It’s not the writing itself that keeps me chained to the keyboard night after night, but the result of that effort.

The second draft of Persistent Spirit is now over 72,000 words, and the most recent audiobook episode (Chapter 18) was painful beyond measure. Each sentence had to be teased out, then re-worked, then trashed and re-written, then sliced up and transformed into two episodes – and it’s not as yet in a finished state for print. Sometimes the words just flow, but that is all too rare, and brief.

I suspect most of us have a romantic picture of the writer. Holed-up in their chosen rural location, conjuring people, places, and events from thin air and rolling around in the financial fruits of their labours. While I suspect there are a handful who can boast something along those lines, the vast majority have to eek out precious hours of writing time amongst their busy lives while retaining the day job to survive. Friends are almost forgotten. Family is neglected. Cinema releases whiz by and invites to social gatherings grind to a halt on the expectation that you’ll not be attending. Oh, and the writing itself – the act of stringing sentences together to tell a story – is damn hard work.

I am unable as yet to fully comprehend what it is that drives me to continue Persistent Spirit – and plan the next handful of Table Rappers books. It may be the manifestation of pure thought, ideas about locations, characters, and events that were so intangible several years ago, and are now not only solidifying, but being shared with others. That, for me, might be the key. I love the characters, and if anyone else had written and published TableRappers, I would likely be a fan of the books. I have a passion and a joy for what I am developing, and I want to share that with as many people as possible. If that truly is my core motivation, then the next few years are promising to be a very satisfying time.

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