Probably the biggest thing I was able to cross off my To Do List was uploading the complete version of A Royal Engagement up to Smashwords.

The release date is September 28, so that should be plenty of time for it to get up on all the sales channels Smashwords goes to, but there is a part of me that worries if something will go wrong.  I can’t help it.  I’m a worrier by nature, especially when I’m not used to doing something.  This process is outside my comfort zone.  I don’t know if there will be samples available for this book, but I’m going to check back at iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo to see if I can sample it over the next couple weeks.

I did think of adding Amazon to the pre-order list, but after doing some research, I decided against it.  My plan is to publish it on September 28.  Amazon has been historically efficient about getting books up in a prompt manner, so I see no reason why it won’t go through on the date I put it up.

Just Good Friends is in the Final Editing Stages

In addition to working with three people on my editing team, I also go through it a final time.  I only read one or two chapters a day, and I print it out.  I used to listen to it on my Kindle using the text-to-speech feature, but with kids buzzing around during the day or falling asleep listening to it (and having to re-listen to it), I decided to go with the read on paper method instead.

Quick shout-out about my cover artist and editing team:

I am going to have my awesome cover artist, Stephannie Beman, touch up the cover for me.  It’ll be the same thing: the couple with the tree in the background.  But she’ll make it look better.  If anyone is looking for a cover artist who does exceptionally well (esp. in romance covers), I can definitely suggest Stephannie.

While I’m giving recommendations, I can also suggest two editors who do reliable and great work.

One is Judy.  She excels in content editing.  Content editing is an overview of the story where you look at plausibility, consistency, factual errors, contradictions, flow of the story, etc.  It’s more of a look at the storytelling part of writing.

The other is Lauralynn.  She is great with copyediting.  These are the nitty gritty things like spelling, punctuation, verb tense, missed words, etc.

I also have the world’s best beta reader, Tammy Thompson.   When looking for a beta reader, you want someone who will be honest and kind, someone who is familiar with the genre you’re writing in, and someone who has a good feel for what you can do to make the story stronger (especially in relation to the characters).  This is where my beta reader excels.  Can you have more than one beta reader?  Of course.  How many you have is up to you.  As for me, I find the one I have is worth five in how much she does, so I’m happy with where I’m at.

In my opinion, all of these people are needed for every book.  You can’t just focus on one area and neglect the others.

Back to the post…

I’m almost done with His Convenient Wife!

This has been the weirdest book to write.  I can’t write it in linear fashion as I usually do with books, and since I’ve written over fifty (when you add the other genres I’ve done), that’s saying something.  Bits and pieces have been coming to me as I go.  So I’ll have three to four scenes I’m working on at one time.  One scene will be in the middle of the book, two toward the end, and the other at the very end.  I’ll write in one scene, get stuck (meaning, I don’t know what a character says or does next).  Then I’ll move to another scene where I do know what happens next.  When I get stuck there (which is usually in 5-10 minutes), I’ll stop and go to another scene.

For example, I’ve already written the epilogue.  Also, I have yet to finish chapter eighteen even though I’m currently writing chapter twenty-three.  I know how the book ends and how everything plays out, but it’s the bridging the transitioning from one part to another that is causing me problems.  I’ve never come across anything like this before, which just goes to prove no matter how much you do something, you always find a new way to do it.

I’m currently at 68,400 words, and I have at least 5,000 more words to go.  I’m very happy with how this book is going.  It might be one of my favorites.

Before I go, I wanted to share a cover I got for my next anthology with Janet Syas Nitsick.

Stephannie made this cover.  See what I mean about her work?  It’s fantastic, isn’t it?