Where's Cin Craven?

Hello Everyone!

For those of you who don't follow me on Facebook, last September my 16-year-old Jack Russell, Piglet, fell ill. She was diagnosed with renal failure and I firmly believe she also experienced a series of small strokes.

I don't think she really felt bad most of the time, but she lost the instinct to lick and had to have her food and water given to her via syringe. Needless to say, taking care of her was the only thing I did and the only thing on my mind for three solid months. I couldn't concentrate on anything else. I lost her the day before Christmas Eve. She was the sweetest, most wonderful and generous dog I've ever had the privilege to know and I miss her like crazy. I had had her since she was 6-weeks-old and she was the mother to my other three Jack Russells. Her loss has left a very big hole in all our lives.

Add to that my debilitating writer's block and I'll be honest with you all, I have mentally composed a letter to my readers over the last several months saying that whatever talent I once possessed was just gone.

And then I was driving along last Saturday night, headed to Olive Garden for a dinner with my best friend to celebrate Singles Awareness Day (aka Valentine's Day), minding my own business, when I suddenly had An Idea. That Idea has percolated in my head this week into a full-blown story for book four! You have no idea how nice it is to finally have them running around in my head again. It's been kind of a shock and a little bit overwhelming!

I always basically knew what I wanted to accomplish with the next book, I just didn't have an actual plot. I had a whole lot of blank white screen, though, and absolutely nothing flowing to fill it up! At the moment I'm trying to figure out how all these new ideas fit in with the rest of the series and how I want everything to end up. I will never be a chess player because I can't think several moves ahead (in writing, or in life) but I've gotten far enough into this series that I have to stop and do that now. I don't want to get to book six and think, "Oh, crap, I shouldn't have done that in book four." Or worse, "I should have done that in book four and I didn't." But we finally have a story and the muse is talking to me! I just have to find the time to write now. Winter is a very hard time to do that with my farm chores. I'm at the barn taking care of my animals a good portion of the daylight hours and by the time the sun sets, I'm exhausted. My fingers are itching to get into this story, though, so hopefully I'll have some good news for you all soon!

As always, the best way to keep up with me is on Facebook. I'm going to try to do better about posting to the blog, but I am on Facebook every day. It's sort of my lifeline to the outside world and we have a lot of fun there.

Thank you so much to each and every one of you for your support and encouragement. You really do keep me going when I want to give up!!

Best wishes to us all for an early spring,
Jenna