The Story Behind Unauthored Letters

[A real happening]

 At four in the morning, in early Dec 2003, I awoke with a storyline running through my mind. I got up, grabbed a pad of paper, and wrote as fast as I could. Hours passed and I was still writing. More time passed. Then I touched my face. Tears were streaming down it. I had been so engaged with the story, I hadn't realized I'd been crying, for quite some time, for these characters. From that point on, I fell in love with this story. 

During that final month in 2003, the writing came quickly. Within three weeks I had the workings of a great story. It almost seemed too easy. .

Never would I have suspected that the outstanding pieces of the story would take years to complete. I had a strong middle that I loved, but the beginning section of the novel became my stumbling block.  I wrote version after version, only to throw them all out. Then long stretches of time passed and I started to believe this story would never be complete.

Even though I was stuck, fearing the novel had no future, I couldn't fully set it aside. While I waited, I worked on other projects, but Unauthored Letters always loomed in the shadows. Like a ghost, it began to haunt me. I felt trapped. I wanted to move on, but something deep inside told me I couldn't fully conquer another novel until this particular one was complete. 

I was frustrated many times. I tried to diminish my writing dreams. I tried to find other passions and hobbies. I tried to minimize the defeat I felt due to this project.

Then things changed (which is a story for another post), and the book finally became alive again. Through timing, circumstances, and the help of others, hope was restored. 

Then this last week, after almost ten years from the start of the project, I needed to make a few tweaks to the ending. Minor changes on paper, but huge changes in regards to my heart. Suddenly I understood the why.  I understood the real story. As an author, I wrote this story for me, the reader. I wrote it because I needed to learn a very important lesson. Up until this last week, I wasn't ready to learn that lesson completely. But once I was ready, it's now become an extremely prized lesson. 

I wish I could capture this knowledge in a bottle so that I may never forget it. Instead I have captured it in this novel. 


Now after ten years of hope, sorrows, and disappointments, of waiting, of rewriting, and revising, the novel is complete. And I understand that this is the story I needed to tell - for me. 

Other than my cherished marriage, and my prized relationship with my loved ones, I can't think of any other accomplishment that means so much to me. I am extremely proud that this book is at last complete.

Unauthored Letters has left me with a lesson that has changed me and I'm grateful for that. Now I'm free to move on (to my next novel).

Thank you Muse for this journey.