To manage my new pace of releasing a novel every four months (thank you Dragonblade Publishing!!) I have to create a draft in two months. That pace requires that I write at least 2000 words a day (10,000 a week) for eight weeks. More or less. Those months are bracketed by a month of beta reading/editing/proofing, and one spent planning.
I plunged into The Upright Son last week, finishing up planning and beginning to actually put words on paper. I have a thousand words to show for it and most of those will require rewriting. As my brother often says when he manages to get our motley crew together and in a vehicle for an outing, “We’re off like a herd of turtles.” But at least I am off and, if not running, at least walking and I know where I’m going. Character work on the hero was fairly easy. David, the Earl of Clarion, has already appeared in three books. I knew he was a bit stiff—wrapped too tight as they say —and needed a woman to loosen him up. The heroine proved challenging. This is the first time I had to do a four generation outline. I decided early on her Grandmother was an enslaved house keeper in Jamaica, but i quickly figured out that wasn’t enough. I needed to know the impact of that on personality and behavior down a few generations, even if it never actually appears in the book. We’ll see what happens.
At least, I’m off. But first, coffee.
