Picking Up A New (Old) Writing Project

A New Novella in the Works

Many(!) years ago I began writing a book. Not just any book. A book in one of my favorite genres.

I confess, I had no idea of what this genre was called, or what a “genre” was for that matter. But, I knew what I wanted my final product to look like. The model in my mind echoed the style of Ken Blanchard’s many little stories illustrating successful management, administrative policies, and the like. Ken started out with a block-buster business book, The One-Minute Manager. That one was so successful it catapulted him into business author stardom and a long string of stories written in the same vein as TOMM.

Eventually, I discovered books in this genre are called “novellas.” Here’s how Wikipedia defines the name:

A novella or short novel is a work of narrative prose fiction, longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. Publishers and literary award societies typically consider a novella’s word count to be between 17,000 and 40,000 words.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novella

Of course, my focus was not in business or organizational management as Ken Blanchard’s. As a pastor and spiritual leader, my goal was to encourage, inspire, and edify spiritual seekers. Through the protagonist’s journey, I hoped to bring readers along the road from uncertainty to solid faith–built on lessons from nature and the witness of other significant characters revealed as the story unfolds.

So, I began writing. In truth, I had no idea where I was going with this or how to get there. As the years passed, I periodically dusted off the manuscript (figuratively, of course) and added scenes, dialog, and characters. But, in spite of my fondest dreams, the story never went anywhere.

Finally, the time has arrived when I need to singularly focus on this project. It needs to be DONE! Now that several other writing projects have been completed–Whimsi and the Big Election; My Seven Essential Daily Prayers; and others not intended for publication–now it’s time for this new novella to move toward birth.

The title for this new project is:

THE DAISY GATE.

I’ll be posting progress from time to time, so, if you’d like to follow along, I’d love to have you subscribe to my blog using the form at the top of the right column, giving me your name and email. Each time I publish a new post you will receive notification in your inbox. Of course, you can unsubscribe at any time. But, I’d really love to have you along for the ride. Let’s roll!