Themed Month August:
my Favorite Quotes

Favorite quotes I have a few, but only two changed me considerably. The first one was pivotal for my writing and I heard it a million times from many sources and in varying phrases before it sank in. The gist is:
„First drafts are always crap!“

My first published novel took a long, long time to finish. While that was partially due to research, after all it was a historical novel, a good portion was stage fright too. Perfectionism stalled me again and again. So writing the first draft was a daunting process because I wanted to produce the best possible book I was capable of writing.

I still want this to this day. However, I no longer aim to get the manuscript perfect during writing the first draft. I hammer out the story as fast as I can without thinking too much about it, and then I go back and revise it to the vision I had in my head when I started writing. This change of attitude has freed my writing and led to much faster publications without sacrificing the quality.

The second quote is from my great-grandmother who died when I was ten. She suffered from dementia and didn’t remember the most recent events in her live (like falling down a stair one night or how long the time between two meals was), but she was a happy woman with principles. She often told me that one should always strive to look at a situation (or anything else) until one found the bright side. Her motto was:
„Es ist nichts so schlecht wie irgend gut für!“ = Nothing is as bad as it is good!

That became my life’s motto too. As a child, I’ve trained myself to always find the bright side. By now I do it automatically without much thinking about it, and it helps me to cope with all the bad things I see in the world: the selfishness of humanity, the deliberate ignorance of powerful people, the casual cruelty and greedy destruction. Without my great-grandmother’s saying, I would have succumbed to depression long ago, because the world is not fair. It never has been and it never will be.

But even in the biggest disaster you can find a grain of beauty if you’re just willing to look close enough. And while that won’t help to address the problems at hand immediately, it can give you the amount of hope you’ll need to make the world around you just a teeny, tiny bit better.
That’s what I’m striving for with my life and my writing. Thank you, Uromi!

About the WIP:
My novel is growing, slowly but steadily. Meanwhile, my grandson is keeping me on my feet and the monthly publications also need their time.

Publication:

Maybe you’re interested in the second volume of the “Waldmann Family Saga”. I’ve re-published the historical novel Victor’s Rage with improved readability, an expanded appendix, and a new cover.

About the Book:
A forced courtship. A legacy’s honor under threat. Will the truth destroy a young girl’s chance at real love?

Northern Germany, 1848. Young Rieke Waldmann knows the man she loves and hopes to marry doesn’t meet her mother’s standards. Though the radical idealist is willing to prove himself a suitable husband by striking out on his own to earn money, Rieke must also accept her mother’s request to get to know the local miller’s son. Surprised to discover her new suitor is far more considerate than she expected, Rieke’s forced courtship reveals a deeper personal crisis: Her late father kept secrets that could ruin her dreams.

With the German Revolution plunging the country into turmoil, the young woman’s search for an affordable farm overturns yet more disturbing puzzle pieces. And increasingly distant from the love of her heart, these fresh allegations only add to the weighty burden on Rieke’s spirit.

With her father’s legacy on the line, where will Rieke’s loyalty lie?

You can find the book on Amazon and other platforms.

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