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I seem to have rediscovered the joy of writing. At least, the way I enjoy writing. See, I put aside the way I like to write to handle the other responsibilities in my life. This handling affected my way of writing which in turn soured the act for me.

Now let’s get something straight, I am not putting down handling responsibilities. I feel strongly we all must take care of what needs to be done. However, these things can often suck the fun, the joy, right out of those things which bring us joy in the first place. One of those things which brings me joy is writing.

Often my writing isn’t as good as it should be. Quite often it can outright suck. This is when I send it out to the writers in my group. A good group of eclectic personalities who have no problem telling me their unvarnished opinions about my work. Sometimes, with their input, I find I must shelve the work, or give it off to others to write, or get rid of it entirely. Killing your babies becomes all too real when you throw away an entire book let me tell you.

It works this writers group. I am the idea man among the group. I can often come up with questions which turn into ideas which turn into outlines. These outlines lead others to writing exceptional books that I know I could not have written. However, every once and a while an idea comes along which I don’t want to share.

This is what has happened with The Peggy’s . I shopped the idea around to my group. Told them what I wanted to do, and none wanted to take it on. Especially when I told them I was going to write and publish it in a serial format. When I added the concept, I would be taking suggestions from those who were reading the book as to what direction the story progressed, none wanted it at all.

That is the thing with authors and writers. They don’t like to share. Writing isn’t a group thing to them. Sure, they can collaborate, but you wouldn’t believe the egos involved over who gets credit about what. Or whose plot line should be used. This is why normally I am the only one who collaborates with my authors. This is also why I am the head of our group. I am the editor they respect so I am not looked upon as a writer by these quirky and often strong-minded personalities.

I digress. Back to The Peggy’s. When no one wanted to write this story in the parameters I had laid down, I took it on. I have always wanted to write a serialized novel published like a magazine. Always wanted to write a book with the audience involved. And most importantly, I love writing where I have no clue where the story is going or how it will end.

I do love that. Most of the works I have written I had no clue about the plot, the characters, or anything else. All I did was sit and let the work run out of my fingers and onto the document in front of me. Which is exactly how the Peggy’s is being written. I had a simple idea. Take the concept of a serial killer. Add to it the killer is female then make it a group of females. Make the killings long term such as ten years. Then add the one who is chasing them. Make her as flawed as I could and then let the story write itself.

Of course, writing in such a manner requires a lot of editing. I don’t mean proofreading which it needs in abundance. I mean content editing, fact checking, and the other aspects of hard edits. Edits I can live with since the writing flows.

I love that. I love it when the writing flows. Love it when I read it afterwards and enjoy the story. Then I get down to the edits. Somewhere in all of this I end up removing tons of material that is usually my best written work. However, it doesn’t quite fit right in the story I am telling. What Stephen King calls “killing your babies.”

I don’t like killing my babies, but as the years have gone on and I have honed my skills as an editor, I discovered that often killing your babies is what makes the difference between an okay story and one that grabs the reader’s attention and holds it.

Which is what I seem to be doing with The Peggys . At least the small group who has downloaded it has written me several emails and have told me they are going to pass the first chapter along. You should do the same. The first chapter is free. There will be a couple of other free chapters in between the paid ones, but I am truly looking for the input required to write an original work which has no clue where it is going.

I found myself smiling after I completed chapter two. When I sat down to continue where I left off after chapter one, I didn’t have a clue where the story would take me. Now that it has taken me to a cliff hanger ending, I find myself filled with fun. It is such a joy to have a story unfold in front of you. I can’t wait to see where chapter three leads us.

I’m Ross, the Editor-in-Chief at The Pyrateheart Press and I’m out.

P.S. If you haven’t written your story yet, you should, don’t you think?