Monthly Write UP
May and June - Time Sure Knows How to Fly!
Life rolled out like a wave of thunder, as if spring had finally arrived to make everything bloom. And by everything, I mean all sorts of stuff to do with life and writing. In my last update for April, I noted all that I learned from trying to write a novel draft in three months. It definitely is not in my best interest to try drafting in three months again, nor does life help me with such things.
Since then, we’ve tried a few things and found other ideas that probably were not the best laid plans. It took a lot of time and effort, but in the end we figured one thing my husband wanted to do with his retirement would not pan out like he thought. He’s in a phase of trying to determine what he should do with the rest of his life. I’ve been there myself with a lot of discouragement that made me pause on writing for nearly two years. It’s not an easy place to be and all I can do is support him while he sorts out what to do. When we stick with God, even in the totally confusing times, things work out.
So some of summer is looking a little different because of his change of plans, but mine is FULL. Let’s dive into the update.
The Light Series
Book 3, Council of Light, is drafted. FINALLY! That last third of the book took forever to write, but I like how things changed up. It will mean more editing to make sure I have the front end setting up the end correctly, but this is normal for me. I do a high level outline and leave lots of room for the characters to tell me how they really want to live on the page.
Council of Light will go into the editing process right after the July 4th holiday. I like to have big projects rest so I can come back and be as objective as possible with my first read through. First thing is a read through without editing, but will make notes about how things flow as I am reading. I’ll also note where I might need better foreshadowing, more of the 5 senses since I stick to sight and sound on drafts with a few of the other, and what might need the ax. Something needs work because the draft wound up with 119K words. I would love it to be 100 to 110K. We shall see what I come up with by the end of July. I am hoping to have it ready for beta readers in August.
I’ll probably order the cover design in August as well. By then, I’ll be sure of the story details in order to have my designer have fun with it.
I’ve also hired a marketing agent to help me. They will aim at ads for Champions of Light, but much of their help on the metadata and the detail side of things will help the entire series. I figured out a lot on my own in the past year, but some of this eludes me. I never was a great salesperson. Enthusiasm only gets you so far. I have figured out organic reach and hoping on some fun fantasy sales have made me sell close to a 100 books. A one day fantasy free for all got over 600 copies of Champions of Light ebook out there. That may have done better if I had other books in my lineup, but it happened before Truth Bearer was published.
I’m enjoying all parts of this process because of what I am learning about myself, my writing, and who responds to my message. It is definitely not a journey for the faint of heart. I’m definitely not stopping now!
A New Serial Coming to Tales of Karnum and Beyond
This will be a sci-fi. I’m not sure why it appears my idea pool and drafts lead to fantasy going into books and sci-fi becoming a serial. It’s just how the flow is going and I’ll run with it for now. It’s what caught my attention when deciding what to do to bring something new here.
The working title is Cyborg Claude. If you like universal intrigue, spies in space, and some grit, then this is for you. It is definitely geared to adults. Things stay behind closed doors. There is sexual awareness and indications of what may have happened. Romance is one subplot. Violence occurs, though gory details are rare, with one scene I know is in place for a revelation.
There are several points of view, but the story revolves around Claude and how he adapts to his current reality caused by a traumatic incident, while working as an agent in a small spy agency.
This will be open for comments, and it will remain free to read while it rolls out. I would love comments to help me adjust the story where needed. I’ll have questions to help lead into discussion along the way.
I need to work on some interesting detail copy and figure out some graphic so you know the post is part of this serial. When it starts, you can expect emails once a week for this and the continued Monthly Wrap Up to hit your email boxes. I’m not sure how long this will be and I plan on keeping it free up to around a month after I complete it, then it will be set much like Cataclysm with the first three definitely free, I might up this to around six based on some feedback I got.
Expect it to roll out in July. I want a lot of it set up for release by the time I dive into editing of Council of Light.
Coach Training
I’m a lifetime member of Hope*Writers and I’m currently in the middle of a three-month training program to become a coach using their system. The process is definitely helping me organize my writing business, so that alone has made it worth it. I will also have access to set up a website, though I will keep my StoryOrigin page as a book and link tree site. I will also keep Tales of Karnum rolling along here.
The end goal is to take what I know and help other writers through the muddy waters of turning writing from a hobby into a business they will love. Sure, there are a lot of other coaches out there, but there are also way more writers who need the right coach for them. I’m looking forward to sharing my enthusiasm about being an author and all the fun bits that go into the journey.
What To Expect in July
An email and post for the start of Cyborg Claude when it is scheduled to start after the holiday week of the 4th.
The Monthly Wrap Up to be truly monthly again so you know how things are progressing for the editing of the Council of Light. Thankfully, I only missed May in the past year of doing these.
Thank you all for subscribing and reading my work. I look forward to discussions in the comments. I’m looking at adding a chat function, but I need to learn how it works here on Substack. As usual, I find way too many things to do.
Until next time!