Editing... and more editing...

I'm forcing myself to push through the edits on my three Elliot Lake books, because the faster I go over those books, the faster I can finish book 4, and have all of them ready to re-publish and publish... because THEN I can get onto my new novels!

The way my brain works is, it doesn't want to work on the known... it wants to work on the new and unknown. It wants to create extensive name banks to name new characters from, design the cities the new stories will take place in, create the systems of magic the characters will use and rely on to keep balance in their lives... it doesn't want to edit. 

So, today I created a schedule to have the Elliot edits done, have the fourth book finished, and even time to work on their new covers so the Elliot Lake series will be ready to go in 2025. The carrot is working on my new series... and the faster I get Elliot put to bed, the sooner I can jump into Birdsong Bay and create those new novels. 

I've given myself a week to do the edits on the first three books, and then until the end of November to finish writing the fourth book. And I should finish early. Then, covers, front and back matter, bios, and book descriptions for Amazon, and then we're off! 

Birdsong Bay has already tossed off a spin-off series, and so my brain, of course, only wants to work on THAT now too... so, that's what I'll do. Write books, make art, and take care of my family.

It's Surgery Season, so this will be an interesting Christmas. Our youngest just had her 11th surgery at Shriner's in Portland, Oregon... a rhinoplasty that went really well, and she is now recovering. I need surgery on my foot, and two of our cats need dentals and teeth removed. All before Christmas. But, we have no travel plans. And Miss Finn is still battling kidney disease, which means I can't go anywhere anyway with her needing her therapies (fluids and drugs) every other day. 

But getting back into doing the research and brainstorming for my new novels has been a breath of fresh air. So, until further notice, you can find my at the dining table, building worlds between loads of laundry. 

And the funny thing about researching magic and witches and ways to find balance in the universe, I was reminded that whatever you put out into the world comes back to you threefold. Some people need to remember that.