Sometimes in life as well as in fiction we need a reboot. We need to stop the crazy train and start again. In fiction or in writing fiction it’s easy to stop a project or go back to the beginning and rework it, but in real life not so much. Over the years I have learned to roll with the crazy waves and let the wind turn me where it wants me to go until I find my safe harbor or shallow water. Swimming against the waves, especially in a rip current can be futile, learning to swim parallel until you get out of the current and can make your way to safely to shore is how we survive and succeed in life. Once on the beach we can rest and make a new plan.

I’m working on a new series, and I’ve been taking care of my eight-year-old granddaughter. My life is different than normal. In fact, there’s been a lot of changes and choices to make. Comparing my real-life experiences to my fictional writing. I’ve had to restart and start again to make things work. I think we all find ourselves doing this at different times in our lives. What worked when we were young parents with toddlers doesn’t work the same when our kids are teens, and what worked then doesn’t always work for our grandchildren. Sometimes we have to find a new starting point.

With my new series I started out writing one story and realized I needed something to come before it. The story I’d wanted to be the final story in the series is now the first and I can tell it’s right because everything is flowing and I’m already over thirty thousand words. In fiction, as well as in life, sometimes we get things out of order and need to restart or replan. It’s okay to make changes in your life, in fact, staying in a situation that isn’t working is worse than facing the fear of change. While it might be easier to make those changes in my stories than in real life, sometimes, you just have restart and if that doesn’t work, you start again. You keep working on it until you find what works for you.

Wishing you all a fresh start to a new day.