Update time.

Okay, so I changed my mind. Not about writing, but about what I’m going to write.

I was going to write a story about a character named Erica from one of my Damien Hill novels, but her backstory is so challenging and well defined, I was finding it difficult to massage that into a character journey and arc that excited me. At least not yet.

So, in order to keep moving forward, I decided to revisit a novel idea I had started after Cold Storage.

It’s a story called Mute.

Mute has been in my mind for nearly 30 years. It was the story I just couldn’t crack, the good idea that I couldn’t turn into a good story, no matter how hard I tried.

As a matter of fact, back when my wife and I were newly married (and before I found out she hates the process of anything, so me using her as a sounding board for ideas ended with her saying with a shrug – “I don’t know.” LOL) the challenge of figuring out Mute’s story arc consumed me. Every waking moment I was trying to pull the thread on the idea to see if it would lead to anything substantial.

Every night, around dinner, I would say to my wife, “Let’s talk about Mute.” She’d roll her eyes and put up with my rants that always ended against a brick wall.

The phrase became synonymous with “let’s talk about a subject that frustrates us both.”

So, I shelved the concept a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away and that was that.

Until Cold Storage. With that novel I thought I had finally figured out how to tell a story that balanced character with plot (where, my novels were normally better on plot than character). I figured if I could understand Mute’s characters better, the plot stuff would fall into place.

And then my son needed me and I took a break for a few years.

So, now, am I not only trying to reconnect to my previous mojo, but revisiting Mute, that story that could not, or would not (or was being annoying just because) be written.

Using what Cold Storage has taught me, I’m diving into the deep end of Mute, hoping there’s enough water to break my fall.

Only time will tell.

However, there is one secret joy that accompanies this shift in writing plans. I can, with a straight face and honest excitement, say to my wife over dinner, “Let’s talk about Mute.”

Her eyes will roll, and will probably be accompanied by a heavy sigh, but I’m determined to crack the nut of a good idea that has kept its journey into a satisfying novel from me all this time.

Let’s see who wins. My incomplete idea or my vocal muse… or if it, too, will remain mute.

I’ll let you know how it goes.