Recently I’ve been making some meaningful changes in my life. Especially gym time is something I have been doing a lot better at, but I’m still not there. I’ve also been meaning to write again, but it feels like I’ve been frozen in doing anything meaningful in both aspects. Probably, because I’m afraid to fail again. Gym time is something that goes well for a bit and then I get sloppy, or in more recent times, I get injuries that require recovery time, which means I can’t go to the gym. I am no spring chicken anymore, after all, haha.

The same goes for my writing. Ever since I finished my trilogy, I wrote two manuscripts. A fantasy/comedy novel and a magical realism novel. Then I started work on new books in my Ley Lines universe, and I know I want it to become five novels, but at the same time I felt that I set the bar really high. First I wanted to delve deep into the Kevar (the catpeople of my books) lore and write five epic novels following a group of rebel outcasts as they try to find a way to stop a grand scale war from happening between two countries. I scrapped that idea recently and went back to the drawing board and decided instead to focus on a duo of young Kevar boys who go on a pilgrimage. A real “coming of age” story and an odyssee type of adventure.

Back to the drawing board, part 2: Electric Boogaloo

And then, once again, I found myself doubting if this was the right direction. I wrote a scene where the two Kevar boys were faced with a dangerous beast they needed to deal with and I imagined they were going to be saved by someone else. I then continued writing the scene where they dealt with the threat themselves and it felt a bit flat. What I really imagined was how an Arlin (the mystical bird people from my Ley Lines universe) would swoop in and save the day with a bunch of arrows to scare the beast away. The problem was, this story was going to be about the Kevar before they were travelling through space, so they would never have met this species. And that’s when my new idea came up. What if… I just brought all the species to this planet? Or well, maybe not all, but the ones that make sense from a lore perspective?

Now we’re cooking with power, super power!

So, this is where I am right now. My new idea is that these new stories are set in a more or less traditional fantasy setting. Except there will be technology, but the different races from the planet where all of this is taking place aren’t travelling and exploring through space yet. I call this setting Ley Lines F. F for Fantasy. Simple, effective.

What this change allows is that I can draw upon all of my established lore from my previous saga, by giving the established species an origin story, or maybe even a twisted version of how they use to live. And finally, at one point, I might have to explain just how we got from one planet to them settling on different planets and rediscovering one another. But that’s something for future projects to explain. I am once again excited to work on a brand new adventure and while I still feel five books would be awesome, I’ll just see where this first one takes the overall story, before deciding how many other books are needed to tell the entire saga.

Trust in myself and my new mantra

When it comes down to it, I think I just lost a bit of trust in myself and my abilities as a writer, but also when it comes to regular exercise and going to the gym. Every time I seem to build up some steam, I seem to lose it and that just frustrates me a lot. I get caught up in everyday life, work, hanging out with Bren and helping her with various tasks and projects. Besides that you need to be a little bit social too, so it just feels like it is a bit much, even when I am nowhere near as busy socially as I used to be ten years ago.

But now, I think I have found the sweet spot, and in the recent weeks leading up to me writing this blog, I feel that I have a lot of inspiration to tell a really great adventure that will contain just the right amount of action and tension and comical relief that I feel should be part of any story I write.

From now on, my new mantra is: “Trust the process” and I think that’s what I heard many people say, but something I now finally understand. Sometimes we get to where we want to be by stumbling into walls, trying something new. Getting up when we go down for a bit, and then just keep on truckin’.

As for my gym time and general fitness. I recently had some bloodwork done and everything was okay, except for my cholesterol (the bad type), which was slightly elevated. I’m using that as extra motivation to keep up and do my thing. I owe it to myself and to Bren and the kitties to be as healthy as I can be.

May the Earth Mother bless you!

Jeffrey