Done

The second novel is finished. Actually, I finished it last Sunday. I just haven't had the time (or the inclination) to post since then. Now I'm having it beta read by some of my buddies. AJ still has it. He's been reading it for a week and he says he's not finished. This might be a bad sign. After him comes my mom, who will read it and say she likes it even if it sucks, but she may still give me some good pointers. After her comes Kristi, who will say it's terrible even if it's amazing, and will give me tons of pointers. I'm hoping that another of my friends (Gena Rowe) will be able to read it, too. I think she'll give me some solid feedback. After the beta reading comes the query letter writing and the submitting, and that's my least favorite stage, but I have other projects before that happens.

First, I'm going to finish the outline for the book Tim Smiley and I conceived last year. With the advantage of a year in between me and the first mangled attempt, I think I have an idea of where it needs to go.

Second, I'm doing Vanheim's fifth draft--finally! I've only been sitting on the readthrough since last August. It's about damn time I got around to making it better. After my initial print-up yesterday, I'm on page 18. The book is a mess, but I wouldn't be starting a fifth draft unless I thought it was worth it.

I'm also hoping to get into a writing groove (I'm thinking fifteen minutes every night on one particular book) but that might not happen until I get settled into my sleeping habits. I've worked on the book Tim and I were doing a couple nights now, and it sucks, but that's what happens when you force yourself to write. The idea is to keep the creativity on tap. I probably won't use any of the stuff I'm writing now, but I'll be keeping in practice and will know where the book's going.

More next time, whenever that is.

Better Late Than Never

So, I'm not finished writing the second draft yet, but I'm damn close. I have two chapters to go, and the last few days I have been kicking this WIP's ass all over the place. I guess I've found the motivation again, which is great, because a couple days since I last wrote on here I didn't write anything at all, and sometimes it took me three or four days to write one chapter. Those were the low points. I even considered just taking a break from it for a few days. Then I woke up and realized I was being lazy, and I'm kicking ass again.

I know it's not June 4th, but at least I'm very close to finishing. I've been able to do a chapter a day the last three days. If that trend continues I'll be finished on Thursday. Hopefully I'll have a manuscript finished by this weekend!