The Bond of Seven. My latest novel is in progress.
You can read more here. http://bondofseven.blogspot.com/
My life has changed so much over the past couple of months. Since closing my bookstore at the end of July, I’m now operating it as an online business out of my house. I am cooking actual meals and have made some pretty successful attempts at baking. I haven’t done that for years. I am reading books from my enormous pile of unread volumes. I am doing laundry, folding it, and putting it away . . . on the same day! I’ve hosted several big family dinners, cleaned my office from corner to corner, and purged my closet. I even started a cross-stitch project.
All of the above may not sound like anything unusual to the average person, but all of the above include things I had put on the back burner for a long, long time. It feels weird. But it feels good. I am becoming accustomed to my own company and have realized that I’m an okay person to hang around with.
And I am writing. Finally.
As I write this story, The Bond of Seven, I find out little snippets of information that were never in any of my notes. Did you know that the six boys love to sing together? In harmony! I wasn’t aware of that until today. I sent them off into the woods, marching down an overgrown pathway to find their older cousin, Emily, and they are actually singing as they go! I think that is so cool.
I knew that Elijah has visions (that part was in my notes), but I didn’t know that Caleb has the ability to interpret them. Hmm. Interesting. And I knew that Emily had a stubborn streak. I just didn’t know how stubborn. Gets her into trouble a lot.
Then there is dear Big Julie. I hadn’t planned on him being too involved with the whole story, but I found out that he is actually doing a lot behind the scenes. What a good man!
So . . .
The outline is done – at least from a high level perspective – and the first four chapters are written in very raw form. That’s progress! I want it to go faster, but there is so much more involved in this story than I ever imagined. It’s fun. It’s hard work. It’s frustrating. It’s satisfying.
Can’t wait to see what happens next!
Back to work.
Inside the Writer 
Love the update, Wendy. Isn't it exciting when some of the pieces of your story reveal themselves to you? That sense of discovery is one of the biggest reasons why I love writing. And about your new daily routine? Welcome to the land of the normal, everyday human being. There's a lot to be said for doing all of the simple things you mentioned. Most account have something to do with quality of life. Who knew doing laundry and baking were connected to quality of life?Keep up the great work, Wendy. A high-level outline and rough drafts of the first four chapters sounds like you've accomplished a lot. You should be very proud of yourself. Great job.