After puttering out in the last couple of chapters, I overcame the rut and finally finished Descent, the follow-up to Heritage Lost. Well, finished the drafting part . . . I’m currently neck-deep in revisions. Revisions, however, have always come easiest for me. My drafts are always sparse, so revisions include more fleshing out, particularly descriptions. Like most other writers, there are intensive rewrites, too.
So far two scenes have undergone massive rewrites, and being only 82 pages in, I’m sure there are going to be several more as the story is refined and characters come into their own.
Sadly, I’m not as far as I’d hoped to be in my revisions. COVID-19 has seen reduced hours at work, and once the PPP money ran out, I made the decision to apply for a second job in order to keep my cats in the lifestyle they’ve grown accustom to. Thankfully, I was able to get in at my local library, and I’m loving the job. There is something so comforting about putting things back in order.
To slow me down further, my time helping Dad at his farmers market was also extended, meaning I was practically doing four jobs at once: journalism, paging, selling lettuce, and writing/editing. But now the farmers market is really, really done so I can focus more on getting Descent into the hands of beta readers.
Because of everything going on, I couldn’t participate in NaNoWriMo this year, though I really wanted to dip back into my historical fiction novel this month. But I’ll get there eventually.
For those participating, I highly recommend checking out Tish Bouvier’s Echoes and Whispers: Haiku for NANO Writers. It offers great reflection to get the creative juices flowing with a haiku for each day of NaNoWriMo.
For fans of my writing–if there are any yet–you’ll definitely want to subscribe to my new newsletter. It’s the perfect way to stay up-to-date on my publications while also enjoying exclusives and freebies. The first newsletter went out in August. It can be viewed here, http://eepurl.com/g3Vk8j.
Another change since last time is I now have a new kitten. I was doing dishes in August when I heard the most plaintive meows ever. Look outside and sure enough there’s a kitten in my backyard. He ran off when I went out but returned when I meowed. The rest is history. Welcome to the clowder, Vassily.
Blood & Ink 