Anne Louise Bannon is the author of the Old Los Angeles and Operation Quickline series. Find out more about her here.
I’ve been a little obsessed these past few weeks. Actually, my husband would say I’ve been a lot obsessed.
You see, my latest Work In Progress has taken over my brain and I’m finding it really hard to think about anything else, including blog posts like these. It’s not that I don’t have other work to do. My next Old Los Angeles novel, Death of the Chinese Field Hands comes out at the end of next month, and it’s the end of this month already! Yoicks! I’ve got publicity to set up, social media to gear into action.
Instead, I’m focusing on how I can use this detail that cropped up earlier as a fabulous new clue. My characters are screaming – Wait. Just had a thought, must go update the outline. My characters are screaming for attention. And problems that are coming down the road in later books in the series are starting to resolve and, better yet, I’m setting up some of those conflicts now in this book.
The Suffering Spouse
My poor husband is bearing the brunt of this latest obsession, and it has been worse than usual. These past few years, I’ve been really good about sticking to scheduled writing times and not prattling on endlessly about the current project. I don’t know if it’s because my husband is working from home most days of the week, but he’s heard nothing but this plot twist or that. He’s listened to me talk through how to set up a certain conflict, then ramble on about how to resolve it. In fact, he’s been a little worried about how many bodies I’m racking up in this one, and the fact that they all seem to be the nice people. Not to mention how I’m going to eventually do in an ongoing background character two books after this one. (Sorry, had to go tell my husband the latest plan for taking this person out.)
About the series
The work, itself, is the sixth book in the Operation Quickline series, a romance with espionage intrusions. It features Sid Hackbirn and Lisa Wycherly, a pair of agents with a super-secret organization, who have fallen in love with each other over the previous five books, even though Sid is into free love and sleeping around and Lisa is, well, religious and a virgin.
I originally wrote the series back in the early 1980s and am now re-writing them because I wasn’t as good a writer back then. Heck, even the first two that got published are not as good as the books have become. Sad Lisa (book five) really came out well, and it looks like These Hallowed Halls is going to be just as good, if not better.
Which leads to my question – What is your obsession? How do you deal with it?
You can find out more about Anne Louise Bannon and the Operation Quickline series on her website, annelouisebannon.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.
Anne Louise, I enjoyed this post! Like you, I become obsessed with my work in progress and it’s the only thing I have on my brain, both day and night. As I was setting the table last night, I commented to my husband and visiting daughter that I will be so glad when the rough draft of my current book gets finished so I can have some respite before the editing starts! Hang in there! You too will get a break sometime in the future. 🙂
I sure hope so. Back to cranking on.
I love the voice in your blog post, Anne! What an enjoyable question to ponder. Or not – because lately my obsession is my weight and how I’m going to get back into “X” outfit for “X” event when all I really want to do is eat ice cream every night before bed! That said, ruminating over what my characters need to do to make my plot work out in Book 4 is a respite from self-obsession. I’m glad your husband indulges you. Cats, on the other hand… Well, I know what my Dexter would and would not tolerate.
I totally get obsessing about weight, but am really working on not. Cats are cats.
I do believe, when God gives you a talent, you do get obsessed with it. Mine is painting. I love to get lost in a painting, while the world resolves. And goes away. I know it will be just a little while, but I’m at peace for the time.
Sounds like bliss to me.