This super obnoxious notebook is my for my new project.
Yes, the spiral binding the purple. Yes, that makes me happy.

I have decided (now that I’m basically famous with my 170+ Facebook likes) to devote my Wednesday blog posts to writing updates.

First, I’ll tell you a secret:
When you submit a manuscript for pre-order on Amazon, you have the option to go back and put in a ‘final copy’. So when I listed ‘Soul Among the Stars’, I had planned on making a few changes.

Well, those are all done and the final copy has been submitted!
Get excited!

Second, I will tell you a secret but will not explain it:
I’ve started a new project in an obnoxious notebook.

Third, a genuine update:
My first novel, ‘Sortilege’, is sitting in my computer, collecting figurative dust while I count down the days until November 20, which is the deadline by which the agencies I’ve queried should have responded.
Meanwhile, the sequel to ‘Sortilege’ is going very well! I’m writing the rough draft by hand, because that’s way more fun. I have filled the first notebook and am halfway through the second. I really like the direction it’s going and who the characters are becoming. It’s a very rough draft, but it’s a good start and I’ll have a lot to work with on the first round of edits.

I don’t outline much. I know in my head where the characters are going and how it will all end, but I don’t like the limitations outlining puts on me. For the second novel, I listed the characters and gave them each 3 things to accomplish through the course of the second book. This gives a lot of room for exciting things I didn’t originally plan on happening. On the down side, it makes it difficult to tell how far along I am in the rough draft process. I’m working with 7 main characters. A couple of them have not yet completed their first main objective.
I suspect this novel will be longer than ‘Sortilege’.

Thank you so much to everyone who has pre-ordered copies of ‘Soul Among the Stars’! I have received several orders and each one is exciting!