I finished with book 1 of 3 today. Well, finished it for the second time.

It did “lose” those 15,000 words, but it’s in quotes because I think I’ll actually be able to use 7-8,000 of them in the 2nd book. I started to see where the book was going and how the start of the second book would shape up because of it and so I just let myself have fun with the ending. Suddenly, I found the wrapping point and realized that I was done.

I’m excited to get back into book 2 of 3. This one was about a third of the way written before it really started to bog down and I knew that I needed to go back and review book one. Remember, I was trying to write this series while working on the Sacred Knight series and Onesong, along with several other novels and short stories. I would project hop to whatever sounded fun at the moment, so it’s not surprising that I started to lose track of the story. Yes, there are so many other stories waiting for me to finish this series now. But it’s nice to be focused.

Today’s picture comes from the elderberry shrub outside my office window. It kept catching leaves falling from the red maple tree which lives beside it. The shrub actually grows around the corner of the house, extending branches around and in front of my window. I get lovely elderberry leaves in both of my windows. I think, considering the leaves on the elderberry still are hanging on strong, don’t like the red maple giving up quite so quickly. It was fun to watch the catches and attempted catches as I was writing.

Now that I’m done with book 1, I figure it might be time to start working on covers and branding for this series. I know the titles of all the books. Just a thought, and it excites me every time I think about it.

Of course, that’s when the critical voice jumps in and reminds me that I haven’t even finalized the cover for Palladium and I don’t have a good mockup for 1-800-Lok8. Yeah, isn’t it so fun to tell yourself to shut up? (grin)

There is a point to it though. I do need to finalize those covers. Especially since I want to get them out soon.

This is why I need to get my planning calendar. Keep myself on target.

Regardless of that though, I am making progress. Keep moving forward.