Journal: North of Normal

“The craft or art of writing is the clumsy attempt to find symbols for the wordlessness.”

― John Steinbeck, Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters

When you don’t exercise your muscles, they get soft, and their strength diminishes. The same is true when you don’t write, which I haven’t done for about six months. Life got in the way, and procrastination crept in. Creativity has dried up - my brain is a desert. My husband dying didn’t promote getting my creativity back at all.

Lately, emails have been hitting my inbox from my loyal readers wanting to know when North of Normal will be on the shelves. Ahhh, the pressure! The self-imposed guilt! They want to know what happens to Sara after she leaves Whidbey Island, and I have left them hanging long enough. So, I’m working hard to summon ‘the muse’ to kick out procrastination and let creativity re-enter.

I have a secret, though - I’ve come to a decision about one of the characters that will totally take you, the reader, off guard. I won’t say anymore - as they say, you must read the book.

I think I may need to travel to Normal, IL, to revive all those memories. Go to my favorite coffee shop, wander Uptown Normal, and hopefully visit when there is a festival. There is ALWAYS a festival happening in or around Normal! I laugh remembering the First Annual Weiner Fest in the nearby city of Atlanta, IL. It was a bust - my friend and I was the only ones there! Needless to say, there wasn’t a Second Annual Weiner Fest.

So, let’s you and I get reacquainted with the characters.

• Will Sara remain a victim of 50 years of betrayal and abuse?

• Does Thomas find out where she has moved to?

• What about Sara’s ‘ghost mom’ - will she come to harass Sara in her new environment?

What would y’all like to see happen to Sara? To Thomas? To Ghost Mom? Let me know in the comments!

And now…yep….time to write.