People ask if I prefer writing series or standalone. I put it like this, some days you want to see old friends, people who know you well enough that you never have to explain yourself. And some days, you want to venture out, to something new. It’s sort of like that. Maybe not really but a little. There’s something comforting about a series, about characters who are so familiar. But it’s exciting to find a new world, too, and that can be equally tempting. Maybe more.
The graph of a thriller
It’s a bizarre thing to see the emotions that come with reading a book in the form of a graph, but this one does a pretty good job of mapping out the revelations when it’s done well. For a pantser like me (that is someone who doesn’t plot a book out), this happens mostly by intuition and, as far as I can tell, a little big of magic.
The final stage
There is nothing quite like holding your completed book in your hands. But this final stage, the page proofs, is its own bit of thrill. There’s the excitement at how close the final version is, but also a true sense of nervousness that this it the very last chance to catch any errors and typos that have snuck through uncaught.
When writing is business...
For me, the process of writing a book is a combination of faith and persistence. It’s just me, alone at my desk. But when the book is done and the publisher gets involved, it becomes business. Which means things have to be done on a schedule. Sometimes on a gorgeous summer weekend day.
Book events in COVID
People are reading more. That’s the good news. The bad news is there are no events, no readings, no author meet and greets. I miss people.
