Author Journey: December 10, 2021 - The Relief and Joy a Complete First Draft Brings

 Trying to describe the feelings which flooded me after my Nano win last month would be difficult to say the least. I haven't ever written a complete first draft during a Nano event. I hope this means I'm getting better at keeping my thoughts succinct, but I can't help wondering if it was more a fluke than anything else. I guess we'll see next year. 

Something Special for Newsletter Subscribers

Once again, I totally forgot about posting a newsletter for December. However, my January newsletter will include something special for my subscribers. I'll be sharing my favorite chapter from my rough draft. I'll do a bit of editing to make sure of spelling and such. And I'll also provide a pronunciation key if needed for those who really stress over that. (I personally think coming up with pronunciations of words which are new is part of the fun of immersing into a story...*shrugs*)  I want those who take the time to read my work to just have some fun with the material and be able to "get away" for a while. If they need a pronunciation key for that to happen, I'm happy to provide it.

Author Journey Updates

I guess the logical next step is to get some feedback on The Tale of Outh'n Durr, my novelette which will introduce one of the characters from book two of the Children of Y'Dahnndrya series. It should be and is meant to be a quick read and while the ending leaves a little to wonder about in the hopes of drawing the reader into Surge, it does have enough closure, I think, that it can be enjoyed on its own. I'm still trying to perfect that particular skill. 

The fine-tuning of the cover for that story continues. I'm not happy with the way the title gets completely washed out when I add the metallic gradient. I may have to scrap that completely in favor of bright white letters with a metallic outline. I just haven't tried that yet...haven't had time. And to be honest, I intensely dislike projects that require fine-tuning every step of the way. But with marketing, (and make no mistake! Your cover is marketing for your book.) every detail counts.

Thanks so much for visiting the blog today! I appreciate everyone who takes the time to check out what's happening in my reading life and in my author journey. As much as I hope and strive to succeed, I also hope to encourage other authors and to share what I learn so that we can all improve, continually pressing on toward success. 

Again, if you haven't signed up for my (sporadic and certainly not often enough to qualify as spamish) newsletter, you can do that by clicking the link in the above section, or by clicking here. This link will take you to a page hosted by Mail Chimp and allow you to quickly subscribe. You can also subscribe through the drop down menu at the top left of my blog home page. Simply scroll down the sidebar until you see the subscription link. 

Until next time...