I spent July traveling across Michigan meeting readers. From Lansing, to Lake Orion, and then back to Grand Haven in West Michigan. Whew! It was a fun filled month of books, dragons, presenting writing panels, and even superhero wedding!
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| Kogan Con - Grand Haven, MI |
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| Michigan Medieval Faire - Lake Orion, MI |
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| Capital City Comic Con - Lansing, MI |
July was also Camp Nano, in which I plugged away at a book I'm writing for me at this point, wherein *spoiler alert* I'm killing people, crying about it, and processing the fact that they are dead. In theory, this may free me up to delve into other non-Narvan stand-alone books...like the pile of them on my hard drive glaring at me to be finished. As of the end of the month, I added 40,000 new words to the novel. Since my original goal was to add 20K, I'm calling that a definite win. Yes, Seeker is still the last book of the core series. If this tragic tale eventually gets to your eyes, it will be a companion novel like Minor Years.
Oh, and dammit, I already have ideas where I could go after this. But no! No! Must, concentrate on stand-alone books for a while!
I'm also still percolating on the last 2/3 of Frayed, which is slowly making its way through my local writing group chapter by chapter and finishing it is currently slated to be my project for NaNo 2022 unless I can make this Narvan book shut up and work on it before then.
After such a busy July, I'll be spending August resting. Right? Ha. You're funny.
You can find me:
August 6 - Holland Art in the Park
August 13&14 - South Haven Blueberry Festival
August 27 & 28 Michiana Renaissance Faire
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If you're not familiar with |
The first draft of everything I write is for me. Sorry, readers. But hey, I'm a reader too and I have to wait for the words to leech out of my fingers onto the page to enjoy them. Trust me, you're getting the far better end of the deal here. Once the story gets to you, it's a smooth ride (hopefully) and far more coherent (definitely).
Readers get much more consideration once a draft enters editing. I often move things around or cut bits entirely to make the story flow better, faster, or be more engaging for everyone who is not in my twisted head.
As far as being original, I would think that's something we all strive for. Originality comes with adding your own voice to any story. All the plots may have been done before, but its what you do with them that makes them unique.
Sounds like you had a great July traveling around Michigan to promote your books. I can't believe how much you wrote while going to all these fairs. Hope your events in August go well too.
ReplyDeleteThe words mostly came in giant tidal waves of inspiration between days of not writing at all. Then again, I'm usually pondering what I'm going to write when I'm not at the computer, so I suppose I was sort of writing on all those off days. ;)
DeleteWhooboy! Sounds like you've been busy, and you've got more busyness ahead of you this month. Great to hear your stories are coming along. 40K?! Wow. I'm lucky if I get 5K in a month. Bravo.
ReplyDeleteWhen I sit down to write, the flood-gates are opened. I should sit down to write more often, but that's usually a November thing as far as birthing a novel. The rest of the year I tend to be more in the 5K category myself. Inspiration and Camp NaNo just happened to align this year.
DeleteCongrats on how much you've written, considering all the weekends you're on the road. I get tired just reading about all your events. LOL I hope you're having fun doing all this.
ReplyDeleteI get tired reading about them too. :D But yes, I do have a lot of fun traveling around and meeting readers.
DeleteThat's great that you're getting out there so much AND doing all that writing. We could all use some of that energy. I get what you mean about writing more books in your world, it can be hard to leave behind something you put so much effort into.
ReplyDeleteI find meeting and talking to readers energizing so I suppose one activity fuels the other. :)
ReplyDeleteYou had a busy month! And double the word count - bonus.
ReplyDeleteSeveral have said they don't think of audience until the editing phase.
Hi Jean - you've been amazingly busy ... but obviously words inspire you - well done ... and enjoy those happening this month; then all those times you can sit and write, or those times when you can 'brood' about your present ideas ... all the best - Hilary
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