Hey there and happy Sunday. I have been having a hell of a time trying to finish the first draft of my next book. It’s been a challenge now since I began a new relationship, started a new job and moved into a new apartment last year. These were all blessings that I wanted but now I must learn how to manage my time better to get the book finished. When I started “The Sacrifice” last year, I intended to have the first draft completed by the Fall then the Fall turned into the end of the year but as you can see, it’s a new year and the first draft is still not finished. Time stands still for no one….

I’m close, I’m oh so close to finishing it but every time I think about all the work it will take to go back and read what I wrote, edit it and polish it, I feel like I am racing against time. I then must find a professional editor to really make it good enough to submit to potential literary agents who could help me shop around for a traditional publisher. Yes, I said it, a traditional publisher. I will not be self -publishing this novel because I didn’t like the results of the last two books. Sales could be so much better. So, it may be awhile before you get to read it. The process is long and tedious but necessary if I ever plan to reach my goals as an Author.

The first draft is the first step and I am a bit of a perfectionist now, so I have become my own worst critic. I even tend to edit the story as I write which of course slows down the whole creative process. But I just can’t help myself. I am getting better though. There’s still plenty of unedited sentences that will be dealt with later. Right now, I just want to finish the damn thing already lol. That seems to be the hardest part of all, finishing it. I have gone through feelings of self-doubt, harsh criticism, wanting to trash the whole thing and downright hating the story at times but I didn’t give up. It hasn’t been easy with certain life-changing events and a death in the family, but pain is only temporary, and life-changing events can be necessary. But it doesn’t have to stop me in my tracks. I can keep moving forward and do what I must do as an Author. Even if it means that you the readers won’t get to read it as soon as I would like you to. You want the book to be good and so do I, so I will do whatever it takes to make it so. I’m not sure yet how many rewrites are going to be required for this, but I promise to keep you all posted as to how the book progresses.

Thank you to all my readers out there for your patience and time.