If this first month is any indication of how the rest of the year is going to go, I am going to be very, very busy. Not just on the writing front, but in my personal life as well. For starters, I've finally finished my move, and my condo is being prepared to be put on the market. Factor in that I've made significant headway in wedding plans, and you're looking at someone who is surviving on very little sleep or reading time. (Note- Wedding planning is not for the week of heart.)
In addition to all the personal kerfluffel, I've managed to proof and upload the final, final, FINAL copy of Moonlight's Ambassador to Amazon. This is probably the closest I've cut it to the publishing deadline, so it is a huge relief to know it's up and that I don't have to do anything else to it. No more proofing, formatting, or stressing. Just the soothing knowledge that it's done. Unfortunately, I don't know if it makes sense to do an ARC since we only have a week until it goes live. I may have to wait until the next book to put that idea into production.
In other news, Dragon 3 continues to chug along. I have roughly 35,000 words left of the first draft, maybe more. I'm entering the climax and trying to bring to fruition all those seeds I planted in the first part of the book. I'm at the stage where I have no idea if the story I've written is working and I'm just desperately trying to finish. There are so many tangled threads right now that I'm having serious anxiety about whether I'm going to be able to weave everything together into a cohesive whole in the few words I have left. A lot of things are supposed to happen this book. Now it's a matter of making those things happen without forcing or short changing them. It's harder than it sounds.
The crazy thing is I've been here before on other books. The worst was probably Pathfinder's Way. It's why it took me almost 3 years to finish. Since taking that long isn't really an option anymore, it means having to find my way through the weeds. It can be difficult, but I have faith that the finished product will be worth the struggle. If nothing else, I'll just have a really extensive editing cycle this time. I guess that's a silver lining of a sort.
In addition to all the personal kerfluffel, I've managed to proof and upload the final, final, FINAL copy of Moonlight's Ambassador to Amazon. This is probably the closest I've cut it to the publishing deadline, so it is a huge relief to know it's up and that I don't have to do anything else to it. No more proofing, formatting, or stressing. Just the soothing knowledge that it's done. Unfortunately, I don't know if it makes sense to do an ARC since we only have a week until it goes live. I may have to wait until the next book to put that idea into production.
In other news, Dragon 3 continues to chug along. I have roughly 35,000 words left of the first draft, maybe more. I'm entering the climax and trying to bring to fruition all those seeds I planted in the first part of the book. I'm at the stage where I have no idea if the story I've written is working and I'm just desperately trying to finish. There are so many tangled threads right now that I'm having serious anxiety about whether I'm going to be able to weave everything together into a cohesive whole in the few words I have left. A lot of things are supposed to happen this book. Now it's a matter of making those things happen without forcing or short changing them. It's harder than it sounds.
The crazy thing is I've been here before on other books. The worst was probably Pathfinder's Way. It's why it took me almost 3 years to finish. Since taking that long isn't really an option anymore, it means having to find my way through the weeds. It can be difficult, but I have faith that the finished product will be worth the struggle. If nothing else, I'll just have a really extensive editing cycle this time. I guess that's a silver lining of a sort.