Hidden in Plain Sight

I think I’m at the end of the Hidden in Plain Sight series, and that’s part of the reason I am facing writer’s block. I have been with that series for over ten years, and my involvement in that world has been extensive.

My books involve an ecocollective in the middle of Illinois, an experiment in living with a small carbon footprint, on a working farm, with principles of pacifism. But the place has secrets. A fight for humanity on its grounds. Two trees that give people inexplicable talents. Immortal beings and their long-lived offspring. Flying cats. Barn Swallows’ Dance is, necessarily, hidden in plain sight.

I have written seven books about the world. Gaia’s Hands introduces us to the collective and its miracle food forest, which grew up literally overnight with Jeanne Beaumont’s talent. Apocalypse pits the pacifists of Barn Swallows’ Dance against three immortals who want to end humanity. Reclaiming the Balance visits justice, as even the utopian collective falls into prejudice and discrimination. Avatar of the Maker involves a young adult who is called to stop a battle among immortals that could decimate the world. Carrying Light takes the reader to the edge of the riots that will ultimately bring down the United States, while Whose Hearts are Mountains explores the world on the other side of those battles. Finally, Hiding in Plain Sight features an early glimpse of the immortals as one of them falls in love with a human.

One of the important themes of the books is relationships. Not only the romantic ones, of which there are many — the 6000 year old linkage of Adam and Lilith, the odd couple Jeanne and Josh, the star-crossed lovers Alice and William — but the everyday relationships of the members of Barn Swallows’ Dance. The characters, and how they relate to each other, are important.

Barn Swallows’ Dance is almost itself a character. Part utopia, part cauldron of preternatural turmoil, it serves as a uniting principle of the stories. (Only the prequel, Hiding in Plain Sight, does not feature the collective).

This is the world I am leaving behind. It hurts, but I don’t know what else I can write in the series. Nothing is speaking to me. I feel like I have explored everyone’s stories.

What can I do to top this?

Trying to Get Back Into Writing

I’ve been gone for a little while. I am struggling with getting myself back into writing. Motivation is not there — I haven’t been writing on any books, either.

Part of it is lack of faith in my writing. That’s pretty normal for me. I go through that a lot of the time.

Part of it is a lack of ideas. I think I have written all I can in the Hidden in Plain Sight series, and I don’t write on the Christmas romances until it’s Christmas season. I have a novel and at least one short story sitting on my computer, but I don’t have any ideas for either. They’re all at an awkward place where I know where they have to go, I know how to get there, but there’s more spaces on the template that I don’t know how to fill. It’s like the novel should be a short story, and the short story should be a shorter story. But I know that wouldn’t do them justice. Like I said, a lack of ideas.

I still promote my writing on various channels. I have my Loomly (social media software) programmed through September. I don’t have much faith in their success, but I do have inertia.

The part of me that writes for the love of it is at a loss. The part of me that writes for recognition is burned out. Maybe it really is time for a break now.

Done with the book

I am finally done with “Hiding in Plain Sight”, my latest book. And I am done with the whole thing. I think this book needs a long hibernation in a dark drawer before I touch it again. It is not a good book, and I don’t say that lightly. It is the first draftiest version of a first draft I have written since my first copy of my first book. It tells rather than shows way too often, and I don’t know if it’s salvageable.

At the same time, I already know what I need to do with the last two chapters. I just don’t know if I have the energy to do it yet.

Big Audacious Goals for 2026

I have two Big Audacious Goals for 2026, although neither of them are very big at this stage.

I plan to publish two books this year, Avatar of the Maker and Kringle Once More. The books are already written and edited. The added material (About the Author, Dedication, etc.) are already added. They are formatted. All I have to do is have a cover made for Avatar and upload, then click and we’re published. The publication dates are October 1, 2026 for the Kringle book, and January 1, 2027 for the other.

The reason it’s a Big Audacious Goal is because of the insecurities I feel as a writer. I am one of the many indie writers that doesn’t get many sales. I assume I am not a good writer because of this. In actuality, I am one of the many indie writers hampered by obscurity, the large number of writers in the indie industry, and preconceived notions of indie publications. (And possibly because I’m not a good writer.)

Other Big Audacious Goals — I plan to finish a book this year. I have two in limbo — the romance Walk Through Green Fire, and the Hidden in Plain Sight novel Hiding in Plain Sight. The latter, although close to finished, is a mess, with too much sitting around and talking and not enough action. So that’s an ambitious rewriting project. The former is something I put aside to write Carrying Light, another Hidden in Plain Sight novel that I wrote last year but somehow didn’t put on my Big Audacious Goal list.

Why didn’t I put Carrying Light on my Big Audacious Goal list last year? Probably because I thought writing another novel wasn’t that audacious given that I had already written several. But any new creation is audacious. How could creation not be a shot against the bow of Things As They Are?

So I have Big Audacious Goals. I have other goals, not yet fleshed out. I have ideas, which are not yet goals. I have enough to keep me busy this year.

The First Blog of a New Year

Every year, on New Year’s Day, I make it a point to do the things I want to carry through the next year. One of the things I’m doing today is writing my blog, because I have let it go for too long.

I had burned myself out writing daily for a year, so I let it go for a couple of weeks, which turned out to be two or three weeks, then several weeks more. Then I lost the habit of writing and the initiative.

Now I’m thinking of writing today. Not a resolution, but a goal. Which means I need to set it up as a SMART goal — specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound. Here goes: I will write my blog at least twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays, in the morning before I work.

Now that I got that out of the way, here’s my first blog of the year:

How was 2025? It was a year of shock and horror looking at what came out of our government. We became a harsher, more bitter nation, obsessed with ‘sticking it’ to someone else. Personally, it was a year of little excitement, of doing my day to day routine and getting by. I don’t mind that; I’m older, and I’ve wearied of big surprises. My bipolar is under control, and my weight is down by almost 70 pounds. I pulled triumph out of failure for my research this year and made two presentations, which will keep my boss happy. I am one year closer to retirement — I’m looking at 5 years now.

What are my big plans for the New Year? I have two books I want to publish at the end of the year: a Kringle book and a Hidden in Plain Sight book. I have completed both (except for a cover for Avatar of the Maker). Finishing the editing and the formatting was a 2025 goal that I discovered at the last minute. Other than that, it will be another year without big surprises. I hope. Especially from the government.

It’s Fall, and Maybe I’m Making Progress.

I’ve remembered to write my blog today, about one day later, so maybe I am making progress.Time to remind myself that I am a writer, even if I feel little like one lately. I have a book I want to write, a Christmas romance novel, of which I have the basic outline laid out. I will start writing it on November 1st. Even if I don’t get those 50k words by December 1, I will make progress.

Photo by Kadri Vu00f5sumu00e4e on Pexels.com

Then there’s the other story, the one I don’t think is going well. Maybe I should look at it and see what it needs. A burial in a lead casket is a possibility unless I figure out how to make it a little less dark. Maybe it’s supposed to be that dark, but it’s ceased being fun to write.

Maybe I’ll feel like writing again, and it will become part of my life.

A Really Bad Job of Writing

It turns out I’m doing a really bad job of writing lately. I always seem to forget my writing days. Maybe I have a lot more to keep my mind on than usual; maybe work is calling me away too often. Maybe I’m just tired. But my writing (both blogging and story-wise) are not happening.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Maybe it’s not the season to write. I hope that’s not the case, because I’m supposed to write a Christmas romance in November. I’m already going to be a couple days behind because of a conference I’m going to.

Here’s hoping the universe showers me with the gift of writing.

Perhaps a Controversial Move

I’m still not doing well with keeping up with blogging, but I do have some good news!

I just laid out a project in Scrivener. A new Christmas novel to be written in November for Novel November. Novel November is likely to be controversial because ProWritingAid essentially took over NaNoWriMo (it used to be a sponsor of such) and some associate them with the statement NaNo made accepting AI written projects.

I am joining it anyhow because I use ProWritingAid as an editing tool, not a composition tool. I do not see this support as endorsing generative AI. I would never endorse that, because it degrades writing and critical thinking. ProWritingAid does not appear to support using the program to write.

I believe Novel November will help me through my writing slump. It has already, as I have outlined the novel already and I am excited about writing again. Wish me luck!

Ten Thousand Views

According to JetPack this morning, my blog has gotten 10,000 views. That’s incredible! I know there are blogs that have gotten a lot more than this, but I didn’t expect my blog to have gotten this many!

I’ve made a lot of posts, maybe 2000 or so. That means my average post has gotten maybe five views. But they add up, and five per post is not bad for a humble little blog that is just my meanderings.

I should plug my books at this time, because my books are where this blog started. You can find my magical realism (?) and Christmas romances at this link: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Lauren-Leach-Steffens/author/B08KHCNJ3W?ref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Thank you for reading!

Not Doing So Well With This Little Audacious Goal

I set up the little audacious goal to write on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and have not done too well with it. I have the time; that’s not the problem. The problem is that I have forgotten about the goal and suffer from a degree of inertia on those days.

Once one quits writing, it’s hard to go back to that place. I have run into the same thing with my novel writing. The negative self-talk has taken over, and I don’t feel like I have too much to contribute to the world with writing. It’s keeping me from writing. I don’t like the current book, which is too much of a downer. I’m not sure if I’m going to get through it.

What I need is an attitude change. The little audacious goal is something I have to want to do. Right now I don’t know if I want to write. I think I need a message from the Universe (which I certainly believe can happen) to help me get back on track.

Or at least I need to follow my little audacious goal in the meantime.