DMB Digest: The waiting is what I wait for.
Steeping in Anticipation
This is my favorite time of the year. I think the reason has a great deal to do with anticipation.
Perhaps I’m a bit of a nutter butter in this way, but I love to steep in anticipation. So much so that perhaps the worst possible moment for me is the moment of unveiling. Once the gift is actually opened, the anticipation has ended. Because of this, December 26th has always been such a strange day for me.
But it’s not just Christmas and the opening of presents that titillates me this time of year. There is something innate about winter itself. At least in my part of the world, winter is a season during which life goes into suspension. Dormancy. The cold forces life underground, inside, beneath the surface. Along with that suspension comes an anticipation of Spring.
Even hidden within Winter itself lies mysteries waiting to be revealed. The last two weeks in Nampa have revealed nights of thick, frozen fog and mornings of enchanted white trees hiding beneath thick blankets of cloud. Every morning during the winter, I wake and look outside the window wondering if I’ll see the ground covered in fresh snow. Or better yet, perhaps the sky itself will be swimming with white, frozen fury.
Every time I go outside and feel the chill soak through my many layers of clothing, along with the cold comes an anticipation of warming up inside. Of steeping my favorite tea and sharing intimate moments with my family while all snu-bu-ru (snug as a bug in a rug) on the couch.
I’m such a big fan of anticipation, I border on fear of discovery. When my oldest son gave me the choice between opening his combined birthday/Christmas present for me on my birthday or waiting until Christmas, the choice was easy. Wait for Christmas. Now I can enjoy the anticipation for two more weeks. Opening the gift early would have burdened me with two weeks of frustration, knowing the entire time I could have been relishing in anticipation instead of revelation. (It’s possible I have a serious problem.)
Travels. Relationships. Celebrations. Long nights. Cold days. Dormancy.
Anticipation of all the things to come. Time to sit with my thoughts and my dreams. Time to prepare. Time to wait. Time to anticipate.
But I live in a cerebral world. For the most part, I only go outside in the winter when I want to. To walk from one place to another. To reflect and ponder. I don’t often find myself fixing a broken whats-a-ma-jiggy in the frozen cold of winter with my fingers brittle and freezing off. So I understand those of you who have a different perspective. For my two cents, give me December. The holy and silent month of December. Long, dark nights and short, white days.
January, on the other hand, you can keep. February has the Super Bowl and that’s about it. By the time March roles around I’m clawing at my own skin to feel the warmth of the sun. But for now, I’m enjoying a good steep in December.
From the Desk of DMB
I’m just about done with my second rewrite of my current project—Catching Jars. It has been such a drastic departure from most of my past stuff, I’m still not exactly sure what to do with it. Plus, it’s been years since I’ve done the whole release and marketing thing. The industry changes so fast these days, I’ve got a ton to catch up with. But how much do I want to take on? Hard hard do I want to push? How much time and energy do I want to invest? Of the time I have available, how much do I want to commit to marketing and sales, leaving that much less for the writing itself? These are the questions authors these days must wrestle with. But I get ahead of myself. The next step will be to allow a few beta readers to dig into the story and tear it apart. Perhaps feedback from the outside world will illuminate the path forward. If you are keen to read the story as it is, and provide me with thoughtful criticism, let me know. I’ll be able to shoot you a digital copy within the next week or so.
If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…
[Click here to start at the beginning.]
Thanks so much for taking the time to read these scenes of Boundaries, Season 2 of The Green Ones. I’ll be publishing FREE daily scenes from The Green Ones until…I die…or something terrible happens. Seriously, I’ve got over 100 scenes written so far, and I’ll be writing more until the story reaches its natural ending. You are totally welcome to read the entire story for FREE! If at any point you decide you would rather finish the story in ebook or print format, just click the buttons below and you can do that as well. If you enjoy reading the serial releases, BUT you would also like to support me as a writer (my kids need wine!) please subscribe to my premium content for bonus scenes, exclusives, and insider access to my process. And of course, I’d be grateful if you would share this post with any of your reader friends who you think would enjoy The Green Ones. Happy reading!