I received an update on the contest last week, and they have read half the entries. In the meantime, I’m continuing to work on the book and have written another two chapters.
My outline for the book has sixteen chapters, with the option of an epilogue. My first book had 14 chapters, so I’ve done it before. (It’s what I’m telling myself any time I feel stuck.)
If there’s anything I’ve learned from writing my first book, it’s that the emotional parts are harder for me to write. It’s why the first outline had only ten steps. The last two were my toughest lessons, but for some reason, I thought I could avoid talking about them.
The book I’m working on now isn’t about the physical and emotional loss of someone; it’s about the emotional rollercoaster of experiencing two hurricanes back-to-back.
As crazy as it sounds, I feel like this is another example that everything happens for a reason. I know it sounds like a corny cliché, but I’m a believer. If I hadn’t gone through the experience of losing my father, I don’t believe I would have had the mental capacity to deal with the two storms. I probably would have gone back to Canada after the first hurricane.
I’m grateful for all the lessons I’ve been through because they’ve brought me here. Twenty years ago, I never imagined I’d live in Jamaica, let alone own a shop selling records and souvenirs on the beach. I also never thought I’d write two books with two more on the way, but I’m here now, and I wouldn’t change a thing!