I've finished the book currently known as "Southpaw" and it comes in at 111,000 words, which is the longest I've written since the, oh, 150,000 words of Return on Investment (which were trimmed down to about 112,000, if I remember right). So that's a whopper. It's now with betas because at this stage in the process I can't tell whether it IS actually good or whether I'm too far up my own book to make a judgment.
I'm currently in the process of reformatting my mental hard drive and catch up with some reading and streaming shows, and getting the rest of the year organised. To that end, I've re-read four fragments of books I have and that I want to finish (Dark Heart, Julian, the historical paranormal and what I call the "author romance").
Some of those have outlines/plots, others don't, so I'm now putting together outlines for the ones that don't have any where I'm too vague in the previous outline. I've never been much of an outliner, but I had to do it to get Southpaw sorted, and considering how often I've changed the outline here (it went through at least five very different versions), and the fact that it all still worked out in the end - without constricting me in the slightest but giving me a kind of handrail to move along whenever I need it - I think I'm now pretty much converted to the outliner camp. It seems like the best way to make sure books actually get written, so the payoff is worth it.
Day job remains intense; nothing new there. I have an appointment with an occupational health doc in mid-September, and I'll see where things are going from there - it will ultimately be a test of whether my company actually adheres to its own "Health, Safety and Wellness" handbook or whether all of that is lipservice and I'll be gently encouraged to leave if I can't hack it. The main issue with getting a different job is that most of them pay 20-50% less than I'm earning now and there's no guarantee that I'll work less or have less stress.
Meanwhile, the economy is cooling - thanks to Trump's inane trade wars, and Brexit - so the recession/downturn is on track for late 2019/early 2020. Right now, my options are very limited, so the best thing I can do is suck it up and do what I can with the time and energy I have left. I'd be hoping for two books per year now, but I'd consider even one per year a victory. Ideally, I'd like to publish those 1-2 books a year in the same month/s, to get some kind of regular schedule going and keep myself accountable (it also seems to be how many mainstream authors do it).
It's very much a "shoulder to the wheel" period in my life. Lots of work, very little time for anything else. The payoff is still 2-5 years in the distance, but we'll get there.
Right now, I'm expecting to get Southpaw into shape after the beta feedback etc to hand it in at the publisher at the end of September. Then I'll have two months or so to finish one of my fragments.
I'm currently in the process of reformatting my mental hard drive and catch up with some reading and streaming shows, and getting the rest of the year organised. To that end, I've re-read four fragments of books I have and that I want to finish (Dark Heart, Julian, the historical paranormal and what I call the "author romance").
Some of those have outlines/plots, others don't, so I'm now putting together outlines for the ones that don't have any where I'm too vague in the previous outline. I've never been much of an outliner, but I had to do it to get Southpaw sorted, and considering how often I've changed the outline here (it went through at least five very different versions), and the fact that it all still worked out in the end - without constricting me in the slightest but giving me a kind of handrail to move along whenever I need it - I think I'm now pretty much converted to the outliner camp. It seems like the best way to make sure books actually get written, so the payoff is worth it.
Day job remains intense; nothing new there. I have an appointment with an occupational health doc in mid-September, and I'll see where things are going from there - it will ultimately be a test of whether my company actually adheres to its own "Health, Safety and Wellness" handbook or whether all of that is lipservice and I'll be gently encouraged to leave if I can't hack it. The main issue with getting a different job is that most of them pay 20-50% less than I'm earning now and there's no guarantee that I'll work less or have less stress.
Meanwhile, the economy is cooling - thanks to Trump's inane trade wars, and Brexit - so the recession/downturn is on track for late 2019/early 2020. Right now, my options are very limited, so the best thing I can do is suck it up and do what I can with the time and energy I have left. I'd be hoping for two books per year now, but I'd consider even one per year a victory. Ideally, I'd like to publish those 1-2 books a year in the same month/s, to get some kind of regular schedule going and keep myself accountable (it also seems to be how many mainstream authors do it).
It's very much a "shoulder to the wheel" period in my life. Lots of work, very little time for anything else. The payoff is still 2-5 years in the distance, but we'll get there.
Right now, I'm expecting to get Southpaw into shape after the beta feedback etc to hand it in at the publisher at the end of September. Then I'll have two months or so to finish one of my fragments.
