Update Link: Watch Me Burn – Part 25

Digital Shop: Fool Me Twice, Book 2 – Alpha Draft ($7)

Happy Monday! I hope you guys had a great weekend! I kept busy even though my Phillies decided to tie our franchise record for games won on the road and then immediately embarrass themselves by losing two in a row. It’s All-Star Week, which means I won’t spend about 3 hours every day with my mental health depending on a bunch of guys hitting a ball. I have A LOT of updates  and news for you, so I’m tucking it under the Read More tag Each topic is linked so you can skip around.

Topics (if you want to skip to any): Posting Schedule Updates | Fool Me Twice | Patreon Perks & Shop

POSTING SCHEDULE UPDATES

I spent a lot of time editing this weekend! I’m working on Signs of Life again, and have already edited four new chapters. I’m hopeful to finish the beta draft by the end of July and spend about two weeks on the posting draft and ebook. If that works out, that actually puts me in excellent shape to have at least three updates a week for you guys for nearly the entire academic year.

Here is a rough idea of what the posting schedule will be.

• Friday, August 25 – I’ll post the last update for our summer schedule of Flash Fiction. Watch Me Burn Shifts to the weekends, once a week at first until I feel comfortable at the new job, probably Saturday or Sunday mornings. We’ll re-evaluate after the first month.
• Monday, August 28 – I start my new job, and Signs of Life gets reposted. Chapters 1-8 have already been posted. I’ll update the existing chapters with the edited copies (all typo edits) on that Monday.
• Mondays, Wednesday & Fridays, August 30 – November 10 – Signs of Life Chapters 9-Epilogue
• Tuesdays & Thursdays, October (??)- November 9 – Fool Me Twice, Book 2 posted. I’m not sure yet exactly which day in October I’ll start posting this.
• Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays, November 13 – March (??) – Fool Me Twice, Book 2 with three chapters a week will take us through at least March. I have 60 chapters in the alpha draft, and to be quite honest — I know I’ll be adding, not subtracting. So it might take us into April, too. I just don’t know yet.

Knowing that the majority of my work year is already set for you guys content wise makes me feel so much better. The last three years, it always felt like I was disappearing for months at a time. We haven’t had any real regular updates since January — Flash Fiction was always so hit or miss for me. But I’ve set it up, so I won’t be doing any major editing during the school year, at least not in the fall semester. That gives me a lot of space to settle into the new job before I have to dive into anything that demands a lot of attention.

FOOL ME TWICE

Book 2

• I started my beta draft edit yesterday — the first step is to take the draft and annotate it. Ever since I switched to creating a PDF, slapping it on my iPad, and using the Good Notes app to mark it up. Then, I export it to a new PDF, slap it in Scrivener and make changes. It’s really streamlined the process and helps me step away from the computer screen. I’m planning to spend this week annotating. The deadline is Sunday.
• Monday, July 17:  I’ll start “constructing” the beta draft. Basically, setting up the chapters, adding new scenes, moving old ones, etc. This is just a structural stage that makes it easier when I get into the writing.
• Monday, July 24: I start writing the beta draft.

I’m obviously hoping (and planning) to complete the beta draft during the summer. It’s always the hardest step, which is why I made sure that I would be able to spend my summer on it. I used to leave it for the school year, but I actually found it easier to write the messy alpha drafts than the stressful betas, lol.

Once the beta draft is done, it goes into that final round of polish edits where I read one more time for inconsistency, typographical errors, and any last glaring story errors.  That could take a month, it could take a week. It’s just hard to know.

Either way, FMT Book 2 will be ready by October (early November at the latest)

Book 1

Let’s step back in time for a minute to talk about Book 1! If you’ve been with me for any length of time, you know that Book 1 was a pandemic book. I plotted it during the summer shut down, wrote it during the hybrid school year/second school year shutdown that fall/winter of 2020, and then tried to edit it as we all returned to work in the winter of 2021. I never really wrapped my head around the size and scope of the book, and set unrealistic dates, which I didn’t feel comfortable changing. So I actually started posting FMT before I finished the edits, and we had to take a break in the middle of it for like two months. Just, ugh. Everything I hate. This was also the time I started therapy for paralyzing anxiety and stress. Not surprising at all.

Fool Me Twice, Book 1 never got that second round of edits — it never got its final polish. Which is why I never finished the ebook, to be honest. When I started to put it together last week, I saw a bunch of those issues. And I just thought, you know what? It’s never too late. I wanted to reread FMT Book 1, so I can make sure Book 2 is completely consistent, why not do that editing?

I’m working on doing the final edit on Book 1 now. When that edit is finished, I’ll update the published chapters and post the ebook. It will be done by August, so you’ll have time to refresh yourself.

And if you’re wondering if there are any changes, YES. I actually rewrote an entire scene towards the beginning of the book because it wasn’t consistent with the show.

PATREON PERKS  & DIGITAL SHOP

Lots of news for paid members, and watch parties for free members! Join the community 🙂

• The Alpha Draft of Fool Me Twice Book 1 is now available in the new Patreon Shop. If you’re an Adored tier or above supporter, the book is free. For everyone else, it’s available at the Adored tier price ($7). Anyone who purchases it will also be given a link to complete a survey to help me shape the beta draft. Let me know if you don’t get the survey.
• I’ve also moved all the important downloads to Patreon — there’s a “free” digital shop which has Mad World ebooks and Fool Me Twice excerpts.
• If you’re a Love tier ($3) and above supporter, you’re getting daily edits for Signs of Life. I posted an ENTIRELY brand new Chapter 10 on Saturday, and today’s edits will have new scenes (will be added this afternoon)
• Devoted ($5) tier and above are getting the daily edits for Fool Me Twice, Book 1. Three chapters a day — and they already have the new rewritten scene. Today’s edit is also coming this afternoon.
• Obsessed ($10) tier and above are going to start seeing a lot of updates for the Discovery blog. I’ve been working on other projects, so I have a few things ready to write this school year, and I’m also writing about the editing journey for Fool Me Twice. Stories with updates so far: Burn in Heaven, Malice, and If There’s No You.
• Research Streams are returning this week for Love ($3) and above tiers — I’m going to be watching Jason scenes from 1997 to help me finish plotting Kismet.
• Watch Parties are coming for all members, paid and free. We’re going to kick back in a private live stream to watch old storylines. A poll will be going up this week to vote on our first one!

Okay, now I’m tired, lol. I’m finishing this post at 9:18 AM. Going to go set up today’s Flash Fiction. See you on Wednesday!!