Well, that’s it…I think I have a complete first draft of THE HARLOT. Can’t quite believe it! I’ve loved working on this book. It’s been exciting and it’s also been a tough job at times. I took on new challenges with the characters, especially their background and personalities, and it’s been a real learning curve. The relationship between the hero and the heroine is definitely the most intense one I’ve written to date, and I’m excited to see what my editor and readers will think of it.
I don’t know how I ever thought I could bring that first draft in under 90,000 words though... It’s almost at 93K and that only gives me 7K words to play with as I work on the second draft. It’s definitely going to hit the top limit of 100K. There will have to be some judicious cropping of earlier scenes because I know some later scenes need enriching. It’s going to be a busy edit when I get to it.
Now I must put THE HARLOT to one side for a couple of weeks and finish up MONICA’S SECRET. I've got about 20K to go on Monica's story. This one has been a fast moving write for me. Fun, hot, risky, with three dynamic characters in a contemporary ménage á trois. The dialogue has sparked and flowed for me. Writing two very different stories alongside each other has been a good experiment and it’s paid off. I’ll have to get myself organized to try to work that way again in the future.
So I’m still not online much at all (through to the end of July) and I’m struggling to keep up with digests and news, but it’s going well on the writing front which is the most important thing.
In other news, SECRETS VOLUME 29 is coming very soon, and is already available through the eredsage site! And check out my listing on the Romantic Novelists' Association web site. So proud to be there!
