I made my deadline. :) With only one day to spare, I turned in book 2, CHECKMATE, MY LORD, to my editor. Can everyone hear my ginormous sigh of relief? Have a peek at my pre-deadline office below—yikes! Many times, I’ve heard authors talk about the difficulty they had in writing their “sophomore” book. I never really understood the message they were trying to convey—until this past year. Writing on deadline is a completely different animal from having years to polish one’s debut. And in some cases, writing several manuscripts until THE ONE catches an editor’s eye. If you’re a pre-published author, I’d like to offer you one piece of advice. Discipline yourself to writing a certain number of words (or pages) a day, every day. Then, when you do sell (because you will), you can answer one vital question that your new editor will ask. How long will it take you to write the next book? It’s an answer you must know. Because if you get it wrong, you’re not only affecting y...
READ. REVIEW. REPEAT.