What Do You Guys Want to Hear From Me?

Cuddles with Tybalt. Heavens, how I love this boy. (He purrs with short, rapid purrs, instead of the long breathy ones like most cats; I absolutely adore it.)

Happy Weekend, Conduits.

How's the channeling going? (Channeling? Still trying to decide if I should call the manipulation of the magic system "channeling." The magic is called Enchantment or, much later, vaguely referenced as "the element." AND, it's a slow, evolving situation with the magic in my world, so most of its use comes at the end of Book Two and all over Book Three. So... Don't know.)

I am either about 60-70% of the way through Book Two, or RIGHT UP ON the set-up for the climax. I think it's going to be a lot more challenging to finish Book Two than it was COF (Conduit of Fire; Book One). So many answers are being laid out in Book Two that what might be a simple answer could take pages and chapters of actual prose.

Additionally, I'm hoping to not have to cut so many words during the edit as I had to with COF, so it makes the progress slow a bit -- not a lot; I'd rather write crap and delete it so I can get the ideas out vs just not write. But how much I'll have to manipulate and cut during the edit absolutely remains TBD, as the hardest part when approaching such situations is identifying the pertinent, important, necessary parts of the plot.

I know what they are. But you don't just write them down like you're writing down the outline. You flush them out, give them skin, flesh, flowers, whatever. And it's weird. The ones you think will take forever, boom, you're done in a flash. And the ones you think won't take any time at all, well, crap, how many days have you been working on this? Le sigh.

I'm also considering deleting a part of COF (which is one reason I'm glad I have decided not to up and self-publish -- at least yet -- because I am able to easily manipulate what happens in COF as I finish up Book Two [I really got to figure out Book Two's name so I can start using it/using an... abbreviation? Is COF for Conduit of Fire an abbreviation? Who knows or cares right now; my brain is dead...]). I LIKE the part in COF, and think it's going to add a super cool element to the end of Book Two, and Book Three, but not sure if it overcomplicates the development of the story.

No. Wait a minute. I know the answer. It both does and doesn't. But mostly doesn't. I'm just like *"Ugh," grabs hair and pulls* when I think of how complex I made this thing. Can I write it in three books? You're darn right I can. But it sure as crap won't be easy. But then again, amazing things never are! And I will say, I DO love the story I'm creating, and part of this angst comes from the fact that I'm trying my darndest to deliver.

But yeah. The important thing stuff. Part of me REALLY wants to gloss over some of the things I could simply tell in a paragraph, or just outright skip (because as much as you want to show-not-tell, there ARE parts where you want to tell, because what reader wants to read about the intricacies of traveling through a forest when it has nothing to do with the plot?). And for now, I AM glossing over such things. After all, they call the rough draft "rough" for a reason, and I can manipulate it later, but it gets confusing on if this is something I SHOULD gloss over, or am I just glossing over it because it's hard, and I want to go to the fun stuff? Especially as I get closer to the climax?

Anyway. After I finish this thing, I'm going to give myself a couple weeks, pick it back up, start reading/editing it, and it'll probably come with some cringing, crying, eye-rolling, and full on partial throw-up as I rip some stuff out, fluff other stuff up, and maybe even chop full characters from the plot.

I already did that with COF, you know. And it was a character everyone loved. She just didn't have a role, really. So I'll save her for another story. Maybe. (You know, sometimes I really think that, "I'll just move this to another document to save for later or save for another story," is just a method we authors use to LIE to ourselves so we can "kill our darlings" viciously, without remorse, without hesitation, so we can do what is best for the story instead of our egos.)

Anyhow. Long story short, I did *well enough* to sticking with my plan this week. I did not write on Monday, but I did canvass some agents and fantasy publishers that don't require agents to whom I can submit a query, as I don't intend to give up on the traditional publishing route until I'm done editing Book Two. Tuesday was work, but I did dabble in my story a little. Wednesday I got my two hours in before attending a city meeting for the first time (super boring an interesting all at the same time), Thursday was... complicated. My laptop's battery has been a turd lately and crapped out on me at a full charge right when yoga started, so I couldn't use the time for writing as I usually do (since we cannot do personal training while yoga is going on, because... well, they're "zen"ing, and we're slamming weights around, and they don't much match, y'know?). Tim is going to take a gander at my laptop's battery, but honestly, I think I'm just going to have to get a new laptop sooner rather than later.

Let's hope it survives until next year.

And lasty, Friday (yesterday), I got my two hours in, just finished my two hours today, and tomorrow, I'm planning to attend my church that's an hour away. I also plan to write tomorrow, but I'm not sure if I'll write first -- and thereby go to the late service -- or write after -- and thereby go to the early service. We'll see. But I miss them jokers, and life's been crazy, it's beginning to slow down, and I'm going to do it, dang it! Been going to a local one, but... anyway.

One other thing is I'm planning to implement is some intermittent fasting. I've done it before, but I'm also attempting to wean off my pediatric-dose of SSRI (generic Lexapro), and IF is great for cutting the final bits of body fat I want to cut, and also helps stabilize hormones, which will certainly be needed during this transition. Without my SSRI (and even with), I can be quite a high-strung, angry person (at least before Christ, but it still tries to take over sometimes), so I'll be weaning slowly. And I just KNOW I'll have plenty of practice to give my anger up to God, because that's how it works.

Anyway. God is so good. My two old, sick babies are doing great right now, my other babies are doing well, the fatties are losing weight, the skinnies are gaining (some; their meds prevent them from gaining much), and all health issues seem to be leveling out. Praise God.

Hope you enjoyed the rollercoaster of my internal monologue. I'll drop in again next week.

All my love,

Jess

P.S.

I'm steadily learning more about book marketing, but the content stuff is HARD. What the crap do you guys care about hearing or learning with regards to this process, since I'm not quite ready to publish? What do you want to hear about? What do you want to read about? How much of my story do you want to learn about, even though it won't be for likely another year? I certainly don't want to bore you guys by simply rambling and presuming you care. HIT ME UP. COMMENT BELOW. Follow me on Facebook and let me know. BUT! I will be ramping this stuff up, exploring newsletter options, podcast options (me and Nicole really do want to do one), freaking TikTok (UGH... maybe), and YouTube (much more likely than TikTok). We'll see. I'm overwhelmed just listing them.

Love y'all. Ciao.

P.S.S.

Just fyi, my book does NOT read like my blog. At all. Just sayin'.