Where did I go?

What do you do when you have been remaindered? Deleted. You keep on writing. In the meantime, you reassess your place in the material world.

I went back to a part-time day job. Then as the characters in my fourth book lost their way, I made the day job full-time. My characters needed a break too. They had to find their story. As the day job grew into a profession, the time for writing became less and my other interests took over. My characters wandered off into the distance and were lost from sight.

Nineteen years later, they reappeared with new tales to tell. Experience had made them more rounded and with them they brought the prospect of a new adventure. They were able to show me where they were going. All I had to do was follow and record what happened to them on their journey with the Key to Finlac.

Writing is like that. If you don't shadow your characters everyday, you lose sight of them and the chance to tell their story. Then again, sometimes they just need to wander off. Next time it happens I trust it won't be for nineteen years.

Try to keep your characters close; never let their trail go cold.