It’s the beginning of May, and one-third of the year is gone. It’s time for a short retrospective. Life has been unpredictable these past few months, just like the weather. Where I live in the Black Forest region of Germany, after a nice, warm March that saw the trees leafing, a cold, snowy April arrived.

And isn’t life just like that? Months or years of smooth, uneventful sailing until a change hits. I’ve had a setback in my writing routine as I went through two months of colds. It’s in times like these I remember what is most precious in life: health. Without it, I can’t be an active mother to my children, I can’t be a productive writer, and, in general, I can’t live as a functioning human being.

Now that I’m back to my previous energy levels, I’ve decided to invest some of that energy back into my health. And let me tell you, it takes some energy (to convince myself) to go Nordic-walk in the morning rather than plunge right into writing or to stop writing and go to bed at a reasonable hour.

I’m not always such a write-o-holic. But now that “The End” of my epic fantasy project is in view, I’m getting excited. Well, ok, I’m only two-thirds done with this last draft, but that’s closer than ever before. After five rewrites, I think this is the One! So much has changed in this project, but not my enthusiasm for it. I love what it grew into, and I have been growing with it as a writer.

To keep on my toes, I’ve been writing other pieces on the side. Some longer, some shorter, some published (see links on my Writings page), some still waiting for an editor’s appreciation. None of them are novel-length (the longest is a novella), but now that I’m buckling down to finish my novel, I’ve stopped writing anything else for the time being so I can focus (yes, Adriana, focus!) on this epic (fantasy) project of mine.

As the days are warming and stretching, I see a light at the end of the drafting tunnel.