I just now sent off Part Three of the “Finding Salvation” series to my editors and Betas, and now I find myself at a loss. An explanation.
I retired three years ago after forty years of public service. My day jobs were not important or memorable, but I struggled with the loss of routine none the less. To fill the quiet while I waited for my wife to retire, I entered what my biographers (yeah, right) will label my most productive creative era. I either wrote or completed eight books and, with my partner’s invaluable assistance, created on online empire. We have a LLC, two podcasts, and a bookstore. Our book catalog has over 160 unique URLs of e-books and paperbacks across numerous platforms, and that doesn’t include the individual bookstores and libraries served by Draft2Digitial and Libby.
But that’s all done.
Well, not everything. “A Sheriff in Nevada: Corona” will be published at the end of October, and the second and third parts of the “Finding Salvation” series are in their respective editing queues. “Part One” is pictured above.
But for the first time in years, I don’t have an open manuscript waiting for me. I do not have to create fresh scenes, characters, or anything with a book. On top of that, I have no ideas for a brand new book or the next book in any of my series.
Aside from editing and marketing mentioned above, I am as unemployed as a writer as I can be for the first time in many years.
In the past, I was a tin can full of words and emotions. Use the church key on the can and everything would all pour out onto the screen. Now there’s a creative void inside. Is it burnout or the quiet before the next storm?
Or is it a struggle? Recently I learned I was making what some critics would say is my biggest marketing mistake: writing genre. I can’t seem to settle on a single genre because as a pantser, I write where my questionable creative abilities take me. I write books that interest me. Hopefully, others become interested, too.
What I’m supposed to be doing is writing for market, and in doing so, pick a genre and stick to it.
So here I am between the polar opposites: write what I like and continue to go unnoticed, or write a vampire/zombie/apocalypse/teenager-save-the-world book that hasn’t been written ten thousand times already and increase my chances of fame.
Or I could go take a nap. Retirement, you know.
What will probably happen is I’ll open my voluminous “ideas folder” that all writers keep, pick a victim, and grind out 70+K words in a month. Maybe. I’m just not inspired to go there right now.
I don’t know what to do. Any ideas?
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Cassidy Carson and JT Hume (“CC & JT”) are independent writers, publishers, and co-owners of Two Moore Books, LLC out of Carson City, Nevada, USA. Our growing book catalog can be found on our bookstore and the major platforms. Our podcast mission for “The CC and JT Amateur Hour,” is to “help writers write.” We received the 2024 Women in Podcasting Award in the “Best Authors and Books Podcast” category from the Women Podcasters Network. We also support “The Nevada Author Network” with the Sierra Arts Foundation out of Reno, Nevada.
Our Website: www.carsonhume.com
Who We are: https://carsonhume.com/about/
Our Books: https://carsonhume.com/books-2/
Our bookstore: https://carsonhume.square.site/
Our Business: https://twomoorebooks.com/
Note: Two Moore Books, LLC does not receive financial compensation for promoting third-party businesses and websites. We are speaking to our specific experiences. Your mileage may vary.
I feel your pain.