Where Did The Time Go? Putting My Head Down and Just Go

The last thirty days have been hectic. March, April, most of May... they all went smoothly. Projects came in and left, smoothly. My free story, Salvaging Toby's Heart was turned in ahead of schedule. Releasing Chaos was (still) giving me problems. Sometimes it helps to put a manuscript aside for a couple of weeks and let it rest. So that is what I did, and I picked up a reopened story prompt from GR and started on Darksoul.

Then everything hit at once near the end of May. I forgot I had a July release and hadn't made any plans. So I scrambled and prepared to answer interview questions or write blogs posts--I had to limit it to 20. I'd sent Fate & Destinies off to be edited--that was a mess because I'd forgotten I'd lost info in a computer crash. The ms had been on the hard drive for a year and a half and all I could remember was that I needed to review it before sending it away.

Laugh My Ass Off. Not really. I had to pull it back and schedule time for me to re-edit it because the last half was messed up. (Actually, at the time I had a small panic attack and here's why.) The final edits for Salvaging Toby's Heart came in and a day later I received edits for Ruby Red Booty Shorts and a Louisville Slugger. There was a blog tour that last week of May for the Valespian Pact audiobooks. Don't forget that I was also supposed to be working on Darksoul which has a due date of July 13th. AND a little over a week later I was supposed to be headed out of town to meet with an author who I'd planned on penning a series with (and hop over to see my sister since I was only 400 miles away).

After I freaked the hell out, I rearranged my priorities. Fate & Destinies was put on the back burner--again. Salvaging Toby's Heart made it back to the editor and was actually released like two weeks later. I started working on the July blog tour stuff. Darksoul was put on hold, and I had hoped that I would be able to jump on it after returning back home. And I worked on the edits for Ruby Red thinking I could have that finished before I left... and maybe not.

Because Ruby Red was a re-release, I didn't read the comments first. I just jumped in and did a linear edit. I expected to be in and out. The very last comment had the editor's suggestions for the whole story. See! That is what happens when I deviate from a previously established working pattern. I could've save myself four days of editing! Anyway. I agreed with the editor's suggestions, which meant a reorder of events and lengthening the story. Ruby Red would not be finished before I left home. Rats! Rats! And more Rats!

Needless to say, I was still feeling a bit overwhelmed when I left. I had hoped to work on some things while gone, but as it turned out, Kenzie Cade and I worked our butts off for 3 1/2 days. Then the three days I spent with my sister was all family packed. The upside, I was able to relax a bit, and when I came home I delved back into Ruby Red and was able to turn it back in this past Monday. It went from 23k to 47k and I'm still anxious over it. I can't even describe how I feel about it because usually I sit on something then edit it again and have 4-6 people beta it and then edit it again. I'm worried that I missed something or... something. It's a weird feeling that even now, two days later, I'm still feeling. Well... Onward!

I'm almost done with the required blog posts for the Surrounded by Crimson tour. Yay. And for the last two days I've been reviewing what I had on Darksoul.

Now, the hazard of putting something off to the side in the middle of writing the story is that I now I don't like the direction the plot is going. It was fine before, but I've had time to mull over options. The direction the story now wants to take is one that I'm not sure I have time to write. I leave for Rainbow Con July 15th I have to prepare for the nine panels that I'm sitting on. I would like to have a few things put together beforehand, but if I'm going to finish Darksoul by July 13th then I will have some very looooonnnnngggg writing days.

There are days that I wish I was better at writing shorter stories. I struggle to keep the shortest of them around 30k. Something is always missing. If I didn't care about making the story well rounded then I'd just throw something together and walk away.

But I can't.

I won't.

I agonize over every detail, over the romance arc, the plot arc, is it all plausible, believable? Are the characters cardboard or are they dimensional? Is the story compelling? Did I hit all of the Dear Author requests? Do I like it? Will the reader like it? I will squeeze the plot and characters around until they all fit together and then my story looks like it'll to end up being around 50k (if I'm lucky) which means I have to write 3500 (or more if if I want sufficient time to edit the story before turning it in) everyday for the next fifteen days.

So you guys wish me luck, because I'm going to need it!

Thank you for stopping by and reading!!