Artistic Adventures with Victoria

I’ve been working on a new coloring book for almost a year now—the first notes are from August 2024. The images are finished, and the layout is nearly done. I should rise to the challenge, add the final touch-ups, and upload the book to Amazon. But here I am… dilly-dallying.

Don’t get me wrong—I like the book. I’m happy with the images. They tell a story, or at least flash glimpses of one. Still, I find myself wondering: should I change the order of the images? Should I break the structure or organize them more clearly—or just let them exist as they are? I keep going back and forth on whether coloring books should have a story at all.

It’s funny, in a way. I always seem to run into the same problem: when a project nears the finish line, I start to slow down. I hesitate. I tell myself I need the perfect title, the perfect cover, the perfect final sentence. But if I’m honest, I think the real issue is letting go—declaring it done and moving on. And just when I should be focusing most, my brain starts offering up shiny new ideas instead. It’s like a built-in escape hatch: “Sure, this project is almost finished… but wouldn’t it be more exciting to start something new? Distractions disguised as inspiration.

As I write this down, it sounds a little silly even to me. But there’s another side to it too. I’m not sure if late June through early August is the best time to publish a new book. Dare I wait until Christmas? That seems like a long time… and I’m not known for being patient. So maybe I’ll just do it anyway.

Speaking of distractions—or maybe new dreams—I have exciting plans.

I actually have a sixth Alexia and Phoebe story taking shape. The core idea came to me before the fifth book, but back then, I couldn’t figure out a satisfying or simple solution to make it work. So the fifth story was written instead. (And let’s be honest—who wouldn’t want to play hide and seek in the clouds with Pegasi?)

Interestingly, I got some feedback on that fifth story—it was the first one that felt fully fictional. There wasn’t a clear real-world scenario to explain it away. Or… could you find one?

And then there’s the other project. The big one. The dream I’ve carried for years: writing a novel for adult readers.

I’ve had the theme in my head for ages. But how does one actually write an adult novel? Don’t get me wrong—children’s books are real books. They just tend to be shorter, simpler, easier to control. The story often evolves during the writing process, but in a short book, you can usually steer it back. You can fix the gaps.

In a full-length novel? That feels much harder. The story can wander. And this isn’t even my first attempt—I’ve had other ideas for adult novels before. The real problem is: I don’t see the whole plot. Only fragments. Scenes. Images. I can picture moments, but not how they connect. So how do those pieces become a story? Time and effort, maybe. But where do I begin?

Would making a list help? Prioritizing? Maybe. But that’s not really the question I’m stuck on.

The question is this: which of these is the draft, and which is the distraction? Which is the real dream I should be chasing?

What do you think?