From Plot to Proof in 26 days? Did I do it?

Challenged by my mom at the end of November to edit my last book, Bloodlines of Fire and have a proof copy before Christmas, I leapt into writing action.

The first draft manuscript was completed a couple months ago, and my dad loved it. When my mom asked me to edit the draft and get her a proof copy from Amazon, I freaked out.

I was supposed to just edit the book, but to work out the final wrinkles in the plot, which proved impossible without a from-the-roots-up rewrite.

I wrote the entire second draft (about 38,000 words), in 7 ½ days. I was happy with that. But despite the wild efforts of my spectacular family and I, it simply couldn’t be edited with enough time to send for a real copy to be made. Kudos to my brother for up-till-4 A.M. prose-editing parties, to my dad for tens of hours of careful reading and editing, and to my sisters for reading it—and wanting to read it (that’s always encouraging).

In the end, there was just no way.

We needed another week or so for it to be ready to be sent for a proof. Of course, by then it would be after Christmas.

I was disappointed.

My mom said that it was perfectly fine and that it could wait a little while.

While the op wasn’t a complete success, I learned a lot about my writing limits (i.e. they are pliable and way further out than I think), I got a new draft (one that’s 4x better than the last), a new cover, and I have more confidence and validation than ever. While this wasn’t a total win, I worked hard and got results.  

A HUGE thanks for this goes to my family. I’ve known for a long time that I wouldn’t be a writer without them, and I know this is another great example of how that works. They gave up a lot of sleep and a lot of hours trying to turn my writing into something good and I appreciate it so much.

Until next time,

“My biggest failures in life are knowing I never tried.” —NF, “Remember This”.