What's Going On?
That's a question that I like to answer from time to time on this blog. What IS going on.
Well mostly Stronghold has consumed my attention. I'm about halfway through the next chapter of Marriage Training but I'm honestly having trouble trying to work on it from time to time because I'm so invested in Stronghold right now. Partly because it's a heck of a lot of fun. Angel is hilarious and her roommates crack me up and her effect on Adam's life and the Stronghold Dom entertains me so... and also, I really would like to finish it before the end of this month and I'm stressing about that a little.
I'm so close to the end. I can taste it. But things keep getting stretched out a little... I absolutely do NOT want to rush the ending just because I'm on a time crunch, but sometimes it's hard to decide what scenes need to be written out in their entirety and what can be condensed down to a paragraph describing "Adam had a conversation with Justin about such and such..." Ya know? Or maybe you don't know, but trust me. I don't want to disappoint and I feel like I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself since this is the first book in a new series, even if you all have met the characters before.
Like, what if it sucks? What if it's not as funny as I think it is? What if everyone hates it?
Which is silly, because I do have a couple of beta readers who have been helping me out in large amounts among the way and who have been very complimentary, but it's just something that I can't help but think about. I get nervous. Especially with something like this because I'm seriously putting so much time and effort into it. Not that I didn't with the other books either, but when I start something on Literotica - like the Venus School of Sex - then I get feedback from tons of people consistently as I'm writing. Waiting to put it all out at once and THEN finding out what people think is a little nerve-wracking. Also exciting and wonderful, especially when people like it.
I've had readers comment on the humor that they "consistently" see in my stories and how that's why my stories stand out and why they're wonderful... I have never had a comment effect me more than that one. Mostly in the fact that I'm now constantly worried that my humor hasn't worked its way into a piece. I especially worry about that sometimes with Marriage Training, but I feel like with that one it's okay. With Stronghold, I want a lot of it to be humorous. Kind of need it to be, to be honest.
Another thing this book is doing is giving me even MORE ideas for spin-offs. I already knew I wanted to write a novella - possibly a full length book - for Jake, Lexie's brother. I've now come up with novella storylines for Angel's two brothers as well. I'm seriously starting to consider doing a book called "Stronghold Siblings" or something to that effect where I write about all the siblings. But then there are other side characters that I have stories for too...
Gah. I wish I could just write ALL THE TIME except I know that even if I had the time to, I wouldn't have the focus. Things flow pretty easily when I'm in the groove, but that doesn't happen 24/7.
Right now I'm at the beginning of the end of Stronghold, wrapping up Angel and Adam's story and setting them on the right path so that I can feel like their book has concluded, pushing Lexie and Patrick a little closer to their book, and continuing to set up some of the other characters for their stories (especially Mr. Rick Winter, whose book is coming up next). Plus, giving all the ladies some more time together. I have to admit, I do particularly enjoy girl time.
So yeah. That is what's going on with me. I am trying to finish the next chapter of Marriage Training this week and get it submitted to Lit. And I'm trying to finish Stronghold. I'm still not sure how many chapters there are going to be total, but I'm getting closer to being able to guess... My current guess is 28 and I'm currently working on 23... so yeah. But Angel and Adam keep pushing things to be longer, so really, it could end up being more than that. We'll just have to wait and see!
Well mostly Stronghold has consumed my attention. I'm about halfway through the next chapter of Marriage Training but I'm honestly having trouble trying to work on it from time to time because I'm so invested in Stronghold right now. Partly because it's a heck of a lot of fun. Angel is hilarious and her roommates crack me up and her effect on Adam's life and the Stronghold Dom entertains me so... and also, I really would like to finish it before the end of this month and I'm stressing about that a little.
I'm so close to the end. I can taste it. But things keep getting stretched out a little... I absolutely do NOT want to rush the ending just because I'm on a time crunch, but sometimes it's hard to decide what scenes need to be written out in their entirety and what can be condensed down to a paragraph describing "Adam had a conversation with Justin about such and such..." Ya know? Or maybe you don't know, but trust me. I don't want to disappoint and I feel like I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself since this is the first book in a new series, even if you all have met the characters before.
Like, what if it sucks? What if it's not as funny as I think it is? What if everyone hates it?
Which is silly, because I do have a couple of beta readers who have been helping me out in large amounts among the way and who have been very complimentary, but it's just something that I can't help but think about. I get nervous. Especially with something like this because I'm seriously putting so much time and effort into it. Not that I didn't with the other books either, but when I start something on Literotica - like the Venus School of Sex - then I get feedback from tons of people consistently as I'm writing. Waiting to put it all out at once and THEN finding out what people think is a little nerve-wracking. Also exciting and wonderful, especially when people like it.
I've had readers comment on the humor that they "consistently" see in my stories and how that's why my stories stand out and why they're wonderful... I have never had a comment effect me more than that one. Mostly in the fact that I'm now constantly worried that my humor hasn't worked its way into a piece. I especially worry about that sometimes with Marriage Training, but I feel like with that one it's okay. With Stronghold, I want a lot of it to be humorous. Kind of need it to be, to be honest.
Another thing this book is doing is giving me even MORE ideas for spin-offs. I already knew I wanted to write a novella - possibly a full length book - for Jake, Lexie's brother. I've now come up with novella storylines for Angel's two brothers as well. I'm seriously starting to consider doing a book called "Stronghold Siblings" or something to that effect where I write about all the siblings. But then there are other side characters that I have stories for too...
Gah. I wish I could just write ALL THE TIME except I know that even if I had the time to, I wouldn't have the focus. Things flow pretty easily when I'm in the groove, but that doesn't happen 24/7.
Right now I'm at the beginning of the end of Stronghold, wrapping up Angel and Adam's story and setting them on the right path so that I can feel like their book has concluded, pushing Lexie and Patrick a little closer to their book, and continuing to set up some of the other characters for their stories (especially Mr. Rick Winter, whose book is coming up next). Plus, giving all the ladies some more time together. I have to admit, I do particularly enjoy girl time.
So yeah. That is what's going on with me. I am trying to finish the next chapter of Marriage Training this week and get it submitted to Lit. And I'm trying to finish Stronghold. I'm still not sure how many chapters there are going to be total, but I'm getting closer to being able to guess... My current guess is 28 and I'm currently working on 23... so yeah. But Angel and Adam keep pushing things to be longer, so really, it could end up being more than that. We'll just have to wait and see!
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