Book 2 Is Done!

I had planned for Book 2 to be at this final, polished, finished stage about a year ago. But then 2023 continued being my “Crisis Manager” year, and everything was delayed. The book is undoubtedly better now. It ought to be, I let it stew for months longer than I intended.

I have a chocolate cupcake waiting for me, a nice little reward for completing this manuscript, but I’m waiting on it because I realized I had to make several major changes in Book 1, which I thought was also finished-finished. The books in this series don’t need to be read in any particular order, but they do take place in different years, and I have to go back and fix some details for continuity.

So today and possibly tomorrow, I will be making those changes to Book 1, then eating that cupcake. After that, I’ll prepare my two books of poetry for publication (edits, formatting, hiring someone to make covers that match, etc). Once I’ve gotten as far as I can with them, it will be time to do my first read-through of Book 3’s rough draft. I’ve been querying for Book 2 while editing, and querying for Book 1 never stopped, so that’ll continue.

Just like last month and the month before, I have travel plans smack dab in the middle of all these work tasks. Toronto for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (starring my favorite hobbits (don’t tell Sam or Frodo)) and some amazing vegan food, then back just in time for my parents to visit. So, as usual, my work flow is fractured. But it’s broken up by vacation, so I can’t be too upset.

I also did some brainstorming for the next contemporary romance book/trilogy and I have a good idea of the story for it. Every time I do this, I realize I have to go experience something new (in this case, um, an LGBT strip club? if that exists?), and I end up doing things like karaoke and axe throwing and traveling to New Zealand for a month. If there’s one thing I would change, it would be that the money to do all these things would come from an income related to why I’m doing them: writing books.

Forgive the bare-bones update, Boone is demanding my attention and the fluffy boi has heart failure and I can no longer deny him anything (was I ever able to?), so I’ll catch you in April.