How do you begin to write a novel is often the first question I’m asked. I guess, as a woman who had witnessed much and lived to tell, all I needed to do was sit myself down and let the words come. On the best writing days I allowed the story to simply unfold and did my darnedest to meet each character without judgement. Well, that’s not exactly accurate. It wasn’t that simple, but I did try to stay out of the way of whatever was building on the page. At first, characters arrived shrouded in shadows, one then the next slowly stepping closer, until there was a whole illuminated cast who lived and breathed life into Crazy String.

I have no clue how other people allow their imagination to roam about but for me it feels like I am being pulled along and I’m just as surprised where I end up as a reader might be. Started with a what if, slipping into that impossibility, that world which did not exist, there, in the imagined world, everything did indeed become possible. People could react this way or that, say horrendous things or remain silent. I ran with it all. No door slammed me in. Nothing said stop. So yes, the novel took me over edges and along new avenues and I was enthralled by all the curves.

Before you think this was a magical mystery tour of delight, be assured, there were tragedies and dead ends and more rewrites that even my dearest ones got exhausted rereading. But who said giving birth was easy? In hindsight, yes, always in hindsight, the whole of the long and laborious process is well worth your effort, but in the midst, it is often a blinding mess.

But now, my dear reader, you are now my judger. Before you don the black robe, consider your own labors. Those that required a daring attitude in spite of that sense of ineptitude creeping within, but you struck out anyway. You did it. The end result may not have measured up to your glossy dream, but you accomplished the unattainable all the same. Be a judge who knows what struggle feels like.

Please join me in welcoming Crazy String into this world of numbered pages bound within a straight spine. Your copy is already waiting for you here!

Photo credit: @vibelizabeth_

Cover Design: @artcitycreative