Saturday, January 2, 2016

Deadlines by Jannine Gallant


Deadlines...do you love them or hate them? For the first time ever, I have a new series contracted, and the books weren't all written when I signed on the dotted line. Four books with firm publishing dates, and I was working on #2 at he time. Kind of scary, but doable. Right?

I had over a year before the final book had to be turned in. I mapped out my word count per day, taking into account things like holidays, and determined I could write a book in six months. Mind you, I have to produce 90,000 words per book. These aren't short, and my average time in the past for a full length novel was eight months. But I was MOTIVATED this time.

So, I set to work and finished #2 right on schedule. Go me! I'd put in a month on #3 and was making steady progress when I suddenly had a horrifying thought. I completely forgot I had to edit books 1,2 & 3 before #4 was due! Yikes, four rounds of editing per book required! I started hyperventilating. When I finally got my breathing under control, I pulled out the calculator and started doing the math... Let's just say 6 months was no longer going to be an option with all that editing time factored into the equation. I upped my daily word count and decided I was just going to have to suck it up and squeeze in writing time over the holidays.

I'm proud to say, I wrote "The End" on book #3 on Dec. 30th. My goal was to finish by the New Year. I wrote that baby in four months. One round of fine-tuning (since I'm an edit as I go writer), and it gets shipped off to my CP. Hopefully my editor will have #1 ready for me to tackle any day now. I'm still on track, even if I have to take the corners a little faster than I'd planned. With a little luck, I'll write #4 and have a day or two to spare before that final deadline.

So, the moral of the story is we can accomplish more than we think when we set our minds to it. The second moral is to not be a lame-brain and forget about all the other requirements on our time besides actual writing. At any rate, my bit of New Year's wisdom is if you believe in yourself, you can make anything happen!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016!

Oh, for those of you who are curious, the new series is called Born To Be Wilde. Romance along with action, adventure, and suspense revolving around the Wilde family.

Wilde One: A cross country treasure hunt may lead to love—if they survive…
Wilde Side: If the rapids on the river don’t kill them—someone else just might…
Wilde Thing: Skiing off a precipice isn’t half as dangerous as witnessing a murder…
Wilde Horses: A film shoot on a Wyoming ranch may be a Hollywood hero’s last call…

For information on all my books, visit my WEBSITE.

18 comments:

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Yes, meeting deadlines can be doable if you're only writing for one publisher at a time. Thanks to an agent who wasn't keeping track and my putting too much trust in my agent, I ended up having two books due within thirteen days of each other and two more due on the same day. Calvin said all he ever saw of me was the top of my head--and he was right. When I finally turned them all in, I literally stumbled into bed, unable to form a coherent sentence. Lesson learned: don't blindly trust...take command of your career. Congrats to you for meeting your goals. Awesome!

Rolynn Anderson said...

Jannine, I'm SO IMPRESSED! All this year you've been calm and cool. No complaining and no hair-pulling, and if I remember correctly, plenty of time spent with family. Way to go! The series is well-named and has my favorite mix of action, suspense and romance. Well done. You're going into 2016 with a smile on your face!

Jannine Gallant said...

I feel your pain, Vonnie, but this was all me. I set my deadlines with the pub. I was just an idiot and didn't think about all the editing I'd have to do, but it's working out okay!

Thanks, Rolynn. I love the series title, too. Something about playing off song titles and lyrics appeals to me. I also think readers are drawn to the familiar, so hopefully these will catch their eye.

Margo Hoornstra said...

In your case, setting your mind to it is an understatement! Way to go. Sometimes just watching you makes me hyperventilate. Can't wait to get my claws into ... uh ... hands on (gently, of course) this next one. PS - Absolutely LOVE those tag lines.

Brenda Whiteside said...

Love the titles and series idea. You go, Jannine.

Alison Henderson said...

I've never written to deadline and am not sure I could, but I'm SO impressed with your accomplishments. You're one of the most organized people I know, so I'm not surprised you've got this covered. Take a deep breath and press on. LOVE the sound of the new series!

Jannine Gallant said...

Thanks, ladies. This series is a fun one. It has some unique twists. Yeah, I hope to have Wilde Thing to you today, Margo. Go easy on me!

Susan Coryell said...

Impressive that you can manage so many books in so little time. As a slooooow writer myself, I find your accomplishments amazing! Nice blog.

Jannine Gallant said...

Thanks, Susan. I'm getting faster since my writing is becoming more efficient with each book.

Liz Flaherty said...

Congratulations! I was hyperventilating just thinking of this! :-)

Jannine Gallant said...

Thanks, Liz! Wilde Thing is now in the lap (or on the computer screen) of my CP, Margo. We'll see how I did writing faster than normal. Let's hope my plot isn't riddled with holes...

Leah St. James said...

Good for you, Jannine! Deadlines make me want to crawl under a rock, but you've inspired me! Maybe I can work some of your magic this year.

Jannine Gallant said...

I have every confidence you can, Leah!

Unknown said...

Wow that's awesome! Good for you. Determination is a huge key to reaching your goals and dreams :)

Diane Burton said...

You are amazing, Jannine. Congrats on meeting your deadlines. The new series sounds great.

Jannine Gallant said...

Thanks for stopping by, Stacy. I've never been short on determination, thank heavens!

Thanks, Diane. This series is a little out of the ordinary, more adventure than suspense. I hope readers will love it as much as I do.

Alicia Dean said...

Wow, impressive! I'm thrilled for you. The new series sounds fantastic. I work better under deadlines too. I need to pretend I have deadlines since I have about 6 books I need to write in the first part of this year. :)

Jannine Gallant said...

I'll be your pretend deadline enforcer, Ally! Just ask my girls, I'm excellent at nagging!