It’s embarrassing how little I’ve managed to work on my novel since my previous update two months ago.

That said, the urge to get it done is coming back, and I am definitely feeling like I can get back into it like I’ve been previously hoping to.

Of course, the undeniable truth is that my first draft won’t be done by my original target date. On the plus side, I’ve started taking steps to get my first short story published through Kindle Direct Publishing. My short story, “The Last Stop” is nothing like my novel. It’s based on a dream I had, and leans more towards the supernatural/paranormal — not my usual genre. It’s probably a risk putting it out there before my novel, since doing so might alter any expectation as to what kind of writer I really am. As I’ve mentioned before, if I wanted to compare myself to any authors (in terms of genre, anyways) I’d say Nick Hornby and Jonathan Tropper. “The Last Stop” is about a late night train ride. The story is something you’d expect from a Twilight Zone episode.

Anyway, my hope is have it up by the end of next week.

Back to the novel.

When I can’t get myself in the right state of mind to write, I think about the novel’s cover. I’ve been thinking and rethinking and designing and redesigning my novels cover for at least a year and a half now. It seems silly to do that, before novel is even done, but since I don’t have the money to hire a designer, I have to do it myself, and the last thing I need is to put off the novel’s publication because I can’t settle on the cover’s design. And I think I’ve finally come up with something I am happy with. I will unveil it when the first draft is done.