When it Rains, it Pours

My battalion arrived in Iraq in September, the hottest and driest month of the year. When the commander of the company my company was replacing explained what to expect from the rainy season, he poured a bottle of water on the ground. Needless to say, we were all very skeptical. I mean, come on, this is Iraq we're talking about! Surely the man had to be exaggerating just a little bit. Alas, he was not exaggerating at all. When the rainy season finally came, it made light of the old saying: when it rains, it pours.

Well, lately the ideas pouring out of my mind have been very similar to the rainy season in Iraq. Just as the dry season in that country would surely lead you to believe that not a drop of rain would ever again fall from the sky, the rainy season will make you convinced that you'll never see dry ground again. And that's the way I feel right now.

Just the other day, while watching the news, a great idea for a novel popped into my head. It is unlike anything I have ever written. In fact, it's not even fantasy, but a thriller. Obviously, I haven't started writing it yet because I still need to finish Aurumenas, but it's always exciting to write a novel when you know you have another one to take its place as soon as you're finished.

And speaking of Aurumenas (because remember, I said it was pouring), new subplots and twists have been popping into my head; ideas that I never would have guessed when starting, but seem to fit perfectly in the direction my characters have taken me.

Needless to say, this is the part of writing that every writer lives for. We persevere through the dry patches because we know our hard work will eventually pay off.