Give Me Stories or Give Me Death

*sets the book they were reading beside them on the throne*

I’ve been reading again.

It’s funny, isn’t it? How easily we can lose things, give them up over time? After a while we get used to it, maybe. But reclaiming things...that’s where the magic happens. The ol’ Abracadabra. The quarter from behind the ear.

I’ve been reading again.

It feels good to say that—better, even, to do it.

Once upon a time, I was a voracious reader. I guess I forgot that part of myself for a while. But I’m back now, reading anything I can get my hands on again—books, articles, stories. I love it so much. I think I’d forgotten just how vast my love of stories truly is. But I’ve found it again and I feel a bit like a teenager in love. Floaty. Happy. Grounded. Real.

And I’ve been writing—oh, man, have I been writing.

I just finished my contractual duties for THE CHRONICLES OF VIKTOR VALENTINE 2: WHAT LURKS IN THE SHADOWS, so I’m not currently under contract. This is a trying time for any author—that time between “I have no new income to count on, no work to officially do, but must work for the promise of ‘someday’” and “At last, I have a book sold and a job to do”. I’ve found the work is the only thing that helps with the waiting, so I’ve thrown myself into stories of my own. As I mentioned yesterday, one is with my agent at this moment in time. One is nearly first draft finished. A couple of others have healthy starts. My writing is changing. Growing. Getting so much better than I ever thought it could.

I’ve been writing. 😊

I want to live forever in the spaces between sentences in the pages of good stories. I will one day. Not for a long while, I hope.

Now, if you don’t mind...

*picks up their book and opens it, sinking into the cozy throne*

Later, taters—

Z🖤

P.S. I’ve decided to start enabling comments for everyone (not just paid subscribers) on my posts from here on out. Because we don’t do fear around here. We muzzle it.