September and October have been crazy. I keep saying this repeatedly, because it’s true. Yeah, school starts and I start working—at schools. That means writing slows down, to writing at home after school, at lunch times, at soccer practice. While it feels like all day, I know I’m only getting two hours of good work in a day on a good day. I’ll get there when I get there

I got 24k words of the new book on the computer, but then I decided I’d go back to the way I originally wrote. There’s a whole 4″ binder at my house of just dialogue for A Twisted Fate. Seriously, dialogue. The binder is full, and that’s the first draft and I think there’s some of the 2 & 3 drafts in there. The first draft of ATF was 229K words. I am not kidding.

Anyway! So I pulled out my Remarkable, because I use that now more than lined paper, and I started writing the dialogue. I’m a good deal into it now, but I don’t know the word count. Once I put it all on the computer with added description/narration it will probably be close to 60-75k words.

Cris is done with the cover and it is wonderful. The full reveal will be early November. I’ve decided on a November 22nd launch. That gives me time to order test books, make sure the cover is right, and hopefully enough time for my ARC reviewers to read the book and catch anything that my betas, my editor or I have missed.

I asked Cris if she’d be up to making some artwork for some stickers. On the back of every TEP book there is a picture of Yula’s Quill and in the windows are all these posters of what’s going to happen in that book. (see image).

Well, I thought it’d pretty fun to make those posters into stickers. She thinks it’s doable. I’m thinking that’s a Dec. Jan. project. I also told her I want to start the cover earlier this time. It seems to be the last thing done.

The launch preparation is really warring with the time that I get to write, too. It goes back to that balance thing I’ve talked about before. I do not know how to do it right. It just seems to be focusing on one task and doing it until it’s done, then I can go back and pick up on the other task.

Am I still on for a March launch with this one? I have no freaking clue.
I want it to be, but it’s only 4 months away from the launch of Jaded Loyalties. I feel that’s deceiving my readers, like saying I can pump out 2 books in four months. That’s a big, fat NO!

I did write a novella and a novel in one year. I’m pretty proud of that, but there’s not going to be a novella every other book, either. I MIGHT do one more. I have an idea of a few scenes, not a whole novella, and not for a while yet. So Fractured Hope (working name) might not be out until May. That’s 6 months apart. I won’t promise anything.