WIP Wednesday

April is all about fresh starts for me. I’ve disappeared from blogging for a while and living 24/7 in the world of my upcoming YA series but this month it’s time to start something new, and not just the FINAL book in the series but…wait for it…a New Adult Contemporary Romance that already has me terrified at all the feels I’ll be experiencing during the actual writing AND a brand new series. Something equally as terrifying but also really exciting because I don’t plan on working on it alone. It’ll also be my foray into “Dystopian-esque” territory, yet another genre I can’t wait to knock off my list.

But first it’s time to celebrate March’s accomplishments! There weren’t many but at least my progress is steady. First up, book 4 is still waiting for it’s FINAL copy-edit. I suppose I could crank out the changes that need to be made whenever I feel like it but every time I think about opening up the document I have all of this anxiety. I’m about to start the final book in the series and the fact that this project is actually nearing the end is really scary for me. Maybe that’s why I’m holding off on those copy-edits until the last minute. I just can’t bare to think about parting with that first book just yet, let alone the entire series. Which means this fall is probably going to consist of many tears and many binges on cheesecake and peanut butter cups.

 

The third draft of book 5 is finished! And it is now in the hands of one of my trusted beta readers. Once I get her feedback I’ll be ready to tackle the 4th draft and then send it off to a few more sets of eyes.

As for book 6, which is the third novel in my YA series, I’ve been working on the 2nd draft for the past three weeks and I’m so relieved to say that I should have everything wrapped up by Friday! It’s not perfect yet by any means, but it is decent and decent for a 2nd draft is all I can ask for. I plan on contacting a few initial alpha readers soon to have them read over this early draft and hopefully I’ll be able to dive into the 3rd draft sometime in mid-May.

My 7th novel, which is also my latest Contemporary NA, is now sitting at just under 34K, which is not quite my target of 40K but it’ll have to do. I struggled with being loyal to this project last month. I’d designated weekends specifically for working on it but I recently started a new job that requires me to work on Saturdays and come Sunday it was just really hard to feel motivated. Especially when every day that passes I’m getting closer and closer to finishing this series, which means lots of planning and stress and anxiety and just freaking out in general. But I had a breakthrough in the past couple of days, probably because my main characters finally started kissing, so hopefully it’ll be smooth sailing from here and finger’s crossed the first draft will be done in a couple of weeks.

I wasn’t sure I was going to make it to the end of March without having to totally re-work my timeline but despite a week of near collapse and totally blowing off every responsibility I had including cleaning and bathing and many days eating, I’m right on schedule. Which means that at the end of this month I’ll still be able to start the LAST book in my YA series as well as dive into some other genres–one that I’ll always have a soft spot for and another I can’t wait to make my own. And the best news is this month didn’t kill me like I’d feared it would! Unfortunately April will be a totally different story and since I’m working two jobs now AND planning on starting so many new projects at the same time, this month will definitely be all about balance. I just hope that I can find it before I end up face first in a bowl of chocolate pudding. Actually that sounds kind of awesome.