Your Update Link: A Shot in the Dark – Part 6

When I made the decision to release my books all at once going forward, I think I maybe overestimated just how attached I am to the chapter by chapter gratification I get, lol. You guys are reading this like an actual book — which means I’m getting reviews like a book–at the end. Heh. I think it’s a better way to release books. I picked Tuesday as a release date because it’s release date for real books, but I was thinking maybe I should do later in the week going forward?

This next part is a long-winded explanation, so you can skip to the TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) note at the bottom and then come back if you want to know more. 

The other thing I wanted to bring up is when to expect Book 4. When I initially split the draft in August, I had this idea that I would release Three in October and Four in December. When I sat down to start really thinking about Book 4, I realized I wanted to make some big story changes. The plan had been to focus on Book 4’s beta draft in October while getting Fool Me Twice going slowly, then switching focus in November when 4’s beta draft would be done.

Then I got a full time job that started immediately. I no longer have the mornings or even afternoons for writing. It’s mostly between 5-8, and I have to be careful about those hours because I also have to eat dinner and make sure I’m not just writing allll the time.

I wanted to let my schedule sit for a week to get an idea of how much time I can devote to writing, what my energy level would be at night, etc.  A week into my job, I have a better idea of how much time I need to for grading and lesson prep, and the fact is that I can’t really focus on Fool Me Twice, Flash Fiction, and Book 4 all at the same time. I need to decide what book is going to be released in February, and I’m afraid if I push all three, I’ll get burnt out and I won’t have anything. It’s what happened last year when FMT wasn’t working and Broken Girl wasn’t working — I missed February last year because I didn’t manage my schedule or my own creativity very well.

Basically this means that in order to make sure I have a novel to release in February, I have to make some difficult choices — and the difficult choice is that Book 4 is probably not coming out in December, and that I don’t currently have a release date in mind. I’m not willing to push FMT down the road again when it’s already a year later than I had wanted it to be, and I’m enjoying writing it so far.

What happens to Book 4 now is largely dependent on how Fool Me Twice goes. The last two books I’ve written needed extensive revisions, but I honestly think FMT is in the best position it could be. I’m sure I might need a scene or there, but I’ve done a really thorough job plotting, breaking down, and getting it organized. I haven’t really had a moment in writing it where I feel stuck.  If FMT’s beta period doesn’t take as long as Mad World’s, and if I finish the alpha draft on time, I can work in more time for Book 4 and have it out in March or April. I’m just not sure. I could also push Broken Girl 2 and Damaged down the road, too. There’s a lot of options in front of me.

I’m also contemplating a change to my writing process — I’ve always said I’d love to leave a first draft alone for a full month so I can look at it with fresh eyes. I could finish FMT’s first draft, leave it for a month, work on Book 4 in December, edit FMT in January, and not really miss my deadline. It’s something I’m playing and I’ll have more information for you on Friday when I hack away at my 2021 Production Schedule.

ANYWAY. TL;DR – Mad World Book 4 does not have a release date, and I can’t promise a new one unless I push another project off the schedule. I’m going to try to take a look at the process and see what I can do to improve things. Will have an updated 2020 – 2021 Production Schedule on Friday.