The Two

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Book Two Progress as of June 24

I cut 8,276 words. You can thank me later, because it was a lot of crap NO ONE SHOULD EVER READ.

And that’s after I added a whole new scene of about 500 words. So I actually cut more than that. Like, closer to 9,000. WHAT. Just what.

I’m doing some final polishing. Easy stuff. I should be done with it in less than a week and be able to send this thing off to my editor for her final pass. Yep, you heard that right. We’re almost there.

Oh! And I saw some shots from the photographer and they are gorgeous. He’s going to reshoot with a slightly different setup and some updated props I made. If the new shots are better than the initial ones I think I just might die. The cover is going to be amazing.

Progress of THE TWO
First Draft: Complete (121,006 words)
My revisions: Complete
Professional editing: Prepping for editor’s final pass
Formatting: Not started
Cover art: Photography for cover art in progress

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On My Birthday

I had the day off work. My three-year-old let me sleep past nine. We didn’t get dressed ’til 10:30. We watched almost an entire season of Adventure Time then wrestled on the floor. He did a cannonball off the couch, straight onto my shin. Tomorrow, I’ll have the bruise to prove it.

After picking my kindergartner up from school, we sat outside on the patio under billowing cumulonimbus and ate barbecue chips and drank lemonade. A hawk circled above. I told my son it wanted to eat his brain.

“Mom, would you be sad if it ate my brain?”

“What do you think?”

“I think yes.”

“Would you be sad if it ate my brain?”

Big smile. “Yes.”

Oh, the love between mother and child.

At some point, I got a call on our land line, from THE LAND LINE’S OWN NUMBER. No one on the other end. Thank god for that.

Because I was afraid it was going to be my future self, telling me I have a lot of editing to do. And it’s sitting on the kitchen table, waiting for me, and I shouldn’t be watching so much Adventure Time.
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I knew book two would need a ton of editing but I wasn’t prepared for the depth of hell I’ve descended to. I’ve switched to editing hard copy by hand, if that’s any indication. I can’t estimate my progress at this point. I can’t even see an end ahead.

I’m still aiming for summer publication, but it’s going to be late summer. To those of you waiting, yeah, I feel rotten this is taking so long. But be VERY GLAD for my red pen. I wouldn’t wish this draft on my worst enemy.

Oh, and I got a great review today. Thank you, Morgan.

I couldn’t have planned a better birthday.

Tonight, I edit until the witching hour.

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Book Two Progress as of May 5

First the good news: I think the editing process for this book is only going to consist of three rounds. In an earlier post I’d guessed five. The first half of round 2 is complete, so we’re halfway there.

The bad news is this round will take the longest. I have a bunch of line edits from my editor to approve. It’s also when I read the entire book aloud to catch all the things that jump out when only read aloud. It’s time-consuming (and a bit nerve-racking to read my work out loud), but I make good progress every day. It’s not like my early revisions where I can spend three hours revising one sentence.

Progress of THE TWO
First Draft: Complete (129,282 words)
My revisions: Complete
Professional editing: Currently in 2nd Half of Round 2
Formatting: Not started
Cover art: Photography for cover art in progress

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Book Two Progress as of April 9

Someone on Pinterest said THE ALIGNMENT is “truly a great book, and an even better love story.” I don’t use Pinterest, but thank you, person on Pinterest. :)

Editing progress for THE TWO: We’re working on big picture items right now, so I can’t really give a percentage of completion. As of today, my editor has taken a turn and I’ve taken a turn. Now it’s back with my editor again. Let’s call this Round 1. Of how many rounds total? I’m guessing 5. But don’t hold me to it.

I think we can consider cover art to be started, too. A couple weekends ago I dropped some props off with my photographer, Keith Lee. We examined the props and discussed my vision at a table in a packed Jimmy John’s and I’m pretty sure the other customers thought we were larpers. And no, I’m not telling you what those props are. Sorry. Keith is experimenting with different setups and lighting as we speak. He’s a bit of a photography god. I can’t wait to see what he does.

Progress of THE TWO
First Draft: Complete (129,282 words)
My revisions: Complete
Professional editing: Round 1 Complete
Formatting: Not started
Cover art: Photographer at work (shooting props)

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Book Two Progress as of March 5

Progress of THE TWO
First Draft: Complete (126,180 words)
My revisions: In progress (88% complete)
Professional editing: Not started
Formatting: Not started
Cover art: Not started

Friday is writing day. I’ll be home alone and I’ll do nothing else. Okay, maybe eat lunch and toss in a few loads of laundry. By the end of Friday I just *might* reach the end of this draft…