Crazy Week

Dear imps, here is your official heads up . . . I am entering into Crazy Week as of tomorrow morning and will probably be out of commission until said week is through.

What is Crazy Week, you ask?

Crazy Week is I-really-want-to-finish-my-deadline-on-time-no-extensions-but-to-do-so-will-mean-some-crazy-writing-so-I'm-going-to-purposefully-go-insane-to-get-this-deadline-met.

I don't recall ever having quite so much trouble meeting a deadline before. Every other book (even Dragonwitch, which I found insanely difficult to write) was finished a good two or three months before the deadline so that I had time to look it over and do revisions before submitting it. But every manuscript is a different animal with different needs and different processes. This Book 7 has been no exception.

I find myself right on the edge of my deadline (which is the end of October), with still a chunk of book to write. Which would imply that this book is the hardest I've ever written. Eh. I don't think so. Unlike all of my other projects, I've not had any false-starts with this one. Everything I chose to write at the beginning of manuscript is still in place--with tweaks, sure, but still in place. I've added scenes rather than tossing and rewriting. I've stalled out (during those weird sicknesses) and wondered if I was going to have to change tack, only to discover that really all I needed to do was press forward. Even the storylines that have had to be adjusted have been pinpointed and fixed before I actually wrote them (yay, outlines!). I adore my characters, I am thrilled with the plot, and I like to think my writing is continuing to improve.

So what's the problem?

I don't know. Book 7 is much bigger than my other projects, so there is that. And it is Book 7, which means I have six books' (and a novella's) worth of pressure and expectations built up, which, I won't lie, can be paralyzing at times. I'm also MUCH busier than I was back when I was just writing for my living--I'm now running an editing business and developing Rooglewood Press, working with (wonderful!) writing students, receiving and reading manuscripts for possible publication (all of which have to be carefully reviewed), studying new skills such as typesetting, formatting, and new elements of design I never covered in college, etc. I'm marketing in a much bigger way, both for my own work and in preparation for Five Glass Slippers and my mother's Until That Distant Day. And the blogging, while one of my favorite things ever, does take up a certain amount of time, particularly if there's a big event happening such as the Fan Fiction or Fan Art contests. Couple all of that with the weird sickness, and it's been a busy year aside from the writing.

When I stop and consider all of this, I think Book 7 has come together remarkably well!

Seriously, if I really buckle down, I'll have this manuscript drafted by the end of this week. And I decided that if I make a public statement about this goal, I'll be so much more likely to meet it. So here I am, publically declaring my intention.

And I hope to be able to announce a complete manuscript by next Saturday! But don't let me get too far ahead of myself . . .

In the meanwhile, there are two features with giveaways happening here this coming week, so do check back for those. One is for an author you have met here before, and one is for a brand new-to-me author whom I think you will really enjoy meeting.

And think of me with prayers as you go about your week . . . and know that if you email me, I probably won't get back to you until Saturday, but I will get back to you as soon as I can. (Mentoring students, don't expect your final edits back until at least the 28th, okay?) Hugs to you all!