Ten books on....

I decided to start writing this after publishing my tenth novel to track how the writing process is going and keeping a record out there somewhere. Why the hell not? 

I finished the first draft of The Third Daughter (and the second and third drafts) a while back, but decided it needed another whole layer/web of interactions between the main character and the community, so I'm letting it rest until Christmas break, when hopefully I can get some solid concentration time. 

Holding a whole book in your head feels like overclocking your brain. Like it's operating beyond its parameters. It's a very strange sensation. 

Writing a first draft is one of the most fun things I could possibly do. Rewriting is much harder. And it lacks that delicious brain chemistry I get from writing first drafts. But then eventually I get to be finished! That's also a huge rush. 

I'm in it for the brain chemistry, apparently. And watching numbers of KDP. You know we can see how many pages have been read in each book each day, right? I love that. I love it so much. 

A friend texted me she was about to read The Nerve in the bathtub, so I went to the tracking page and watched the page count go up. Eeeeek! I love that! She read 50 pages in that tub! How great is that?

So that rewrite is looming large in my mind. I keep inventing community connection characters for her, especially girls who are on their own and struggling. I remember a girl a year or two ago who lived alone in a rented trailer with two very small children. She had a terrible problem with rats. They chewed through the walls and got into the living space, where they destroyed all the food and even destroyed her children's clothing. She was at the end of her rope and the landlord wouldn't do anything about it. She reached out on Facebook in the community group--we live in a very small town--and everyone jumped in to help her. Someone helped her find a new place, someone else helped her fight the landlord, someone helped work on getting rid of the rats, and so on. (All I did was take a bunch of big tins over to her place so she could keep her food safe.) That girl is on my mind as I rewrite because that's the kind of situation my character needs to step into to help people.

The character is kind of too self-absorbed and useless right now. I find that deeply unappealing. Do something! Do anything! In a previous novel, she mentioned she made quilts and blankets for Project Linus, helped at her church's food band, played piano for student recitals and for church services, and so on. She was involved and part of the community. So I'm making her do all of that again.

It's fascinating when people cut themselves off, but it's even better when they're part of things and helping people and still feel isolated and alone. In this case, it's because she has drawn a dividing line down her life and said that before that line is NOT ME. Obviously that's psychologically disastrous. You can't cut off part of yourself and disown it. 

In the beginning of the book, that old life of hers that she's been so careful to hide comes out in the most public possible way. Boom! goes your careful secrecy. 

It's going to take a lot of finesse to do this right. Who's dreading it? Me! But shouldn't because it's just another draft. It's only in the rewrites and final edits that everything has to make perfect sense and line up with everything else. You can't have scenes where this person is there at the beginning then vanishes part way through, hello. (Caught that in the last draft.)

I'm excited to get this book done. I figured out everyone's ages in 2026 based on elapsed time from previous books, which all happen the year they're published. I know, who cares? But I need to keep track, or the small children are too old or too young next time we see them.

What if the next book isn't about ANY of these people I keep writing about? I know!

I have an idea for a sci-fi novel and I have an idea for a real-world novel about someone unrelated to all the previous novels. 

We'll see which way I jump. 

 Meanwhile: The Third Daughter is occupying all of my thoughts.