I’ve got a bunch of other things that I should be doing right now, but I decided that it was time to get my status update for Feb written now, or I’m not going to get it done before I need to start writing my next book.
January was a tough month. I decided that I needed to write Isaac’s post Riven story (so a Reflections book). Some of my recent books have almost written themselves, but this one wasn’t like that. Partly that was because I needed to define a bunch more of the back story that up until now had either been very nebulous, or completely blank.
An awful lot of the backstory has just gradually come to me over the years, which is the way that I prefer the work. When it all happens organically it feels like there is less risk that I’m going to get something wrong, which is especially important when you start talking about the really big-picture stuff that tends to shape the major plot threads either directly or indirectly.
I don’t really believe in writer’s block, so that meant that I couldn’t just sit around and wait for the stuff I needed to come to me. I had to go out and actively start filling in the pieces I needed, and it was a stressful kind of activity to be doing on a deadline. I got a late start in January (I can’t really remember why now, but I think it might have been because of some editing I was doing), so there was quite a bit of pressure, but I managed to put another big swath of history in place and overall I think it will serve both series really well.
The other reason that I struggled was because I didn’t have much in the way of plot going into Isaac’s book. When you have a plot, then the history and world building tend to take care of themselves. When you have the history and the world building set out, then the plot takes care of itself. When you start without the need bits of either, then life gets tough.
The fact that I had to fit Isaac’s book into the framework of what had come before his book (including a conversation with Jasmin in Driven) added another level of difficulty, and there were some tricky parts when it came to what was going to happen with some supporting characters, but over the course of a couple days things slowly came together on my outline, and I was able to really get started on the rough draft on the 7th. I typed the last word 22 working days (25 calendar days) later, and the manuscript ended up being 119,762 words long.
I need to go back through it in April, I suspect that I’m going to find that it’s a little rough in spots, but I think I’m also going to find that it is some of my most solid writing yet. I’m thrilled to have gotten Isaac to where he is by the end of the book, and I wish that there was a way to get it out to all of you tomorrow rather than 6 or 7 months from now.
February was difficult for other reasons, mostly just the normal kind of life events that you deal with regardless of what you do for employment, but I did end up spending an extra few days that I hadn’t counted on when it came to getting Bound and Hunted laid out for trade paperback.
At this point Bound is live in e-book form, Hunted (Dark Reflections #2—Adri’s story) is queued up to go live at the end of March, Driven (Jasmin’s post-Riven Reflections story) is out with my advance readers, and Dark Reflections #3 (Which absolutely blew Katie’s mind) is undergoing its first editing pass.
In other news, the forum has incredible information on it. If you haven’t stopped by yet, I’d encourage you to do so. Jenine, Janelle and Lauren have asked some really insightful questions and they’ve got some interesting theories about what is going to happen next. I stop by there at least every few days and answer questions. It’s headed towards being the exact kind of place that I always wished existed for my favorite series.
There really is some great stuff in store for you all. I’ve never seen my advance readers this excited before. They are loving where the story is going and I’m excited to be able to share this journey with all of you.
Stay tuned for another blog post sometime in the next few days.
Dean