I’ve done some bad things to my characters in the past, but this is perhaps the worst

Painful progress. 

​I broke my own heart during my last writing session. 
 
As y’all know, I’m about halfway done with my first draft of Book Two and I’ve hinted the story is going to get darker. 
 
Well, now it has. 
 
I don’t want to give too much away but, suffice to say the relationships between Leora, Roland, Aurora, and Leopold are never going to be the same. 
 
This was hard for me. Writing this latest chapter didn’t just take an emotional toll. It was a struggle for me to get my hands to obey what my brain wanted to get down on the page—almost as if my body was fighting with my mind. 
 
I normally sit down and power through for four or five hours, but this time I had to get up several times. I paced. I checked my phone. I stared out the window. 
 
I hurt my characters deeply and it made me feel awful. 
 
But pain is a part of life. Friends have fights and their relationships sometimes don’t recover. My books are not a reflection of my life experiences per se, but I do use my writing as a type of catharsis. I’ve been hurt before (I mean, we all have I think) and my main characters wouldn’t be as believable if they didn’t experience loss, as well.
 
No spoilers here, but when you do get around to reading this part in Book Two, please don’t get too angry with me. 
 
A Thing I Enjoyed This Week
 
I absolutely adore the reboot of DuckTales (Disney+). I was a fan of the original show as a kid and Treasure of the Lost Lamp was one of the VHS tapes played to near death in our household growing up. The reboot is smart, funny, and sweet. A must watch as we head into the dog days of summer.
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With that said, I’m taking a break from blogging for the rest of the month. Thanks so much for visiting and I’ll see y’all in September!