A New Plan

So as most of you who’ve been reading the blog know already, I’ve been having a rough time while pregnant, with sharply limited energy and brainpower. (Sadly. I walked into Panera the other day, gave the lady at the counter my Kroger card, forgot to pay her, and then ran into a wall. True story.) I’m learning to roll with the punches, and do what I can, when I can, but I’m falling more and more behind the goals I set for myself as far as the writing goes. Sigh. I keep getting up, and I keep writing, but it’s slow, and that’s the reality right now.

This week I finally realized that, while I might be able to get something out for Book Five by December, at this rate there’s no way it will be the quality that I’d like it to be. And there’s no way that I will release something low quality–you guys deserve better! And frankly so do I. Feeling bad or no, I’m not going to skimp on quality, especially now that I’m self-publishing and have the control (and the time) to do it right. So I’ve decided instead to change the milepost.

I’m sending the new novella off to the formatter today, and it will be out soon (within a couple of weeks!). I had always designed this novella to have a companion story from Cherabino’s point of view–she’s busy with her own tasks while Adam is working with the police in his case. And I thought, why not do that companion novella now? It’ll be another 20k, as opposed to 40k+ to finish the novel, and will be proportionally faster to revise, edit, and get out there. Plus my cover designer already has some great ideas! Plus we’ll all get a glimpse into Cherabino’s head right now, which will be incredibly fun after all this time with Adam.

So that’s what I’m going to do. Novella now, second novella December or so, and then Book Five will get pushed (so I can revise and re-work) until April or so next year. I’ll still get a draft or most of a draft done before maternity leave so I have it, and come back in late February or so with a revision on my desk. Rachel Aaron, who gave me some lovely advice on writing with a small child in the house, recommends starting back with a revision anyway, and she says it’s more interruptable. So there’s a plan.

I appreciate you guys being so supportive and encouraging during this time, and I’m looking forward to sharing the shorter works with you soon!

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