It’s getting to the good part!

It’s kind of funny, but some of the stuff I’m editing right now at the end of Drowning in Angst, I wrote so long ago I was still putting a double-space after periods. I don’t remember when I stopped doing that, but it may have been three years?

Sometimes writing goes it's own direction and this part of the story expanded far beyond what I had imagined. So, I'm amazed that it is still ending up mostly where I wanted. If I were a better writer, a more experienced writer, I’m sure things would come together more neatly. I have a love-hate relationship with writing from an outline. Who wants to stopper the fresh flow of ideas? So, usually, I don’t. When it feels right, I’ll sometimes write a character or an event into one book with the hope that I can use them later. More madness than science, but so far I’ve been lucky.

Lately, I’ve been really lucky. The rollercoaster of my upcoming third Angst novel, Drowning in Angst, could have been a disaster. There were a lot of loose ends from Buried in Angst I needed to tie up, some I needed to tie off, and new threads I needed to add. About two-thirds of my way through book 3, I was in a panic. My book was like holding the end of a horse’s tail, with strands going everywhere.

That’s when I fell back on the outline. I stopped writing and gave myself time to think. I mapped out where each storyline needed to end, and how it was supposed to get there. Then, I started writing again, and everything fell into place. Heck, with only five chapters left, things are still falling into place! This is definitely the fun part and I’m having a great time, not only with my recent rush of progress, but finding out what happens. The crystal ball (or memndus stone, in my case) isn’t always so very clear.

There are still months to go before release and plenty of work to be done. The alpha team doesn’t have all the chapters, and their replies will require some editing. And I’ve asked my incredibly smart and talented editor Danielle Fine to pencil me in for mid to late October, which will require even more editing. (She’s a ruthless tyrant! Er, I mean, a wonderful and nice editor.) But the good news is, it’s coming, and I can’t wait to share.

Now, what the heck am I going to do in book four?