BLOG POSTINGS, PROMOTIONS, AND WORK IN PROCESS!

As I began scheduling August and September blog posts and promotions, it dawned on me I only have a narrow window left before I’m scheduled to send my WIP novel to my editor. 

Past lessons have taught me to schedule the editing prior to the completion of the novel that is WIP.  There are several factors to consider – the most important being -- not releasing the novel for publication without Melissa Gray’s final edit and Steve Caresser’s final formatting. (Melissa is booked solid 6-7 months in advanced)

So, now being cognizant of my timeline, I will minimize the amount of blog postings and the time spent on special promotions. 

SHOOTER is currently at 25,000 words – sixteen chapters; slightly past the halfway mark for the first draft. (Mid-way plot point)  Normally, I would be able to crank out the balance of the book by writing two thousand words a day and then go back and add all the senses (sight, smell, touch, taste, & sounds) in the next couple of rewrites. That could happen easily in thirty days.  However, this novel deals with a number of assassinations of public figures (including President Kennedy) so my research is voluminous and time consuming.  I’ll see how my next week progresses. 

 Sometimes a novel such as this will take on a life of its own and grow to dictionary size – ALASKA BE DAMNED, 140,000 words.  The outline for my best seller estimated the final product at around 80,000 words. Then the ‘word gods’ took over and it reached 260k. I peeled it back to 140k on the final rewrite.  The same phenomenon occurred to THE LAST FRUIT STAND ON GUAM.  That began as a novella with an outline that estimated a dozen chapters averaging 2500 words. LFS is around 120k.

I’m rather old fashioned.  I still write by the pound.  If my outline for a novel (like SHOOTER) doesn’t suggest a novel of 60k or more, I set it aside and move to the next idea.  An exception to that rule was TRES PIEDRAS. My outline was really a general idea with a burning desire to get it written.  It was 42k and I wrote in six weeks.  It was not scheduled for the editor so it sat on the shelf for almost five months.

I’m not sure SHOOTER will make my deadline.  I may not want to if this ‘hickie grows legs’.

 I can assure you of one thing; blog postings will be light unless they are supporting one of my novels being promoted. Also my FB and Twitter accounts won’t be used very often.  Chat and e-mail time will take place during scheduled hours as I will no longer have the internet active while I’m creating and immersed in my story.

Once my first draft is finished, I’ll go back to my normal routine. 

BTW -- I’m setting aside one of my current projects; trying to determine the price I need to charge these blog parasites for using my Amazon freebies to build their businesses. Think about that concept, fellow authors!