Finishing Riven felt like stepping out of one world and into a vacuum. It’s the kind of loss that leaves an empty space inside you, no matter how many new ideas are waiting on the burner. I want to keep living in that world, breathing it in, letting the characters linger just a little longer. Diving into something new feels hollow in comparison, as if I’m betraying the story I just completed.
For a moment, I thought throwing myself into another project might help—something completely unrelated. But it didn’t feel right. The words came, but without that sense of everything falling into place, it was hard to continue earnestly. So I started thinking, Maybe I should channel this energy into getting my book out there, into being noticed, into giving it a life beyond my desk. Maybe that’s how you keep chasing the high of a world you’ve built, by sharing it and letting others explore it too.
And then there’s book two. It calls to me in a quiet way, as if the story isn’t finished yet. I’m tempted to dive back into that world, to reconnect and carry the story forward. But does anyone else feel this pull—this desire to chase the next thing while also wanting to linger, to savor what you’ve already created? It’s a restless kind of love, and I’m still figuring out how to balance it.
Rosemary Draven 