Hello all, and welcome back for another update from my corner of the Internet. \*glances at the clock nervously*\ Heh, did you think I was going to miss my deadline and send this out on the fifth!? No chance.
Spooky season is upon is, and that means it's time for the turning of leaves, ghost tours, and most importantly, pumpkin spice lattes. I recently saw a TikTok that said Dunkin Donuts' variety of the staple drink has 148 grams of sugar in it. That's utterly insane – I'll stick with black coffee any day of the week, I don't care if the scarecrows are poking their heads above the corn mazes and eyeing me judgmentally. If I drink any sugar at all these days, my body slows to a grinding halt and my head feels like it's going to fall off. Lovely stuff, I tell ya.
Anyway, you didn't come to hear me complain about the woes of growing old (I'm so old now at 32 bodily and 68 spiritually). No, you came to hear about writing updates! And perhaps a few of you are here for pictures of Nazgul. I know I would be. Look how big he's getting!
To Burn All Belief Updates
Sad to say, there's not much of an update for you this month – I've been in a bit of an everything-slump lately, so it took me longer than expected to finish my initial read through Draft 1.0.
The good news is: the book is working!
Mostly. Of course, any first draft is going to have problems. One of the characters' opening chapters is kind of week, and there's one chapter I totally neglected to write in the proper tense. That one reads more like cliff notes than a finished product – curse you, past Josh!
But the core of the book is as solid as a Skardwarf. The ending made me cry, and yes, I'm a big softie, but if it doesn't make me feel things then little chance it'll stir the average reader's emotions. And that's what I'm here to do, right? Entertain, and break your heart. There will certainly be some heartbreak in these pages – I predict one storyline in particular will leave you misty eyed and/or hating me for doing this to you.
Anywho, I'm at the early stages of Draft 2.0, but things are rolling along smoothly. Unlike most writers (or so it seems), I thrive in the revision process rather than the first draft. The blank page is too chaotic and hard to wrap my head around when there's so much that needs to be accomplished. Now that I've done the hard part of un-blanking that page, the rest is butter, baby. Smooooooth sailing.
I'm going to regret saying that when I have a first draft that really doesn't work and needs an insane amount of revisions. Well, too bad! That's not this book, so things are still looking good for my deadline of sending the 2.0 to my editor and alpha readers come November!
And with that, I've written the fastest newsletter of my life. 18 minutes flat. To celebrate, here are your entirely not out of the ordinary monthly pictures of Nazgul. 🥳🎉
That's all for now! Next time, I totally won't forget I have a newsletter due to go out and only remember at 11:35 pm. Until then, thanks for reading!