Last but Not Least

Hello and welcome to this week’s blog.  It  has been a very productive week.  I’ve been writing and writing and writing.  (My son is out of town so the house has been still, the perfect isolation so as to concentrate without interruption.)  With that said, I reached the final chapter of the main plot…the final chapter! 

All along I felt as if I were running a marathon.  As the starting pistol fired, I began in a solid sprint of words.  There were many other writers at the starting gate with me and they seemed in much better condition.  You know how in sports one tends to eye their competition…well it turns out they were in better shape for at mile ten they zoomed past.  I became the turtle, I began to walk...all out of sorts and gasping for air.  Step after step, edit after edit…I continued on…s l o w l y.

When I reached mile thirty, I was the only one left.  I was so exhausted that I was weak in the knees and shuffling down the street in a half stride.  As I reached the finish line, the only people left were those cleaning up the empty water bottles that were tossed to the side.  My point is, I did stay the course and I finished!  Last, but I finished…

What’s next?  Well, I’ll need to let the main plot rest for a few days as I work on a few sub-plot chapters.  Since this storyline has to do with the past, I’ll need to check if my imagination is in alignment with actual details.  I found a problem this week regarding the manner that oxen were driven across the prairie that will require a bit of effort to fix.  The devil of course is in the details.  It’s all part of the process though, all part of doing my absolute best to spin an interesting tale.

I know many have expressed a want to see more of Dora and Carmen; however, I refuse to enter into such a thing in a half baked way.  Although I have begun a sequel story or rather a prequel, until I feel the story line does them justice, I will continue simmering the plot on low.

Regarding this current project, I thought I found the perfect title but when I mentioned this idea to my daughter, her response was a grunt or rather a cross between a grunt and a whine.  That’s okay, titling a book takes a good bit of thought and effort.  “Falling Whispers” didn’t occur to me until the week before I intended to publish for I seem to do my best work when I am facing a tight deadline.  We’ll see though.

Yesterday, after my final chapter was written, I pulled out my sketch pad and began to draw a layout for the cover.  I snapped a picture of the artwork using my hands and the camera in shadow to give an impression of landscape.  I then took the digital image and have been playing with it in Photoshop.  It’s very exciting to bring something to life that had been floating around in my mind.   

Anyway, there is so much to do to make this next book happen.  My editor returns from vacation next week and it is my hope to have a finished product waiting for her. 

This untitled story is a bit different from “Falling Whispers,” for the whole point of self-publishing is to have the freedom to try new roads…and to relish the sites as they present themselves. 

I’m really excited and can’t wait to have this new work out there.  As far as a release date, that all depends on my editor and how quickly she can sort through the rather large manuscript.  Keep checking back for further updates.

Until next week….

~Trixie Archer