Starward and Dangerous Moves

After taking a short break to celebrate the release of The Legend of Goat Head Lodge, I'm back to work.  Edits for Dangerous Moves (The L & L Mysteries #4) will begin soon (hopefully this week).  And let me take just a moment to explain the editing process, since it actually is quite different from what most authors go through.

Since my husband (my Muse) and I publish our own books through our publishing company, Cressen Books LLC, we wear many hats including the hat of Editor.  Obviously, there's format, grammar, and spelling edits that take place.  But we also do a lot of content editing in order to flesh out the story and make it come alive for our readers.

So, a typical editing session lasts about an hour, maybe two (depends on how large of a section we're tackling).  If it's my books we're editing, then he reads them out loud, line for line.  We've come to realize the huge benefit reading aloud is because when he reads it, we tend to find words that have been dropped (because of my speed typing and me overlooking it because I'm convinced it's there), and we discover what flows better (is the sentence too formal or too awkward?, that sort of thing).

Also, by reading aloud, we can both get a feel for what might be missing in the section.  This leads to discussions of what can be added (or sometimes what can be dropped) and changes are made accordingly.  Plus, when specific character conversations/interactions are read aloud, it helps me to get a better feel for how they respond to each other and whether it should be added to, changed, or taken out completely.  I'm a huge fan of character interactions and I want my characters to have a realistic and comfortable feel when conversing with each other. 

Anyway, so that can take us up to two hours at a time to thoroughly edit a section (usually 10-15 pages).  Then, if there are major pieces I need to add to the section, we'll come back to it and do a final read-through to make sure everything's flowing right and I didn't forget something.  With the way our schedules are, we're usually lucky if we can get in two editing session in a week.  So, with that in mind, editing a book usually takes anywhere from a month (that's pretty darn fast) up to three months (we have a lot going on that takes away from editing time).

So, my best case scenario is that Dangerous Moves will be ready to publish sometime this summer, but I'm not holding my breath on that.  As the edits come closer to being done, I'll definitely keep everyone informed and let you know when you can expect to see this next book!  I will confess, though, that I'm extremely excited about this 4th installment into the L & L Mysteries, so I'll probably be pushing hard to get through all of the edits quickly but accurately!

Now, an update on Starward (Galactic Dynasty #1).  I have decided to add a Word Count meter to the side bar of this blog.  I'll update it periodically so you can see what progress I'm making and I'll also post when I've made major progress.  In the last post, I was at 58,750 words.  I am now at 60,499 and according to the word counter, that means I'm about 60% done...WOOT!  So, posting may become sporadic as I work towards finishing this book.  But, I'll try to come out of my writing cave at least once a week to post a general update or talk about whatever else may be floating through my brain.

Okay, it's off to work.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and I look forward to sharing more with you again soon!

Part 1 Complete...

Whew...I have finally reached the end of part one of Rosa's journey in "Starward".  It's always such a huge relief to reach a goal that was set at the beginning of a writing project.  Now my Muse and I will be re-reading the first part and seeing if there's anything we missed or wanted to change before I begin part two. 

I'm really excited about beginning part two (even though Rosa is a little less enthused).  My Muse and I have so much planned for the second part, that every time I think about it, I get all giddy and excited and my fingers itch to begin writing it!  But, I shall refrain until we both give the first part our seal of approval.

So, while I'm waiting for my Muse's feedback, I'll turn my attention to poor Lucien and Leyla.  They've kind of taken a back seat lately while I collaborated with my Muse to begin this new series with Rosa.  But, soon I will be taking on Leyla's persona again and helping her through the next piece of "The Legend of Goat Head Lodge".  Fortunately, the story has already been written.  Now I'm just going through and doing the edits and re-writes.

From one character to the next, I'll continue this journey I'm on, navigating the world of creative writing.  And, unlike Rosa, I'm looking forward to every minute of it!

The Art of Deceit

So, a little more about who I am.  I'm the author for a new mystery series called The L & L Mysteries.  The first book in the series, "Spanish Intrigue", was released in April 2011.  After many months of edits and re-writes, book 2 in the series, "The Art of Deceit", is now available.


Well, what is The L & L Mysteries you ask?  It's a series about a 16-year-old girl named Leyla Richards and a 17-year-old boy named Lucien Vintera (hence the L & L part) who find themselves involved in various mysteries.  This series began as just something fun to write while I was attending college classes at the University of Baltimore.  Three years later, I found that I had five books in draft for this series and decided to start putting the finishing touches on them.

It has been a fun series to write so far.  I write from both Leyla's and Lucien's perspectives, so getting into the head of each of these characters can be quite intriguing and definitely challenging.  These books are intended for readers age 10 and up, mainly for the 10-14 crowd.

Anyway, as this post is titled after the 2nd book in the series, I again wanted to mention it's release and how excited I am to hold the finished book in my happy little hands!  Both books are available for purchase at my publishing company's website: www.cressenbooks.com.  They can also be purchased for the Kindle via Amazon's website.

That's all for now.  My Muse and I are in the process of building a fancy little firepit on our back deck.  I'd better get back at it so I can soon enjoy toasting marshmallows over the open flames!