Chapter 18 of One More Year is Out!

 Chapter 18 is out HERE (Nifty) and HERE (Literotica)

And this week, my ass is getting kicked...

Okay, maybe I'm being dramatic. (ALWAYS a strong possibility.) But I've now launched into NaNoWriMo, and the balance is TRICKY. So far, I'm doing okay. You're supposed to get about 5000 words for every 3 days, which translates to 1667 a day. 

So far I'm averaging about 2600 a day, which will translate to a healthy novel if I keep up at it (around 80K words) but given how OMY went, I do wonder if we'll go over on wordcount. But we'll see! The plot is going to dictate it, more than anything.

But anyway, back to One More Year (something I've had to tell myself a LOT this week.) The editing is going well. It's starting to get a bit tricky - the chapters are a bit patchworky now, which was semi-intentional on my part - I'm weaving in subplots and other elements that I've picked up over the course of editing, so that the story all feels nicely wrapped up at the end.

This chapter marks the 3/4 point. (Yes, this is a LONG novel.) But I'm pretty happy with where things are with this one, and we're heading into the final stretch. I can start wrapping things up and tying in all my subplots. If you can call them that. But anyway.

I had what was probably my first fairly derogatory comment on Literotica for Chapter 17! 🎊🎊🎊 (I've kind of been waiting for this - Romance authors love to cackle at some of their mean reviews.) I have to say though, it was a bit disappointing - kind of bland, and it had a weird, puritanical point that I was surprised to see on Literotica. 

The person also commented anonymously (I know right? Brave.) and obsessively lurked in the comments section to try to get into a flame war with someone who defended me, so this really feels like more of a them-thing. 

I'm still living in dread of getting a review that cuts to the heart of what is ACTUALLY wrong with my writing, but this wasn't it. The person assumed (presumably from my Nifty note) that, like Another Day, I wouldn't be finishing this story, because I probably don't like it any more either.

I commented to address that, because it's kind of ridiculous. I LOVE this story now, and of course I'm going to finish it. I know I ramble on this topic a lot here (but - hey - no one's complained 😉) but one of the main points of this rewrite was to finish. It's become incredibly important to me, symbolically.

I picked Another Day because I liked the story less, and if this was going to be a learning journey, I didn't want to mangle Perfection is Overrated - which I've always like a lot more. But along the way, something happened - a logic for the plot clicked into place, and I fell in love with my characters, and now... One More Year is amazing. (To me, anyway.)

Does it have flaws, sure? I'm sure my craft is very lacking in areas, and my story telling could probably use polishing. Hell, there are probably a few typos lying around, and I know for a fact that there's one continuity error that I've left up on Nifty.

But hey, I'm still having fun, and I am going to finish this novel. I'm pushing myself with NaNoWriMo and the Perfection is Overratted rewrite, because it's also become important to me that I can do both at the same time - since, orginally, being more interested in carrying on with PIO is one of the things that made me ditch writing Another Day.

So far though, it's going well. One More Year will be finished by December (god willing) and Perfection is Overrated (if I keep calling it that) will start releasing next year! That's the plan, anyway. But I'm good at sticking to plans, these days.

Beta Readers:

Instead of tacking a lengthy appeal on the end of each blog post, I've actually made a page for this, so if you want to Beta Read, check it out HERE.

Thanks to my current Beta Readers. Especially Dora, who continues to continue to persevere with me, like a goddamn hero. And thanks to everyone who's dipped in and out - even helping me for a chapter or two was great. It's just so nice to know they've passed before the eyes of some readers and nothing is obviously wrong with them.

Thanks so much for reading! I'd apologise for this blog post being late, but they do seem like they're more for me at this point, anyway. And that's okay! 😅 Prove me wrong though - say hi in the comments!