Michael Jordan retired after the 1993 season. He announced his return two years later by fax: "I'm back."
I sent forty query letters out peddling 11:34 during the spring of last year. In the days and weeks that followed, I remained busy doing authory things, like working on the sequel and producing the cinematic trailer for it. I received eleven rejections and twenty-nine no-responses in the weeks that followed. It’s a little disheartening to write a 330-page novel, undergo two major revisions, minor edits here and there, put your blood, sweat, and tears into it, and then not even get so much as a nibble. It did not deter me because I had a plan and was following my playbook to a T.
I had full-blown pneumonia. Mind you, it was midsummer, and my health had been fantastic. This illness came out of nowhere. It would be the first of consecutive bouts of the disease that would inflict me over seven months and require another two months to regain my stamina. All those workouts, all that cardio, went swirling down the drain. I went from marathon bike rides and five-mile hikes to stumbling across the living room, wheezing with each step.
In mid-July, I contacted a company in New York and paid them to professionally critique my novel. It would take 4 to 6 weeks to receive feedback. In the meantime, I couldn't sit still, so I went out walking, hiking, and cycling to work off the nervous energy. My strength and cardio were top-notch. Things were pretty good up until July 26, 2019, a date that will live in infamy. It was a Friday, and I felt off. Three days later, I had full-blown pneumonia. Mind you, it was midsummer, and my health had been fantastic. This illness came out of nowhere. It would be the first of consecutive bouts of the disease that would inflict me over seven months and require another two months to regain my stamina. All those workouts, all that cardio, went swirling down the drain. I went from marathon bike rides and five-mile hikes to stumbling across the living room, wheezing with each step. Then in December, a pulmonologist diagnosed me with a rare lung disease and immediately started treating it. I went through hell and back, losing nine months of my life before returning to some modicum of normalcy.
For the first time since having my novel critiqued, I started a third major edit in March 2020. It was slow-going because I was still feeling off my game. The critique I received in August 2019 was fantastic. It included a ton of helpful feedback: all of it was constructive; a great deal was favorable.
As of this blog, I have less than one hundred pages left to edit for Cataclysm. I had hoped to be published by now, but life has a way of getting in the way and taking unexpected turns. It took me to a very dark place, but I soldiered on. I worked my full-time job through both bouts of pneumonia, living at my desk and in bed, and powering through each moment of each hour of each day for nine whole months.
If there was a lesson in there somewhere, I don't know what it was or even care. I’m not searching for lessons, answers, or whatever might be fished out of that ordeal. Life slapped the pause button on me, and I am too busy trying to catch up.
After fighting back from a long layoff, I think it is fitting to make an announcement today. I'm back!
11:34 is coming, folks. I am back to working my butt off. This project is wrapping up and being prepped for publication. Keep an eye out for updates over the coming weeks.
