The good news is — it’s Bottoms Up, Book 2. I received it from Alyssa in January, 6000 words (bringing the total to over 120K!) and one sex scene richer. Now I’m going through the entire story and doing my “final” thing. I know I’m a slow writer. I know much of that has to do with physical limitations and my computer stamina. When I push, my body screams at me and it takes days, sometimes weeks, to get back on track. Ergo, I’ve learned not to push!

But I had a revelation over the weekend that helped explain to my highly analytical brain the other reason I write so slow. Check out this post. It’s one of the absolute best summaries I’ve ever seen on self-editing. Cutting the flab (unnecessary words, paragraphs, etc.) out of your manuscript so that your story reads as swiftly and flawlessly as you can make it.

That’s always been a goal of mine–to make every book the absolute best I can. Are there things I would do differently on my first couple of historical releases? Heck yes! But clarity comes with time, and I’ve learned do the best I can at the time then let it go.

So I know it’s taking a while but I can promise Jonah and Suzy’s story covers a lot of emotional ground, with plenty of surprising laughs sprinkled throughout. I hope everyone waiting for the second book in the series will love it, and I’m happy to report we’re definitely closing in on “The End”. (well actually, I’m closing in on “the middle”, but the end won’t be far behind! )

Stay warm! Larissa

As my handy dandy word count monitor shows, I’m busted! Went totally over the target word count on Jonah’s story. We’ll see where it ends up. Alyssa and I are now thinking maybe 105-110K…we’ll have to see, but I promise I’m working on finishing it — and it’s going great!

Stay tuned…I’ll post when it’s time to enter the Halloween contest and more great book news soon!

On the writing front, in between skunk shoo-ings (which has become my responsibility… guiding them into the cage — have only been sprayed once!) I’ve been working on incorporating all my scene additions to Jonah and Suzy’s tale, the second in our Bottoms Up Western series. No easy feat, as I’ve dictated three files’ worth of new stuff.

I’m just about done with this endeavor and will update the word count meter on the right once it’s complete and I’m ready to move on to my next phase of composition…blending and smoothing everything together.

Currently Reading:

Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind

A Lady’s Pleasure by Renee Bernard

The Magician’s Way by William Whitecloud

Keeper of the Swans by Nancy Butler

(well check it out…my reading list reads much like my “works-in-progress” list!) Larissa

Very happy to report progress continues steadily on Jonah’s story, the second Contemporary Western in my co-authored Bottoms Up series. In the handy word meter tracker to the right, you’ll note nearly a 20,000 word increase since last month, which is mighty fine indeed. That will likely start slowing after the next couple of weeks as I start piecing together several scenes and plot-point additions, and doing judicious deleting where necessary, to form a fabulous, cohesive and fast-paced story. (I hope, I hope, I hope!)

Health-wise, my voice has been giving me trouble and not letting me dictate — or talk! — as much as I’d like. Friends are being super patient as I forgo phone calls in order to dedicate myself to studly, swaggering cowboys. (We all have to make some sacrifices…)

Keep enjoying the remaining days of summer, and I’ll be back later this week with the next installment on Collaborative Writing. Larissa

I spent most of the spring working on a Regency story that’s a mite different from anything I’ve done before. This one was both started and finished without any interruptions (go me!) and I hope to have positive news to announce soon.

Currently I’m working on the second Bottoms Up story. Alyssa sent me her 46,000 word “draft” (I put the word draft in quotation marks because her drafts are a lot more polished than mine!). I usually double — or more — whatever she sends me on our joint work and that’s what I’m focusing on now. No distractions allowed! If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I sometimes have issues getting projects FINISHED. Made a promise to both myself and Alyssa, any time I’m working on one of our joint stories, nothing else will cross my mind (if it does, I have to spank it into submission, ha!).

After I finish Jonah’s story, I’ll be completing my third Roaring Rogue. Phineas, darling, I haven’t forgotten you! I have the entire story drafted out and dictated (I hand write everything first). It came to over 62,000 words which I think scared the peewadiddly out of me because that’s my longest draft to date. I usually add 40-50% more to my own stuff during the polishing phase which means the sucker could easily be 90,000+ words and I want every single one to shine, sparkle and set readers on fire! So I’m feeling the pressure. GULP.

To the right, I updated the word count meter do-hicky thing for July. My goal is to refresh that at the beginning of each month as well. [And fooey-looey--I've just learned that my blog isn't displaying properly in Internet Explorer browsers. It looks fabulous in Mozilla Firefox, so use that if anything on the side is looking wonky, and please know that I'm working to get it fixed!]

So there you have it–what Larissa’s been up to & how I’ve been staying out of trouble!