So I haven’t done any writing, since submitting the Christmas story. I played with some ideas for the next story, and know which one I want to go with, but haven’t done anything more than note down a few ideas..

It feels strange not to be writing. I’m restless and antsy.

That’s good. When I start back into writing again, I’ll be raring to go. I’m using that energy getting a lot of other stuff done, all that decluttering and sorting out stuff I don’t usually have the time or the oomph for. It shows just how much energy writing uses. Those last few days working on the story I ended each day exhausted. And how much energy the Day Job sucked out of me. I’ve achieved more in the last two weeks since dropping back to part time hours there than I did in the preceding two months or more!

Today, the big job was clearing the shed, ready to start the fixing up work on Tuesday. I’d hoped to start sooner, but today is the first day it hasn’t rained, and I’ve been waiting for supplies to arrive. Anyway, we got it empty, and I got an unpleasant surprise. One corner has rot. The whole side wall was mouldy where something was leaned against it, trapping moisture  that never dried out as it’s the shady side. And the supporting timber under the corner has rotted right out, letting that corner get damp.

So that meant a lovely few hours scrubbing the entire wall with bleach. Three times!

Luckily, now it’s clean and drying out, it’s only a tiny patch of the floor that’s soft. I’m hoping I can just fix the underfloor support and the damp issue and get away with it. Because fixing it properly by replacing that floorboard would mean dismantling the entire shed, and that is NOT going to happen. The other surprise is a patch of what looks and smells like engine oil on the floor, but that’s not a big deal.

It’s also been a day of anticipation.

It’s release day, for one of my CPs., Robyn Thomas  Her first book, “His Unexpected Family”, a contemporary romance with a thrill-seeker mountain climber hero and a newly bereaved mother heroine.  Tagline- ”Family may be the biggest adventure of them all.” It’s a wonderful story, tenderly emotional yet sexy too. I adore her voice and can’t wait to read her final edited version. If that story sounds like something you’d enjoy, come back tomorrow for some cover love and a link! We’re all desperately waiting for it to go live on Amazon so we can buy copies. Clicking and fricking, as Jilly says, hitting refresh constantly on the search box and getting nothing. Grrr!

So I’ve made a decision on what to write next, too. Rather than dive into the rewrite of the last story, I’ll wait a couple more days, then edit Believe in Me again. Let it be the length it needs to be to tell the story best. I suspect that will be around 20k, maybe a little longer. I’ll sub it out to some other publishers who might take a Christmas romance novella. I’m thinking Samhain, Ellora’s Cave Blush, and Grand Central’s Forever. Maybe Carina.  If I work on the other story first, it’ll be way too late to sub a Christmas story by the time it’s edited up.

I’ll combine working on the shed with editing fours or five hours a day, so I don’t get burned out on either job. By mid-August at the latest, I’ll have a finished writing space, and a story that’s really ready to go, not rushed to meet a deadline and mangled to meet a word count.

If I can get it out again within a few weeks, a month tops, I’ll still have time to self-publish if they all reject it.

Though that depends on the reason for rejections. If I get form rejections, or rejections with criticisms, I need to reconsider. Maybe the story isn’t as good as I think it is. I don’t want to put it out there if it’s truly not good enough for publication. Of course, some epubs, like Carina don’t give encouraging comments on R’s. Nothing in between form rejections and revise/resubmits.

If I consistently get the sort of r’s that are along the lines of they liked it, but it’s just not what they are looking for in their Christmas list, then self-pubbing is the way to go. Of course, those sort of R’s may just be a politer way of saying it’s still not good enough! I’m sure most editors would find space for a sensationally good story, even if it didn’t quite fit that month’s list.

Maybe I can start working on the story tomorrow. Take it on the train to read and annotate. I’ll know if it’s too soon to start edits, if I can’t see anything wrong with it! If I can see the issues that need fixing, and I’m pretty sure I will as I knew before I even subbed the thing, it’s time to start the next round of edits. Put back in some of what I took out. Add what’s needed for readability, flow, and reader understanding.

Then it’s time to take a deep breath and hit send again.