I turned in the manuscript for my second novel a week or so ago. It's nowhere near finished—in fact, I'm eagerly awaiting what will surely be a many-pages-long edits letter—but for now, it's off my plate. Across the table. My brain keeps trying to reach over and pull it back, but I'm dutifully distracting it.
Distractions:
1. Sully, Scarlett, and Barclay (feeding them, hanging out with them, letting them know I like them and stuff).
2. Friends (being around them, talking to them, letting them know I like them and stuff).
3. Listening to and making endless Spotify playlists. (You can tell what kind of thing I'm working on if you follow me on Spotify because what I'm listening to is usually pretty inextricably linked to what I'm writing. One influences the other, for sure, but I never know what direction the energy is moving in. It's a chicken and egg thing.)
4. Researching book marketing. I'm supposed to have a call with my marketing team sometime soon, and I don't want to sound dumb. I mean, I'm going to sound dumb, but it makes me feel less nervous if I fool myself into thinking I might not. It's all a pointless charade. I'm so bad at talking on the phone. Help.
5. Working on book three. After much deliberation, I've decided that my jumping off point is going to be that time I discovered a homemade flyer on the ground in Saskatoon promising me "the best time of my life" and, being the naive farm kid I was, found myself in a back alley, after dark, with a whole bunch of strangers. And that's just the jumping off point. I've also decided that there will be at least two—or maybe twenty—magicians! Because I've always wanted to write a book with magicians in it. Little known fact.
6. Reading so many books all at the same time. I have (counts) five on the go at the moment: a magician's memoir, an apocalyptic thriller, a lighthearted book about the last remaining descendant of the Bronte family, a lit fic, and a YA fantasy.
7. Blogging! (Obviously.) Because (refer to item 4) all the articles about book marketing say you should be more noisy online, and this is about as loud as I'm comfortable with.
Distractions:
1. Sully, Scarlett, and Barclay (feeding them, hanging out with them, letting them know I like them and stuff).
2. Friends (being around them, talking to them, letting them know I like them and stuff).
3. Listening to and making endless Spotify playlists. (You can tell what kind of thing I'm working on if you follow me on Spotify because what I'm listening to is usually pretty inextricably linked to what I'm writing. One influences the other, for sure, but I never know what direction the energy is moving in. It's a chicken and egg thing.)
4. Researching book marketing. I'm supposed to have a call with my marketing team sometime soon, and I don't want to sound dumb. I mean, I'm going to sound dumb, but it makes me feel less nervous if I fool myself into thinking I might not. It's all a pointless charade. I'm so bad at talking on the phone. Help.
5. Working on book three. After much deliberation, I've decided that my jumping off point is going to be that time I discovered a homemade flyer on the ground in Saskatoon promising me "the best time of my life" and, being the naive farm kid I was, found myself in a back alley, after dark, with a whole bunch of strangers. And that's just the jumping off point. I've also decided that there will be at least two—or maybe twenty—magicians! Because I've always wanted to write a book with magicians in it. Little known fact.
6. Reading so many books all at the same time. I have (counts) five on the go at the moment: a magician's memoir, an apocalyptic thriller, a lighthearted book about the last remaining descendant of the Bronte family, a lit fic, and a YA fantasy.
7. Blogging! (Obviously.) Because (refer to item 4) all the articles about book marketing say you should be more noisy online, and this is about as loud as I'm comfortable with.