The Finish Line is in Sight

You’ve probably noticed the lack of “normal” blog posts this month.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  MayNoWriMo about killed me.  All that admin stuff just keep me crazy busy.  Then with The Bloodgate Guardian releasing this month, there were more guest posts to write and organize, which I got behind on, and then my website was down several days last week, throwing another kink into the mix.  I still owe some interview stuff to people – but until I meet my current deadline, I’m going to be hit or miss.

But the real reason I’ve been somewhat scarce this month:  I’m writing a holiday novella with a hard due date of 7/15.  I had it loosely plotted out, then changed my mind on some key things and had to start all over again early in the month.  I’ve had a lot of self-dialogue this month, rationalizing this change and that, worrying about my brand (or lack thereof), and making smart choices going forward.

In the end, I keep repeating some advice that Lynn Viehl gave me:  write a world where I would like to live, based on everything that I love.

And oh, how I’m loving this world and this story.  It’s just pure fun.  I mean, any time I can name a bunch of characters after different types of guns it’s a win, isn’t it?  Or when I can take historical events or characters and totally warp them! It’s like history…with a bonus.  I haven’t had this much fun messing around with history since I wrote Beautiful Death (which is Greek mythology and warped Maceondian history).

I hit 20K over lunch today so it’s all downhill now.  If I can finish this first draft around 25K and then take a couple of weeks to revise, I think I’ll be sitting in decent shape to submit by 7/15.  To help me reach that goal, I’ve got my three “power” songs on continuous loop:

Supermassive Black Hole by Muse

Burn it to the Ground by Nickelback

Wings of a Butterfly by H.I.M.

I’m hoping to report back an “I’m finished!” update on/by June 30th! Wish me luck!