Rose Hill Update

In case anyone's keeping up with my current WIP, I haven't given up on it. If you'll notice on the bar graph at the bottom of the left hand column, I have just a tad over 5,000 words done. This is due mostly to the fact that I am getting regular work these days that I can't turn down. It pays the bills. And I must admit I'm at a standstill in the plot process.

The first novel I had pretty much mapped out completely before I began except for a couple of twists I added near the end. This one seems to be going much slower. Perhaps it's my reluctance to deal with the subject matter. Maybe the urgency is not there like it was with the first book. I don't know what it is exactly. I think it lacks focus. Last night I worked on a scene with Gwen in it that explores the dark innerworkings of her tormented mind. It was not a pretty scene. But life is not pretty at times. And how do I paint her out of the ugliness and into the beautiful light that is in finding her Redeemer? And how do I paint her brother, Sonny, the one who has already come to the Cross and found his way home but is struggling with Gwen's jealousy of him and her addictions that are destroying the family? He knows he should love Gwen into the Kingdom,. but Gwen is making life hell for everyone. What to do...I wring my hands in uncertainty. Family dynamics are not my forte. I should be an expert on dysfunctionality by now. (Is that a word?)

It's good for me, I suppose, to explore these things. I want to know what makes Gwen tick. I want to know what made Sonny different, more open to receiving Christ. They had the same childhood -- or did they? I want to know why Sonny can so readily lay down his burdens and give them to Christ and what keeps Gwen holding onto them, needing them so. These are the things I'm struggling with in the book. Sonny has his own struggles, his own bad memories of war, his own bad childhood memories to deal with. And now that his mom has died, he has the burden of keeping what's left of the family together. Will he be able to? Will Gwen find the path that leads to God? What secrets are unfolding throughout the course of the book and the 40 years it spans?

I'm overwhelmed. I'm still in the mulling stage and trying to write too. Once I figure it out I'm hoping the work will go faster. And no, I haven't sent off From Pharaoh's Hand yet. I'm deep into the revisions. Every time I read an author's suggestions I try to go back and look at my manuscript in light of those suggestions. I keep finding weak spots. I need an editor to mark it all up in red like my high school English teacher, Ms. Hawks, did. That's the only way I can tell if I'm getting anywhere. I wanted to have it submitted to at least one place by my own deadline of January 20, 2007. That will be a year to the day that I started. It's been an exciting journey. But it ain't over yet. Let's hope it's the start of a wonderful thing.