I feel it. I feel it coming. Do you? No, I’m not talking about the release of my next book, The Dark Ruler (even though that is right around the corner). I’m talking about the holidays. It’s only the beginning of November, but already I can hear the Christmas carols in the distance. I have a sixth sense for these kinds of thing. In case you haven’t faced it yet, it’s true, Thanksgiving and Christmas are not far away at all. Comment below and let me know what you’re doing right now (if anything…) to get ready for the holidays!
But before I get ahead of myself and carry on about Christmas cards and concert practice, I should tell you the big thing I did during the month of October. To be honest, there’s really only one thing I did this past month: write. I wrote and I wrote and I wrote and I wrote… Did I mention that I did a lot of writing? I can honestly say that I’ve done more writing in the last two month period than I ever have before. I wrote over 50,000 words in the month of October and nearly that same amount in September. Whoa…
I’ve been pressured (in a good way) to complete this draft of The Dark Ruler. I having a looming deadline of November 15th to deliver the manuscript to my editor. Since I’ve already delayed that deadline twice, I have pretty good motivation to just GET IT DONE!
Ok fine, truth be told writing isn’t the ONLY thing I did in October. I did a little hiking and a little kitten sitting. Yes, you heard that right: kitten sitting. My sister, who recently lost her cat companion of many years, adopted a new kitten. Since my sister works during the day, I’ve been sitting in her house writing, and doing the hard task of watching the adorable Buttercup.
At the end of October, my husband and I went on a historical ghost tour of our city. It was so fun to walk through the streets, (by candle light!) and hear historical accounts of supernatural happenings. (These are the kind of date nights we like to do!) So, despite my nose constantly being in my laptop, I did manage to find some time for fun and relaxation. But I’ll be abundantly more relieved when I can push send on the email to my editor.
At the time that I sit here writing this blog post, I have exactly 3 1/2 chapters left of The Dark Ruler to write. I’ve nearly reached the climax of the story. The final “battle” is about to begin. It’s an exciting part of the story, but there’s also a lot of pressure to get it just right. This is the end after all! If you think of it, I could use your cheers for this final push.
I do have one conflict I’m facing as we head into November. This month is National Novel Writing Month. For those of you that don’t know, National Novel Writing Month, AKA Nanowrimo, is where thousands of writer’s across the world challenge themselves to write (ironically) 50,000 words during the month of November. In case you’re wondering, I wasn’t really attempting to write 50,000 words in October as some sort of pre-nanowrimo thing. It just happened that way.
Anyway, I LOVE National Novel Writing Month and I’m a huge supporter of the organization. It’s how I fell in love with writing and it’s how I wrote the first draft of my Camilla Crim series. So, Nanowrimo is very close to my heart. I’ve participated every year since 2012, except for one year when I was planning my wedding (give me a break, okay?). I usually use Nanowrimo to rough draft either my next Camilla book or another book idea I’m excited about.
The problem is, I can’t in good conscious start a new project when I’m this close to finishing The Dark Ruler. I tend to be that type of person, jumping from one shiny thing to the next. When I get a cool new book idea or just an interesting business idea, I want to start working on it right away even though I’m in the middle of trying to finish something else up. The conundrum has now become, do I turn my back on Nanowrimo or finish The Dark Ruler?
The answer officially is going to be: both. I’ve decided to count these last few chapters of The Dark Ruler toward my Nanowrimo 50,000 word, word count and then pick up with my next Camilla book which I’ll start rough drafting as soon as I finish The Dark Ruler. I’m going to wait to announce the title of the next Camilla book, but trust me when I tell you, it’s a good one!
Side note, if you’re reading this blog post and you are an aspiring writer or maybe you’ve even done a little writing and want to do more. Do not wait any longer. Go right now to www.nanowrimo.org and sign up to participate this year. It’s free and there are tons of resources for writers. It will be such a fun and enriching experience for you! If you do end up participating from my admonishment, let me know! Ok, rant over.
I’m going to be giving Nanowrimo updates over here on Facebook, so make sure you like my page if you haven’t already. And I’ll also continue to give updates on The Dark Ruler as I bring that to a completion. The Dark Ruler is due to release January 2021. I hope you stick around and follow along on this journey with me!
Remember comment below and let me know if you’ve done anything to get ready for the holidays yet!
How would you like to read and advanced copy of The Dark Ruler for FREE before anyone else?? I’m always looking to add new members to my Street Team. If you love reading fantasy and giving your opinion, you can apply to be on my Street Team here >>> http://eepurl.com/g4r6Qr
Lots of love!
I would like very much to read your book for free. I enjoy reading all genre of books. I would love to be considered.
Thank you, june
Hi June, That sounds great! I’ll email you.