Who hit her deadline?

Oh, yeah. This chick, that's who.

I wrote 20,000 words in 3 days, and yes, I hit my deadline. I wrote "The End" on June 13.

I spent a week doing my tedious "over-used words" edit and pared off 3,000 words, so I'm now at 124,000 words. I started in late January, finished mid-June and in there I had a few weeks where I really couldn't get much writing done. I'll pare off another 1-2 words when I do my real edit later this year. I'll let it sit for at least 3-5 months before I go back and re-read it.

Now I'm picking up all the stuff I postponed while I was writing: promo, figuring out conference plans, considering what to do with a book whose rights were returned to me. I'm also doing a bit of reading. I normally don't read any fiction while I'm writing, so this is my chance to sneak in a few books. I usually read outside my genre, so I'll read a Regency book, maybe a thriller. I've discovered the joy of downloading library books to my tablet and reading them that way. So easy!

And I'm working, tentatively, on a new story. It came to me totally out of the blue, but I think it has potential. Quite unlike anything I've done so it's all very tentative right now. I'll decide in a day or two if it has enough to merit a full-time effort. I usually write a mystery in the July-November timeframe, so it's time for me to pick out my next victim (so to speak).

For the next few days, though, it's kick back and relax a bit and work my way through the To-Do list. It's a luxurious feeling to have so much free time ... but that story is percolating in the back of my mind and I may need to do something about it.

J L
(jayellwilson.com)