Hello from gorgeous cow country... no, wait!

Hello from our family vacation home in Belarus!

Someone once said that there are only two stories in the world, really. The first is “everyman goes on an adventure and comes back changed.” That’s the hero’s journey. The other is “stranger comes to town and nothing is ever the same again.” Well, both of those stories are playing out in my life right now.

I’m in Belarus for two months with my family (that’s the stranger coming to town). My kids are having a wonderful time with their cousins, whom they haven’t seen in two years. My wife is reconnecting with her three sisters. And I’m experiencing something like the Scouring of the Shire, except it’s an internal one. 

After all, Belarus was the place where my writer’s journey (a particular kind of hero’s journey) began. Two and a half years ago, I was in the midst of a cold, freezing January here at the family estate. My agent at the time had done absolutely nothing for me and my first novel, and he had just gone so far as to actually forget who I was when I called him. 

Then I found this book by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Closing the Deal on Your Terms. And I realized that I had been a massive idiot. That the only reason I had ever wanted an agent was a desire for external validation. And I realized that everything I really wanted to accomplish with my books would have been unlikely, if not impossible, if I had remained with him. 

So I fired him. And I went indie. 

Two years later, I have 4 books to my name, with two more coming soon. I’m back where it all began. But the Shire (that is, my internal reality, not Belarus) isn’t the same any more. 

It’s become a bit desolate. A bit ragged. A bit harried. All the trees have been cut down. 

I realized this was a perfect place and time to take a step back and rest. To fill the creative well. To read, to reflect, to spend time with the kids, to serve as a deacon, to sleep in once in a while. 

So here’s what I’m going to do.

1. I’m cutting back on all blogs and book reviews until September.
2. I’m not going to send any emails to my subscribers until September (except for one or two this week).
3. I’m not going to do any facebook live videos until September.

I think you will actually thank me. I know I’m going to thank myself, and I’m sure I’ll be a lot more energetic and focused when I get back. 

Because I have big plans for the latter half of this year. 2 new books. A bunch of new short stories. New author interviews. A book club.

And I'd love to hear your input on what I should do when I come back to the land of the free. With that in mind, would you mind answering a few short questions? I'd be very grateful to read your answers, and I will read each one carefully. 

Click here to answer a few questions and to help an author out!

See you all when I get back. (And don't be too mad if I send you another email or two with some special book promotions this week).

Thanks for joining me in my writerly adventures!

~Nicky