The Glorious Moment an author completes a draft

Work in Progress: Pyromage (Book 2)
Word Count: 59,500
Hours Writing: 100 hours
Tag Line: Zeroh, an impoverished fire caster, discovers he's more than just a mage while dealing with two jealous would-be lovers and a race of people who see him as their savior. 

The Plan

A grandiose plan popped into my head a while ago... and I mean a while, like 5 years or so. This bright idea was very simple. 

Write ahead. 

See, there are authors that hold onto manuscripts and never let them be published. Then there are authors that publish so fast the ink from the copy editor isn't even dry. I wanted to be somewhere in between. 

I thought, self, if we hold onto a few manuscripts and release them in a timely manner, that could get me started off on the whole write, publish, repeat scenario. 

After such thought, I congratulate myself for saying ME and not WE when I talk to ourselves. Then I pat myself on the back for thinking. And finally, I give myself a kudo for having such a high concept thought.    

Yes, let's do that! I can get a year ahead and publish every 3 months. I can see if that pace will work for me or not. 

In 2019 I finally decided to do just that. And in January of 2022 it looks like I'll be able to pull it off.  

The Strategy

The whole reason for doing this was to find out how long it took me to write a novel. But discipline is an elusive beast. 

But I think I finally have tamed that wild monster. Or at least learned how to turn the thing left and right. 

Some authors have issues with writer's block. Which if you ask me doesn't really exist. Because writer's block is something more sinister than a blinking cursor that taunts you on a blank page preventing you from typing. Writer's block is actually imposter syndrome. Which is sad.

But my issue is consistency. 

So this whole experiment was supposed to give me a head start and to keep going. 

I've written 4 complete manuscripts:
The Silent Road
Pyromage Book 1
Saving Senpai
and now Pyromage Book 2

I have a spreadsheet of when to write what. I have a marketing plan for when to promo what. I think 3 months is going to be the right timing. Every 90 days. 

But there's an issue. 

I wrote 4 books in two years. Math says I can write 2 books a year. Math isn't wrong. But the year isn't over yet. 

Over the fall I'm going to write a book for Penn Scripter (my other pen name that I write with my mom). 

Did you know that L. Ron Hubbard wrote something like a thousand books over his lifetime? That's 16 books a year over his writing career. That guy was a maniac. Or he had help (ghost writers). 

Squirrel! 

So becoming the most prolific writer in the Guinness Book of World Records is off the table for me.  

But I don't need to be that prolific! 

Still, I want to know that I can do it and prevent burn out. The more I write the more I like writing. 

What's Next

So on and on with that rambling to say that Saving Senpai, Book 2 of the Notice Me Senpai series (that might up titled Handle with Care) will be the first of my four completed manuscripts for publication in January 2022.

Wow. Run-on sentence much?

But there are soooo many books with the "Handle with Care" title. Not that it matters because you can't trademark a name. But a unique title is always cool.

Guess we'll know at the cover reveal! 

In the mean time, if you want to catch up on the Notice Me Senpai series with book 1, you can find Seducing Sensei free here.

Be warned! It's very risqúe! 

Until next time...
... happy reading!
~ Stephy