Draft IV of a Nile Ghost Story

I'm on the fourth draft of the subscriber exclusive novel...and it's printed, punched, and resting safely under my bed.

Sunday evenings are usually my largest swathe of available time, so I'm waiting until then to do my first read through...I'm very excited...very nervous. I truly love it so much. So much, in fact, I'm debating whether or not to offer it in paperback, as well, for those that want a physical copy...although, that would put a bit of an asterisk next to the exclusive label...

I'm torn.

What do you think?

Also, a lot of people have commented that the story is too long to offer as a newsletter exclusive freebie...and maybe it is, but I think I'd rather give you a good chunk of story to sink your teeth into than just a small taste.

Is 250ish pages too long?

Things to think about...

I Found Her!

When I'm writing, like most other writers, I see the scene in my mind, unfolding like a movie. And when I'm in my magic, the film starts rolling without me and I'm the storykeeper. It's in that moment (sometimes) characters go off script and do completely unexpected things. It's really hard to explain this phenomenon, but if you know -- you know.

While writing the newsletter exclusive novel, I had a character head off somewhere and then no one could find her. She'd run away? Gotten lost? Kidnapped? I had no idea!

Sometimes things like that happen, so I just shrugged it off and kept writing, making a mental note to edit that out later, because...it was really random and didn't fit with the story at all.

BUT THEN -- they found her! And it all made sense, fitting in nicely with the rest of the story. I couldn't believe it! How? I lost a character and then found her, completely independent of my will. It was such an awesome experience, I've told three people about it already, and now I've told you.

I love writing.

Once you read the story -- please tell me what you think of her disappearance.

Did it work as well as I think it does?

YOU HAVE TO TELL ME.

Pretty please?

Progress...?

Week three of the fourth quarter...and progress is steady - but not as much as I would've wanted at this point. My time is limited and I'm at the mercy of my current circumstance in that regard. As of now, I'm constantly torn between the necessity of sleep and the necessity of getting this draft done.

Do I reallyyyy need more than six hours of sleep to function? Eh.

The story itself is coming together - okay.

I'm trying to make it as clean a draft as possible so I will have less editing to do, but at this point it seems - alright.

We'll see.

But, I am encouraged by the fact that I'm enjoying exploring these characters.

And one thing I know for sure: once I work out the kinks, these characters are going to be the highlight of the story...

Is that a good thing?

I hope so.