Finished 1st draft…yada yada

So I finished the first draft of Living in Eden #2 last week and neglected to mention it here! I’m so cheating on this blog with Twitter, just like I’ve been cheating on Hugh Jackman with Sam Worthington! (sorry blog. And Hugh. I still love you. Sort of. Although not as much as I used to.) I’m always looking for a chance to trot out the dancing celebratory bananas!

Yes, just shy of 85K, it is done and currently in hibernation on my hard drive until the beginning of July when I’ll start the second draft. I’m in love with the main characters, but have a feeling the plot will need some significant work, but as La Nora says, she can work with a bad page, but she can’t work with a blank page. So all is well.

Now I’m working on my editorial revisions for Demon Princess #2 that I want to finish up this week.

And that’s pretty much it.

Progress, weasels & archetypes

I’m heading into my last few scenes of Eden #2 and trying to ignore the doubt weasels that are gnawing at my ankles for this book. They’ve been on vacation for quite some time but seem to have returned with more friends.

It’s like I logically know that a first draft can be rough, and I have budgeted plenty of time to make things bigger and better, but I’m still getting nervous that it won’t be good enough. I don’t just want it to be good, I want it to ROCK and lead to more books about these crazy characters who’ve now set up house in the condo of my head (along with my demon princess, her friends, and other sundry creatures currently simmering in my cranium).

It is this self-doubt that pushes me forward. I swear, as soon as I think whatever I’ve written is gold, it’s a sure sign that it’s lousy. So the fact that my doubt weasels are juggling with my self-confidence is, hopefully, proof that this book is going to be a good’un that I’ll be proud of.

I’ll just go on the record right now, though, that Darrak is my favorite hero to write so far. He fits well into the “charmer” hero archetype. A bit different from my usual “lost souls” who need the heroine’s light to complete them. Darrak has his share of angst to deal with, of course, but he’s definitely the funniest hero I’ve written and stunned that he’s fallen for my heroine as much as she is. At least, I think he’s funny. Eden, my heroine, is more of the straight-laced type. She has a mix of “librarian” and “crusader” heroine archetypes. While watching some of Two Weeks Notice the other day I thought — there’s two characters who remind me of Eden and Darrak! Kinda sorta.

Anyhow, talking about a WIP is only interesting for the person writing it, I think.

Here’s my progress… I won’t be blogging again until this puppy is done. Then I immediately move into the revisions on Demon Princess: Reign Check that are due the end of the month. I love the hero, Michael, in those books as well (as well as the love triangle dude I’ve introduced in book 2 – heh heh). But Michael’s not exactly a joke-cracking kind of guy like Darrak is. S’okay. He’s hot enough that I’ll forgive him.

Dream on

I had two vivid dreams last night…

#1 — I moved to Los Angeles and had a basement apartment that had windows at the top of my walls. While in bed (it was a one room apartment) I noticed that somebody was peering in at me because my curtains were sheer. I felt exposed and a bit threatened.

#2 — To win a contest (or, possibly, save the world) I had to walk out on a narrow platform, high in the sky when it was really windy, and tie a scarf around a target while wearing a funny outfit and at risk of death. There were a lot of people cheering me on and counting on me to do it and not mess up, but they couldn’t help me. I had to do it myself.

Of course, I figure both dreams are metaphors for my writing career right now.

EDEN #2 is going fairly well. I’m getting pages done — at 175 at the moment out of an approx. 350 page manuscript. How I feel about those pages I’m not so sure. I’m hoping I feel angsty about this book because my characters are angsty and stressed out. Just like acting, I feel that when writing I get into my characters enough to feel what they’re feeling. It’s a theory. In any case, I’ve budgeted the entire month of July to do the final draft. It’s all good.

I am happy to report (and, in fact, already reported this on Twitter) that Turkish rights have been sold for DEMON PRINCESS: REIGN OR SHINE. Which totally rocks.

And I’m getting some fantastic early reader reports about the book in my inbox since there seems to be about a billion Demon Princess ARCs out and about right now because of BEA and other conventions.

And…. HOT SPELL, my Harlequin Blaze, is now up for Amazon pre-order. It’s a November release and I should be seeing the cover in the next month or so. Can’t wait!

Also, I’m still in love with Sam Worthington. I may have to see Terminator: Salvation again.