The last time we met, it was December of 2023. My first book in The Ladies of SPI cozy mystery series, SECRETS LAID TO REST, had launched (here!) in October and I was deep in promotion and all the exciting experiences that come along with a book debut. So I had written a fond farewell to the Muffin, looking forward to the crazy chaos of my publishing future.
But in February of 2024, I hit a blip, a health crisis that blindsided me. So much so, that when I read my doctor’s note—“patient seems more concerned about her book than her diagnosis”—I laughed out loud. Because it was true; I was hyper-focused on that book! But I had to laugh as well at the irony, that after twenty years of thinking about writing a mystery, and building my writing skills, and learning everything I could about publishing so that I had finally written and published a book, all I could say was, “Are you kidding me?”
Well, not kidding. All things book-related were put aside while I switched focus. And then came autumn; in fact, just around this time of year, when I knew that all was well. Yay!
But I was not the same Cathy C. Hall in November of 2024. I’d been down a similar road when the Beneficent Mr. Hall up and died in 2016. There are some events in life that are truly…well, life-changing. And back then, in the middle of writing for the educational children’s market, I finished the book contract and knew I’d move on to what made my heart happy.
It took a few years and a pandemic but joyful writing returned when I found my voice in a cozy mystery for adults. So here I was in November, 2024, on the other side of yet another life-changing event. Would I still feel that a cozy mystery series was in my future? Did writing even matter anymore?
And I discovered something wonderful! Those Ladies of SPI called to me! I missed Sutter, the Southern town where my sixty-something sleuths lived. I missed Malone, the cadaver-sniffing dog and all the other colorful characters that lived in my fictional world. I could not wait to write about pie and Tarot cards and complicated relationships. Truth is, I had to finish the next story!
I’m not sure I ever appreciated the healing power of writing, or even understood how it worked. But I am sure that I would have written that second book, even if no one ever read it!
(But I hope you will read it because I published and released SECRETS OF COLE HOUSE this month! Find out more at catherine-c-hall.com, and thanks to The Muffin for letting me drop in today and share my joy!)
* * *
.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
0 comments:
Post a Comment