I’ve been asked many times how long I’ve been working on This Dreamer. The answer is a bit embarrassing.
Voice memos containing ideas that helped form this book date back to 2011. But it wasn’t until January of 2016 that I started taking notes and planning. During the summer of 2016, I came up with a complete outline and even handmade a timeline by taping several pieces of paper together and writing out when and where each character would be over the course of the series.
I wrote the first 50,000 words of the first draft during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November of 2016. (Take a look at this interview my writing buddy and I posted on our website before NaNoWriMo 2016.) After that intense month, I cut back my words per day and finished the first draft in May 2017. Little did I know, the hard work was just beginning. Over the next few years, I went through many drafts and rewrites. During that time, I also worked on a few other projects, including outlining and starting book two of the Chronicles of the Marked series and my yet untitled science fiction novel. (Here’s another pre-NaNoWriMo interview from 2017.)
I pretty much called it finished to the best of my ability at the end of 2019 and began querying agents. I entered a contest and received fabulous feedback. I didn’t win, but the connection I made and the suggestions I received were invaluable. I edited again with those in mind and sent more queries. I received a full manuscript request from an agent and got more great feedback and suggestions. Though it was ultimately rejected, I gained the confidence to move on to another avenue: self-publishing. My heart has been pointing me in that direction since the beginning, so I finally listened.
I hired an editor in January 2021 and am currently working through her fabulous deletions, edits, suggestions, and comments. I hope to finish and get it back to her by the end of the summer. In the meantime, I’m working on my author website, coming up with a publishing strategy, and looking at cover artists.
I’m excited for what the future will bring!
Click the button to read the first two chapters of This Dreamer on my website BookSeriesRecaps.com