I took the NaNoWriMo challenge in 2013 with The Iron Butterfly, a story based on the life of my grandmother, a young widow with nine children to support after her husband died unexpectedly. She was a strong woman of great conviction. I won the challenge and self-published The Iron Butterfly in 2015 after several edits and revisions.

In 2014, I took the NaNoWriMo challenge again with Wentworth Hall. I also won and went on to self-publish it in 2016 after so many edits and revisions. I changed the title after finding out that there was a Wentworth Hall book already. Considering the plot of the novel, I felt that The Wentworth Legacy was better title.

The entry I had for 2015, Courage and Endurance is the third in the series of Journey to Freedom although it can be treated as an independent book by itself. The Iron Butterfly although published two years after BAHALA NA (Come What May) is the first book chronologically in the series. BAHALA NA (Come What May) is a novel based on my father’s life just before and during World War II. It is the second book in the series Journey to Freedom although it was published first. Don’t ask me why. It just happened that way. It was my first try on writing and wanted to publish it before my mother dies. She is still alive today at 95 years old. Good genes, I say. Courage and Endurance is still untouched after winning the NaNoWriMo at the end of Nov. 2015. It is a novel based on my parents’ life after World War II going into the Marcos era.

In 2016, I took the challenge again and won with East of Babylon. I’ve been going through the edits and revisions but has not finished yet. Since my husband was diagnosed with End Stage Kidney Dialysis in Feb. 2016, my writing schedule was turned upside down. Being a caregiver took a lot of my energy and time that was devoted to my writing. On top of that, I am still doing four newsletters, maintaining six blogs and trying to do the marketing for all my books. There is not enough time to do all the things I want to do without putting too much pressure on myself. Thanks for my garden. I take breaks every so often and stop and smell the roses.

I also wanted to publish a nonfiction first before going back to historical fiction. I am working on my nonfiction manuscript at the moment and hoping to publish it soon. Shall I go traditional publishing this time? At 73, do I have the time to wait that long? If I am younger, I would have waited but I am a late bloomer. I did not start writing seriously till I retired in 2011. I can try the traditional way and send in my proposal and see what happens. I went into self-publishing because I felt I had total control of my manuscript and I could publish as soon as I could. Going traditional publishing takes years unless you are a celebrity which I am not. I have several thousand followers from groups that I belong to but I cannot consider myself a celebrity.

So in view of all that is happening in my life, I am not sure I will do the challenge in 2017. Is that a defeatist attitude? I have known to have a lot of energy and do multi projects at the same time but can I swing it this time. I have two weeks to decide. Shall I or shall I not? What do you think?

Until Next time. Stop and Smell the Roses.

Rosalinda R Morgan

Author & Garden Writer