Wow, it’s been a while since I wrote one of these posts! The last time I was busy plotting Book 2 of my Mythical Menagerie series, and a year or so later I was feeling overwhelmed and decided to hone everything down to just the most important bare bones.
And today, I’m drinking a celebratory milkshake (well, technically a celebratory chocolate Steri Stumpie, because I happened to have one in the fridge!). Because, dear friends, today I finally finished the second draft of the last instalment going into Book 2!
I won’t lie, it’s been a slog. In my previous post I’d said I wanted to have six instalments for Book 2, but then plot things happened and cliffhanger endings presented themselves and one thing led to another and the last instalment grew to a monstrous 43k plus word count – and now we have a book!
(And I apologise profusely upfront for the cliffhangers, but it will al be worth it in the end, I promise!)
Technically, I’m not 100% finished. I want to take this last story through another round of edits, just to make sure the pacing is fine and I have all my facts straight and there aren’t any awkward phrases lurking about. Then, I’ll send it off to my betas (two of which happen to be editors as well) for feedback, which I’ll work into the final edits. And then I’ll work through all everything going into Book 2 to make sure it’s all coherent.
And then! Then the publishing phase starts. Exciting!
So, if all goes well, we’re looking at a publication date early March 2023 (cue fanfare!).
I’ll start with Draft 3 tomorrow, but for now, I’m just savouring this victory. And this chocolate milkshake!
I think celebrating the victories, no matter how small, is incredibly important. What do you do to celebrate your achievements?
