and book four still lies incomplete on my computer – nearly a month late now! I have a small reprieve as my editor is away (thank you, thank you) but I’ve lost some of the energy to finish it at the moment. I could come up with heaps of excuses as to why it’s not done, but basically I’ve had too much attachment to the outcome (something I thought I’d overcome after vipassana – but clearly haven’t) and have been listening to my inner editor too much who says that it’s totally shite anyway etc etc, blah, blah…
I forgot all my newfound wisdom that says not every book has to be perfect. That creativity is about making mistakes and that you learn more on the way down than on the way up. But the lesson has come home now. I have learned HEAPS on this book. Invaluable stuff about story telling and the writing process that takes time to ingest and settle and means that I’ve missed this deadline. Something I HATE doing. But I’m not beating myself up about it. I’m just submitting to the journey and loving the fact that I have such wonderful friends and supporters who keep me sane. Nicola Marsh (author extraordinare) being one of those! I also remember reading Rachel Gibson (whose books I adore) who once said writing a novel is liking pushing a boulder up a hill. I’m about three quarters of the way up and even though there are days I wonder if I’m just plain crazy to do this job which can seem insurmountable – there are more where i just sit and think “wow” I LOVE this job!
So this christmas I am feeling completely blessed. My family are happy and healthy (not withstanding my eldest child’s broken arm two weeks ago), I have wonderful old friends and have established sensational new ones, my first and second books were released this year, my third (which just received 4 stars in RT Magazine!!) is out in January and the end of the world didn’t happen as predicted!
And on top of all that a friend I made nearly 20 years ago on a train from London to Paris has sent me the most divine gift I could have ever imagined. This woman, Pam, lives in California and even though I have only seen her a handful of times and our communication has been sporadic more often than not, has taken the time to create a small leatherbound book detailing my first novel and filled it with reviews and writing quotes and special pictures that completely touched my heart. I think of Pam more often than I let her know. She is a person I at first dubbed “the noisy American” because she wouldn’t stop chattering to two midwestern American’s in my carriage and stopped me from reading my magazine. But I remember she had amazing hair and looking back it was love at first sight. She is a person who has touched my heart and her gift has reminded me of the importance of relationships in our lives. The importance of people. And she has reminded me of why I write.
I write to communicate with others. I write because I LOVE books and when I read a good one I become obsessed and do not want it to end. I write to bring pleasure to others in the same way. I write because the characters in my head are wonderful and amazing and are forged from my life experiences and the people that I have met. They are also forged from my deepest dreams and desires and my love of humanity and life in general.
So I thank you- my readers and friends – who share my life in a myriad of ways and make it all the richer for doing so.
Merry Christmas!
Love always,
Michelle
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