Joely Sue Burkhart

Whew, what a weekend!  I wrote 7400+ words, a tremendous amount for me at least.  The Alien Goth Romance first draft is done.  Tonight and tomorrow, I’ll run through some edits and then ship it off.  I typically like at least a few days to let the story cool so I can edit it sharper, but with the deadline fast approaching, this is the best I can do. 

A note about 70 Days of Sweat:  even though I had to slam through the weekend to finish, if I hadn’t been grinding away, getting my 500-1000 words a day for the last few weeks, I’d have never made this deadline.

As for Spires of Secrecy, I think it stays pretty true to the gothic romance of yore.  With some spec touches.  *wink*  Dr. Evan Linkyn was inspired by Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre.  He’s a jerk to pretty much everybody; he suffered great tragedy; he has blind hatred that the heroine loves to poke at; and he’s suspected of grisly murders.  While Amee Fallon is playing the role of a Xenographic Society member sent to annoy Linkyn, she’s actually an undercover cop torn between proving his innocence despite the mounting evidence and her dedication to justice.  Meanwhile, creepy things happen and the murderer might not be human–or even alive–for that matter.  Fun stuff.

Whatever happens with the anthology, I’m just pleased that I finished the story in time.  And cramming by the deadline helped me catch up with Sven!

Once the edits are done and the story shipped off, I’d like to take a look at the Beautiful Death opening again.  I hate having a story sitting on its arse in the stable eating its head off.  I’ve simply been too busy to do anything with it and haven’t sent a new query out in months.  I might look at upcoming contests and their definition of “published.”

Then, it’s back to The Fire Within.  Once I get back into it, it should fly, too.  I’m in the final 25-30% and the dragon shit is about to hit the fan.

Oh, and the Zombie Romance.  Which I’m thinking will be a twist on Phantom of the Opera.

How about you?