THIRTY-NINE DAYS

I WROTE A WHOLE BOOK IN THIRTY-NINE DAYS!!!!!! 

I can't believe it. I've checked and double-checked. I didn't imagine it or misread how many words I have. It's real. I did it. I completed CampNaNo. Matchstick is officially written. It's crazy. I'm over the moon. It's a fantastic end to a weird and stressful week. 

I'm setting it aside for today, and I start round one of edits tomorrow. My process has changed a lot since I first started writing. I can't say it's perfect now, but it's what's getting me there. As I was writing, I knew some things needed to be fleshed out more. Places, emotions, settings, etc. Some of it was just the need to move forward, to get the scene to the end I knew it would have. I was in a flow and needed to get it out without bogging myself down with all the particulars. This first round will address that. Making sure it reads how I want it to read. 

Second round will involve printing it and making all kinds of edits with pretty pens, then adding it to my document. My third is reading it again, checking for inconsistencies, plot holes I may have created with other edits, general flow, etc. Then it goes through my editing software (I ♥ Grammarly) to catch any weirdness my brain glossed over. 

I haven't decided if this one is going into beta. It probably should. The problem is it's the second in a series. Finding people who can be objective but also understand the flow from the first book will be harder. Rage had some dedicated betas, so the second book will be sent to them. I'll see how it goes. 

Publication of Matchstick will hopefully be in February of 2024. Once I'm through with edits here, I'll be jumping back to Justified. I'm hoping to make it the target of the July CampNaNo.

I'm celebrating today. There may or may not be some brandy later. ♥