I'm Doing Better

I'm going to start writing a chapter a day now. I explained my problem of procrastination creeping up on me again to my husband (that's another reason it took me two years to finish my first novel). He asked me how many pages do I write for each chapter. I told him anywhere from 6 to 10 with the smaller chapters being in the beginning. It usually doesn't take me long to write a chapter. So, he said that should be easy, just write one a day and you'll have it finished in a month. I agree! One of my author friends told me that's what she does too. Now I know the secret to pushing those books out so fast! :)

So, I'm working on the antagonist for Severed Hearts. I don't know why, but it's so much fun creating bad guys! My husband (Craig) says I'm so analytical I should be writing mystery novels. LOL! Actually, Severed Hearts is kind of a mystery. Not the usual who done it kind of thing, my readers will know exactly who done it, but the other characters in the story won't. I have a protagonist too, so that makes it kind of a mystery. I don't have any profanity in this one (yet), not much sex (yet) and it's narrated in the 1st and 3rd person. Very different. I got some tips from a very famous author on how to do this. I hope my editor likes it.

We're getting ready for BEA (Book Expo America) this year in June. I'll be exhibiting for our writers organization, The Literary Source Inc. Had I known that I would have an agent and headed mainstream so soon, I honestly don't think I would have spent $3,000 to exhibit this year. At the time, I was really into publishing my literary magazine and the organization. Then, when I realized that running a magazine is a full time job and even running the organization is a full time job, that's when I had to put the magazine on hold. In order to keep it up, you have to constantly stay out there promoting and getting sponsors and advertisers. When I started back to working a 9-5 job, it was just too much for me. They were going up $100 in rent for our office, and the membership dues were only covering the rent. Supplies for printing was expensive. Our last printing was last month. My passion is writing. Having a non-profit organization is something I want to do too, but it's not my first priority. Especially now that I see how much work and how hard it is. We've taken everything online now. In order to keep the organization going, I'll keep posting advice to aspiring authors on our website, along with book club features, event news, authors' books, etc... and during the times I'm not touring to promote my own books we'll attend events showcasing our members' books, and host book signings. I'll also continue seminars and consulting. I'm just hoping that once I go mainstream, I'll have time to do all of this since I'll have deadlines to meet. But again, my writing takes precedence over this. I've cut some things down so that I don't overload myself. We'll see how it goes.