Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. I was feverishly praying that I could get my first book out by this time, but alas, things do not always work out in our favor. My cover artist and I are making progress, so hopefully things will pick up by the time January nears it's peak. Just finished the second book and am now in my first round of editing. (I edited the first book seven times, if not more). I'm currently thinking about reviewing indie authors. If I should want reviews, it would be beneficial for me to review other aspiring authors. Help them out, spread the Karma. I read one of Amanda Hocking's books for the first time a couple months ago, and just today downloaded Penticost by Joanna Penn, a Podcaster whom I adore.

Second Book

I'm trying to utilize my time to the best of my ability and am already near the finish line for my second book in the series Dragon's of Witchcraft, which I am desperately hoping will only be three books. It all depends on how the story goes and how the end to this one wraps up. I don't yet know how I'm going to do it, but every word counts and eventually I'll get there. For two months I have litterally been writing every day, as if it were the only thing keeping me alive, and I love it. I can't get enough writing--it's like a job to me that I thoroughly enjoy doing. Profit or no, it's what I love. My characters have become precious to me, and I believe in them.

The Cover

Working on the prototype for my first cover. It isn't fabulous, but for someone who doesn't usually do this type of thing, not bad. An artist is going to be doing modifications for me which is a great relief, and once it's done that's it. Because I swear to god I'm not going to edit this book again. I've literally re-read it seven times. Even though I've found mistakes every time I DID re-read it, there's a certain point where you have to stop editing and get it out there.

Finish Line

I'm so close to the finish line for my first book! My cover artist is working hard and I can't wait to see what it looks like. Been following Joanna Penn at thecreativepenn.com who is an incredible source of information for those who desire to create their own ebooks. I'm hoping that one day when I mature I can look back on this long road and smile, having experienced a lot of what the website talks about.

In other news, I've been stuck at 30 lbs. I cannot seem to break past that point. Actually I do, all the time, but then it just goes right back to where it was. Getting a bit scared, especially since it's winter and I won't be doing nearly as much walking. In any case, I've been so severely focused on writing and planning that exercise has fallen behind anyway. Well, I'll just have to try harder. Like I always said, if I can lose weight, I can write a book, and to fail at either would be to prove myself wrong.

Editing

Editing is long, but believe it or not I like the hard work. I've gone through the entire text twice now, and found new mistakes every time. You can never edit enough, so I plan to go through the entire thing a third time. I'm in a serious writing mode now and all I really do is eat and sleep. Weight loss has not been forgotten, however. Every morning, early as hell, I go for a 2 mile walk/jog and then come home to sleep. I wake right up and start writing. I write for about six hours, take my second nap, and then wake up to have dinner and write again. This is the kind of hard work I always imagined doing, and I absolutely love it.

Also I've been checking out blog posts by Amanda Hocking, Stephen Lewis, and Joanna Penn for information and inspiration. When I'm not writing I'm studying, and when I'm not doing that, I'm researching. The first book is finally done and I'm already planning the next one. Hopefully it will turn out well so that the second one will be relevant.

Still going strong

Still going strong. I've been almost entirely focused on losing weight, so I've been writing less and less. I'm so close to the finish line--twenty thousand more words and it's done. However, the matter of editing and the cover still persists, but after this long journey, I'm very much looking forward to dealing with it.

Progress

I try to write at least a chapter a day. For me, that's around 3000+ words. I work on my story all the time. There are days dedicated to research, and the rest, to making progress. There are days when I only stare at the screen, having no idea where I'm going, or if I know where I'm going, no idea how to get there. Then I just start writing scenes that come into my head, boring or not, that make sense and fit in the with the story, and eventually I get to where I want to go. Part of writing is just that, sitting and thinking. Writing a book is hard work. I currently have two pending as well, not just one, and depending on how one goes, I'll definitely post the other. In fact, I fully intend to finish and post both.