December 2017 was a climactic, exciting month. My third book was published early in the month — Concerto — which prompted glitz and fireworks to an already happy, busy, holiday season in our new home. The book itself is a thrill. I may like the story even more than the first in its series, Forte. Not soon after its release, I was already started on book #3. Actually, I started before the release. At the end of Concerto, readers will find a teaser chapter for the next — currently titled Cadence. This was my #JaNoWriMo project this year.
For those unfamiliar, JaNoWriMo is a version of NaNoWriMo — where writers give themselves a daily writing quota in a month-long writing challenge. I choose January instead of November for reasons I’ve outlined in a previous blog post.
So how’d it go?
I’m happy to report, Cadence is well under way! I only had a teeny head start — just that 1200-word teaser chapter. January 31 snuck up on me, but my total word count as of today (Feb 2) is 22,390 – ! The story is cranking and the ideas are flowing. Structure is kind of falling to the wayside as I’ve tried to keep pushing the story forward rather than overthink what should happen and when. This is something I’ll have to fix. But, for me, to keep my enthusiasm up for a project, I need to keep writing. Even if it means more work in the long run. Plotting scenes on note cards just doesn’t excite me. The project would fizzle. And what a shame that would be. This story may be my best yet!
So, yay! I’m a happy writer.
What was different this year?
I didn’t write every day. I skipped weekends. I accepted those lunch dates with friends that were a no-go last year. I kept up on bills and other domestic responsibilities, which kind of suffered last year (sorry, honey). So, this year was about balance. Besides, I may have needed a sort of break after working so hard to get Concerto out into the world. And I look forward to continuing to work on it. Can you say #FebNoWriMo? Ha!
What’s Cadence about, you ask? Ahhh…
Not to keep you in suspense, but that’s a subject for another day, another post. Stay tuned!
jdspero 
Johanna, I’m looking forward to reading Concerto while I’m recovering from shoulder surgery. I received it as a Christmas gift from Chris’ son, Bryce. Keep on target with your writing for the next book, balance of work and life is important, though. Best wishes for continued success with your writing projects.
Oh my goodness. Please give Bryce a big THANK YOU from me. I’m sorry to hear you’re having shoulder surgery, but hopefully Concerto will be a positive during your recovery. Definitely stay in touch. Thanks again.