I'm Back With An Update On My Latest Manuscript.

I've been a lousy blogger lately, but I've always been a lousy blogger. Blogging always takes a back seat. The last month has been challenging, but Lord willing, things have settled down.

First, my last kid in the nest sort of left the nest. That was really what kicked my blog off line and it hasn't recovered since. Then, my mother got really sick. I was seriously worried about her, but she has since recovered. Then there was some traveling, including DragonCon, where I got to meet Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, and Sean Astin. Then there was more traveling in order to support kids at college. And this weekend there will be more traveling.  Oh, and there is work, too. 

Hey, anybody seen a ring laying around this place?

 Yes, blogging has taken a serious back seat. So has photography. The good news is my writing has accelerated. For those of you who follow my author Facebook page, you know I've started a new manuscript. This is not book 4 of my Chronicles of Fu Xi series. I've put that on the back burner. This manuscript has been bubbling in my mind for several years now, and I simply have to write it. Why now?

A few events in my personal life have opened my eyes to time's passing, and how precious each moment is. It's time to quit talking, and get busy writing. ​Maybe I said it best on my Facebook page a few weeks back:

I keep getting these epiphany moments; good ones, all centered around characters, including my protagonist. The manuscript's overarching themes are forming, such as gratitude, sacrifice and loyalty.
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It feels good, and makes me happy.

It also fulfills a new-found sense of purpose, and perhaps urgency. You see, recently a good friend of mine was unexpectedly confronted with life-altering circumstances, and they are not good. His situation got me seriously thinking about what I am doing with the time God has given me.

I'm about to turn 56, and I feel strongly compelled to place family, friends, and passions first, and unite them all with the bond of faith. Of course, work and career are still important, but the prism of age and experience whispers to me with renewed urgency each and every moment, "Put first things first."

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." - Gandalf The Grey.
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In this precious moment that will never come again, I choose to write.