Pedal to the Metal

A busy week. I completed my edit of my editor's edits late Monday and returned the document to her. Now, she gives it another going over before sending it back to me like a hot potato. I'll spend another couple of intense days rereading, addressing comments and making final tweaks. All of this needs to be finished by August 25. You can understand why I'm losing perspective on whether the story is any good or not. There comes a point of saturation. But I still believe this is a good one and can't wait for you to read it.

My second task this week was (believe it or not) to write a cover blurb for book six, not due out until 2019! This is the manuscript that I'm currently drafting on the first go through. I also had to come up with a title, which took me a couple of days. Titles are hard. Especially my titles for this series since they all have to be two words. The working title that I was using has also recently been used by Rick Mofina and Denise Mina in slightly different forms so I knew I had to come up with something else ... and I did :-) The title of book six in the Stonechild series is: Turning Secrets. I think it works!

And the last thing I've been turning my hand to this week is making chapter notes for the manuscript as I've gotten to the point where I'm unclear what happened to whom and in what order. I'm not the most organized writer and had been promising myself that I'd do this one day. It is a painstaking process but I know I'm going to be happy that I've put in the time. I worked two days already and am only a third of the way through. Once I get myself sorted, I'll write the ending to this book as I have about 25,000 words to go.

I had a lovely surprise this week in my mailbox. A man named Tim Power who went to the same high school as I did, and who lives in B.C., made me a pen from the wood of a lilac tree growing in his yard. He'd read the first three books in the Stonechild series and thought I might like one of his fine pens. He sent the pen to my publisher who forwarded it to me. Such a thoughtful gift that I'll use at signings. You can see the pen on my desk below the box Tim made out of a beer carton, which my neighbour tells me is a popular brand out west. So cool.