After Writing The Katyn Manuscript: Why Blog?

When “King Arthur”—dear friend, retired Army officer, and my book editor—asked, “When you’re finished writing the Katyn book, what’s next?”  Sitting on his Texas porch, I was bewildered by his simple question.  I didn’t know what to say because I hadn’t imagined my life after the Katyn book. 

Three weeks after he asked me that question, I finished drafting the book.  The last word exhausted me not because doing so took me sixteen years to accomplish that moment, but performing that act of completion now initiated a new journey: what indeed is next?  Excitement, anxiety, dread, and wonder flooded me.  Of course, the next step is to find a book agent and publisher.  And?

While I search for prospects, I sense I am not finished yet with Katyn or the book.  I can’t just “stop” or “find a new project.”  The manuscript needs help.  How to help it? 

To blog or not to blog?  An exciting and terrifying question.  I never wrote one, and so why do I think I need to blog?  Intuition tells me I should. 

This blog will provide a venue to describe my writing process for the book.  It may shed light on my thought process.  Perhaps there’s an inside narrative I unknowingly will reveal here that might explain the whys, hows, and whats of the book.  A raison d’etre.  It may allow potential readers of the Katyn book to gain alternative perspectives on my book’s journey.  I might, too, learn something about myself.