Photo credit: Me! 🙂

Hey guys, welcome back! Hope everyone is doing well and if you are dealing with hot weather like we are, hope you are finding ways to stay cool. It seems so damned early for such temperatures, but these days, who knows what kind of weather we’ll have day to day. Especially here.. The old saying of, “welcome to the Northeast, don’t like the weather, wait five minutes” exists for a reason. Personally, I’d be happy for some snow right about now. (I am not a summer person at all.)

Anywhoooooo…it’s been a minute since I’ve been here and I’m sorry about that. I have been working on my edits and some rewrites, dealing with the weather and trying to do what I can to keep sane. I’ve been making more progress on my book, still not enough though to declare it ready for submission anywhere but progress is progress.

I’ve finally realized that even if I only cut a handful of words during edits in a week, that is still acceptable. I’ve always been one to be visual. I want to see the proof that my work is actually amounting to something. So when I was getting incredibly discouraged that over a few nights in a row I may have only cut a word here or there, it was disheartening to say the least. I mean, why go on if I’m not getting anywhere right? Wrong.

Because inch by inch, the work has been getting done. I was really shocked when I did that last total word count of the entire book to see just how many thousands of words I had in fact cut. Doing that total breathed new life into me. Suddenly it was there where I could see it. The number of words had gone way down even though I had sworn I was in some cases, adding on to the count instead of cutting. Which frankly was true.

This past week or so, I’ve been back going over the first twenty chapters. Trying to rework them, even rewrite them in some cases, to get that number even lower while adding a bit more depth to the characters that I realize now, I hadn’t had before. That was a sobering revelation, let me tell you. There is room for more backstory and it still amazes me after working on this for well over a year now, how much more I’m seeing that can be done.

The issue I’m having with all of this right now is that I am my own worst enemy. I have no tolerance for authority, never have. (Which explains the trouble I got into in school.) So for me to now defy myself? So unacceptable!

I know what needs to be done. I can see it in my mind how I need to rearrange some chapters, write new scenes, cut a shit-ton of words and all of that…but the part of me that hates to be told to do anything? Shutting down. I’d love to blame it on the weather but really, it’s an internal struggle and one that I cannot escape from.

If I’m going to make this something worth reading after all of this time, I need to buckle up and get it done. Even if it is just word by word. Because again, progress is progress and once I start on it, it will come into focus and get done. It’s just getting it started that always trips me up. However, this time, I have only myself to answer to. No blaming it on a boss or a teacher, no. This time? It’s all me. And I refuse to let myself down on this. I’ve come too far, done too much work and am honestly in love with these characters so much, that I don’t want to let them down either.

Progress is progress. Word by word, inch by inch. No matter what the job is, it is a universal problem that can be fixed with just three words: Just Get Started

Oh, one quick thing before I go…I will have my Amazon storefront ready for Prime Days but you can always shop the links I have on this site whenever you need something. Even if it’s not something I have linked to, just by clicking the link and heading to Amazon, anything you buy will help out this site. (I thank you in advance for that.)

And that is where I will leave you for today. Until next time…keep cool, keep hydrated, keep safe and cheers!

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Ps. There’s a new design up in my Dashery shop to see!

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you and will see you real soon! 🙂