April Show…er…Snow?
It's the end of April!
Which means it's time for my monthly wrap-up here again.
Quite honestly, this month has been weird. Both from a writing perspective and a weather perspective (we received several inches of snow on April 23rd—which happened to be perfect for photos my book release for a book that is set in eternal winter, but I digress).
Anyway, April was a Big month for me. And I mean, Big-with-a-capital-B. Why? BECAUSE I FINALLY PUBLISHED THE FIRST CANENS CHRONICLES BOOK!
Yes, that statement really did deserve all caps. (And if you are interested, you can purchase it at the links below. Paperbacks are available through Amazon or Barnes and Noble, and ebooks available at all the major retailers.
Nook, iBooks, Kobo, Amazon, or find it on Goodreads.
What's next?
I've been working on Fog & Mist for a few years now (can’t believe it’s been that long), and it's gone from one book (which I still really like the idea of on paper and was a lot more happily ever after) to a completely different beast (ended up being more dark fairy tale).
But I'm still really happy with how it turned out—and quite proud of it, actually. However, now that I've got book 1 out, that means I have to start revising book 2. (Yikes.) So I'm currently rereading that draft and going to wade through feedback on it in order to make it both align with book 1 and also reexamine its structure to make sure there's no sagging middle or unexplained rabbit trails or loose threads, errors, etc. I anticipate quite a bit of work on it.
Then it will be on to finishing book 3. Book 3 has actually been giving me a lot of trouble. I don't know how I want to structure it, but a new character has really taken over the narrative and entire story at the moment, and while I like his story, I'm not sure if that's best for the series. So when I get there, I'll have to have some serious talks with the man.
April in Review
This marks probably my least-productive months in recent word counts—or it would except for my delving into dictation. Part of that has been my almost singular focus on getting Fog & Mist published, while other reasons include still shaking that general feeling of overwhelm. I also have been struggling with knowing where I'm taking book 2 revisions, how to structure book 3, and where to even start with book 4. (Yeah, I know, I need to finish book 3 before I start thinking about book 4, but...)
Anyway, there's a lot on my mind. And unfortunately, that leads to me feeling overwhelmed and shutting down as a result. Coupled with a sick kid or two, the Easter holiday, and hubby traveling, and productivity took a severe nose dive this month. I clocked in at about 29K, which is far more than I expected, but is also on several different projects and so it feels like I haven’t really made a lot of progress at all.
However, I think I'm coming out of this slump. I also have a vacation to look forward to at the end of May, and I'm getting really excited about that. Two weeks abroad! Yay! While I don't plan on really taking time off writing (I mean, what else would I do on the long airplane ride?), I definitely plan on doing some sightseeing and enjoying the chance to get away.
So for next month, I have a few goals:
1. revise my short story for the next fantasy anthology (this one themed "witches and wizards")
2. reread book 2 of the Canens Chronicles and start the revisions I've been putting off.
3. pick a publication date for book 2 (I'm looking at you, August!)
4. get a few more book reviews for Fog & Mist while I'm at it!
