Can two hearts harmonize when fateful events threaten to tear them apart?

This is a question I posed in my last post, relating to the protagonists, Trudy and Mark, in Harmonizing Hearts. If you read the post, you would have seen some of the challenges they face, and now in just four days, you will see how they met, and overcame, those challenges.

So much for the characters. Now, what about the author’s challenges? Let me give you an honest glimpse into my life as a writer — a behind-the-scenes look, if you will. One of my flaws is comparing myself to others. Oh, I know it’s not right, but I do it all the same. When I see authors releasing a book every month, I ask myself, why can’t I release a book every three months at least, or maybe every six months?

While I don’t want to make excuses for myself, I have to admit that I face some real challenges, one of which is health issues. Over the past two years, I have been plagued by health issues, which have sapped my energy and maybe even my motivation. I ought to wake up earlier to get more writing done, read more, even exercise more to stimulate my brain cells. Time spent in doctors’ offices also took away from my writing time. I even questioned whether I was too old to be writing. I thought maybe it was time to throw in the keyboard.

Apart from these personal challenges, I sometimes had difficulty structuring the plot so it flows seamlessly. Fortunately, Word allows us to move passages around — which can sometimes be confusing — so I was able to ensure some continuity in the plot.

Keeping track of characters’ physical features, ages, family members, dates also posed a daunting task. I learned to compile each character’s profile in my Book Notes, so I could refer to them when necessary. Word’s Find and Replace feature also came to my rescue when I gave someone the wrong wife or the wrong husband.

But the biggest challenge of all were the days when the words just wouldn’t come. I don’t call it writer’s block, because I knew where I wanted the story to go, but setting the scene, expressing it creatively, and letting the ideas flow in a nice, cohesive way instead of a jumbled mess sometimes made me want to give up.

But I didn’t. I kept going. With the help of my critique group, who would fact check everything, find that missing (or wrong!) punctuation mark, or weak verb, and point them out — sometimes not so kindly —I was able to make it to The End. So now, I’m eagerly awaiting RELEASE DAY, Feb. 14th, which is also Valentine’s Day.

So, what better gift to give someone you love than a gift which was a labor of love from me to you? Harmonizing Hearts is still on preorder for 99c.

After just over a year of working on this novel, I am pleased to announce that Harmonizing Hearts, sequel to Making Music Together, is now on preorder. Yes, it took a while, but the journey was worth it. I learned a lot about so many things — music, illness, relationships, and yes, writing. With six published books and hundreds of articles under my belt, I’m still learning, still evolving, still growing as a writer.

So now, I invite you to once more accompany me on my journey with this, my latest work. Like me, my characters in Harmonizing Hearts are also growing — in their careers, in their relationships with others, and with God.

If you read the first book, Making Music Together, you would recall that Abigail, Mark’s first girlfriend, caused him a lot of trouble. And now she’s back. Does she still have her sights on Mark? How will Trudy react to meeting her for the first time?

Trudy has retinitis pigmentosa, an illness that affects both her night vision as well as her peripheral vision. Mark wants to have a family. Trudy is afraid that any child she has might inherit her illness.

Trudy’s dream is to become a world-class vocalist. Would having a family stand in the way of her dreams? Can these two hearts harmonize when fateful events threaten to tear them apart?

Order your copy of Harmonizing Hearts now while it’s still on preorder and see how this loving couple’s faith helps them cope with fateful events while chasing their dreams.

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