Wait... Now How Do I Blog Again?

Halo, fine friends!!! Back from a three week break—the first of that length in my four years of blogging. And I've realized I don't feel like I know what I'm doing anymore. Erm... not that I claim to have ever had full competence...

My trip was GREAT and I will have pictures to share...
I had some experiences, and I have some wisdom to share (stop laughing)...

And I have rejuvenated a project like you would not believe and I am UBER excited about it. So maybe THAT is where I'll start.

A Shot in the Light was mostly written last summer—two months of PACKED writing and my final count was some 127,000 words.

So Ima make it longer...

*cough*

You think I'm kidding? Lemme e'splain... no. Is too much. Lemme sum up...


See, I had a young freelance reporter from Portland, Oregon (Sidney Knight) whose brother works at the CDC... She notices all these dead birds when she is at the beach trying to get a few projects done (Ew, right?) and calls him...

He warns her not to get a flu shot... she gets HOME and realizes this flu thing is much worse than she thought... within days she's lost a friend and lost contact with her brother so she decides she needs to go to Atlanta to figure out what's what...

THAT was the original story...

Working Title is Ill Omens, details in progress

Now I am ADDING:

*  Her nurse friend who flees to avoid the (work required)  flu shot
*  A public health PhD student who is planning the Zombie Apocalypse (seriously... well, sort of)
*  A mercenary who suddenly finds all his buddies are dead...
*  And a senator's daughter/law student who hears some things that make her really uncomfortable.


All these people are 20-somethings... Some of them will have sex. *cough* (is that TMI?) Is it better or worse if I disclose whether it is with each other or not?  These things are so confusing!

Does this make it new adult? I don't know the answer to that... not worrying about it. They are interesting young professionals, mostly... I will call it good.

What I DO know, and what I am SUPER excited about is this serial release thing.

To my original first three chapters I've added seven (and will tease out an 8th—pulling from Sidney, my original MC and giving some of the meat to Sarah, my nurse--for balance mostly--there is an important scene they are both in)--what WAS 46 pages is now 100ish.

I know Susan Kaye Quinn, who I've admitted to stalking, likes each to have a conclusion, and I WILL... but maybe not as solid a conclusion as she does. I am really doing these in the spirit of serials... there is a conclusion--or rather a large theme tied up--but there is ALSO a 'the story continues'. And most of my PoVs will continue into each next segment... except when people die... erm... It IS an epidemic! And WAR!


So do you want to know my PLAN? *BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA*

Come on. You have to cackle with me if you want to know...

*BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA*

I need to do a couple things this summer:


1) OUTLINE to the end... you know I can't abide pants... But seriously. If I am going to start publishing this, I need to know it is really manageable and I am not going to end up written into a corner. What I mean by outlining is a sentence or two about what each section that the ENTIRE FREAKING THING will have.

2) Have a clean draft of the first six sections written by the end of August. My feedback loop requires I work this far ahead.

3) Through book three peer reviewed and formally edited. (I am actually going to finally PAY Leanne for copy editing and Joris for covers!!! Both have been amazing all this time, helping me for free, but I am going to be asking them to drop everything and help out, and both deserve to finally get the professional recognition they deserve.)

4) I will work up a formal calendar with all my deadlines, as I dig that stuff.

5) I will get an author profile up at Facebook and Goodreads

6) I will do a crash course in self-published formatting and stuff (and stuff to include all the STUFF I need to know--any experts in stuff, give a shout, I need you)

7) I will push PUBLISH for the first of these the first week in September—isn't there a day of the week for new releases? THAT day...

8) The first FOUR will be two weeks apart.

9) The pacing of the rest will be either a month gap, then two weeks apart for three more, month off, two weeks apart (you see what I'm getting at) or three weeks for all...I sort of like the 3X2 with a month break but I can't really explain it to you logically expect I plan to make PoD available for these in a clustered way (first 4, then 3 at a time) and at least for HALF there are thematic splits at these breaks. I am not in enough detail yet in the second half to know if that is still true.


I also need to look at Christmas and stuff... see what paces best if it is 10, they could ALL be ready by then and I could sett sets, but I have my doubts 10 is enough.

I really want to be done at least a month before the release of Keeping Mum so I can concentrate on that in February. I'm not sure right now whether I want 10 total or 13... I'd like ONE freebie, then clusters of three, but I get that it may not work out that way. THIS is part of what the outlining is about.

It's been a while since I was this jacked up about revising... Maybe because part of this process is writing. And MAYBE, just MAYBE part of it is that I wrote all those extra chapters longhand in the car... I need to get my notebook back to the bathtub... I was typing last night and made myself CRY when I'd WRITTEN the bloody thing I was typing. It should NOT have been new information, but it was a heartstring-tugger.

Gratuitous llama kiss because that's how I roll

So now that I am back, I am going to make a better effort as a blog READER... I try to get to people who comment first... and it seems like for AGES that is all I've managed (and that not well)... But work is picking up the pace (on top of having been gone 2.5 weeks)... hopefully it really will be better. Kick me if you feel neglected. I totally don't mean to do that. If you comment, I swear I mean to get to you within the week...

HEY: Question for you savvy folks... especially self-publishers: Are you incorporated? Or have you formed a separate entity for your writing endeavors? That is something I'm considering. I'm thinking if I plan to pay people, it will make this all smoother. Can someone give me a primer on the advantages? Or point to a blog that does it for them?