Anyone else in a struggle season?

These past couple months have been rough. Not only for me, but like, my whole family and several of my friends.

For various reasons, I haven’t been writing a whole lot. I have gotten past a scene that I was a little stuck on, though I know that this whole first part is probably going to need another rewrite, but I will deal with that after I get through the whole draft. There is a chance I will still make my goal of 15k by this end of the month, I am sitting at about 9700 words right now, so I am making progress. Once I get past the opening where most of the work is needed, I should get through the rest a little faster.

I am so grateful for everyone who has been following me through this journey. It feels really good to be getting so close to actually publishing. I can’t wait to get this out there.

Here’s a little snippet:

Ray frowned, staring at Aaron. Aaron stared back, raising his brow with a shrug. “I am not suddenly going to know more. Are you reading me?”

Ray sat back with a sigh. “Yeah, but you’re right. You aren’t going to know more because I want you to.”

Silence fell between them. Aaron had hundreds of questions he wanted to ask, but he wasn’t sure he wanted answers to any of them. He wasn’t ready. Vale being real still felt obscure, like this was all a book he was reading rather than real life.

Ray slapped his hands on his knees suddenly. “We’re going to have to go find it.”

Slightly late update

My oldest started school so we are on virus number 3, maybe 4. Needless to say, it’s been a little rough these past few weeks. This latest virus had me laid up in bed most of the day yesterday so I wasn’t able to do my update.

I haven’t been writing a lot this week, but it has been very productive. I am trying to sort out what process works best for me, so what I am trying for this draft is to do a rough outline for a portion of the story that serves a particular purpose, and then when I finish that part, I am going to stop and reread, take notes on what I got right and where I went off the rails and I reached my first stopping point this week. The draft is currently just over 7500 words and there is some reworking that I need to go back and do, but I have decided that I will never finish the draft if I do it now, so the plan is to stop and check each section, take notes and after I finish the draft, I can go back and fix those parts that are weak.

The next few days I plan to map out the next part of the story and see which scenes I am keeping, which I need to rewrite and how to weave in the new POV I am adding. So hopefully I will have a good chunk added on to the draft by the end of the week. If we don’t catch virus number 4.

Here’s a little snippet:

He narrowed his eyes. Were the trees glowing?

He took a tentative step forward; his eyes fixed on the nearest tree. He stopped before the tree, staring at it as if it would suddenly make sense. It was glowing. He suddenly stood in a strange world with trees that glowed and he had no idea how he’d gotten here.

Glowing trees. Why did that feel familiar? He reached out and touched the white bark, causing a small piece to break off and flutter to the soft grass below. It felt like a normal tree. He pulled his hand back, rubbing his fingers together. Whatever made the trees glow didn’t seem to come off. The same strange since of familiarity nagged at him. Was it from a movie or show he’d watched?

Not as fast as I would like, but stronger

I did really well keeping up with my 500 words a day goal until I got sick.

I did mange to double the length, bring it just over 5k. The writing sessions I have been able to get in have been really fun and I feel like I have a better grasp of the characters and how to lay the foundations for the story a little better than I did before. Getting outside input was so helpful. I know this story and world so well, there were very simple, obvious gaps that I just couldn’t see being as close to the story as I am. It feels like this time around I am capturing what I need to on the page without putting too much.

It’s slow going, but I think this draft is going to be so much stronger.

Here’s a little peek:

“You are about to be so busy that I, who live with you, won’t even see you and you want to start something with a girl?” He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter next to the stove.

Zuriel shrugged. “It could be a good test.”

Halvar rolled his eyes and pushed off the counter. “Let me know when dinner is ready.”

“You are not invited to dinner, Ray.” Zuriel called after him as he left the room. “Ray? Ray!”

Halvar smiled to himself as he started up the stairs with Zuriel still yelling at him that he wasn’t invited to dinner.

I have some updates!

Hello!

I haven’t shared anything the past few weeks as there really wasn’t much to share, this week there is.

First, I have finalized the front cover with my cover artist! I thought the process of finding an artist, figuring out what I wanted and getting it done would take forever, but I lucked out and found a great artist that is so easy to work with and was available. We will have to revisit it to finalize the wrap once I finish writing the book so I know the dimensions. And have a blurb.

I also got back my first round of feedback by way of my developmental editor and it is so helpful. I am full of ideas for how to make character arcs stronger, clarify world building (the thing I knew I needed outside help to see, I just know too much to know when I didn’t share something), strengthen my writing style and a million other little things.

While I have been awaiting feedback, I have also been scribbling out scenes and ideas for the second book and that document is over 16k words now and I think I am closing in on the basic structure enough that I might be able to start drafting it while I wait to get the rest of my alpha feedback in.

I would absolutely love to have a clear idea of when I will be finalizing book 1 as well as a beginning of the first draft for book 2 by the end of the year. That feels doable.

Having the cover is adding extra motivation to get it done because I don’t want to share it ridiculously early but also it’s so pretty and I want to share it.

In the mean time, here’s a little snippet from my book 2 scribbles:

[Context: This is from a scene where Zuriel is with Pyre who plays the memory for him. I have to redact what the memory was and what triggered it for spoilers.]

A smile tugged at his lips at the memory.

The smile slipped somewhat as the sight before him shifted and he could see it play out before him from the dragon’s point of view.

“Don’t.” He breathed, unable to tear his eyes away despite the pain the sight sent radiating through his chest.

The scene vanished but the ache remained.

“I’m sorry. It brings me comfort to picture Corban. [redacted], too. I forget it does not do the same for you.”

Zuriel pushed his hands into his hair, tugging at the roots as he closed his eyes and breathed through the pain. “It’s alright. It just…hurts.”

Thanks for reading!

Blessings,

Michelle R Bowen

Quick update

While I am waiting to get feedback on book 1, I have been working on getting the plot together for the second book.

I am using a little different technique than I have before, paying more attention to who needs to be included and what their arc will be to avoid some of the pitfalls I have had in the past, so hopefully it will come together faster and stronger, though I am still very much a discovery writer and won’t really know all the twists and turns until I write them. Already the story has evolved from the early scribbles I wrote out for it.

It has been so much fun to work with all these different ideas and characters. I am so excited to share this story.

A little scribble:

“I’m going to go for a flight. Do you want to join me?”

Halvar sat up. “Yes and no.” He grinned at Zuriel.

Zuriel felt his own mouth tick up. “Wuss.”

“Oh come on!” Halvar said as he stood. “There isn’t even a saddle. If he wanted to shake me off, he’d have no problem. We weren’t made to fly anyway.”

Zuriel smiled as they started out of the hall side by side. “If we aren’t meant to fly, why do dragons agree to fly us around?”

Halvar scrunched his face. “They’re arrogant buggers. They’re showing off.” He snapped his fingers, “That’s it, they are showing off their chosen like a pedigree dog.”

Zuriel laughed at that, grateful for his brother’s company.

Thanks for reading!

-Michelle R Bowen

Actual progress!

So, this week has been a little interesting. As I was reading through and revising scenes, deciding which to cut and which to rewrite, a came up to part of the story where I did a time jump and discovered that without the extra plots crowding the story, the weakness of the pacing was painfully obvious.

That was a little discouraging because it meant I had to go back and write the part of the story that I skipped over.

Well, I managed it much faster than I expected after mapping out all the POVs and timeline I saw that the amount of time didn’t even make sense.

In short, I bridged the part of the story to the rest of it in a way that I believe fixes the pacing error. It will require some additional changes in later scenes since I erased a few weeks of timeline. But for now, I am confident that I am still on track to have this ready for a few Alpha readers by August.

As of now I am working around page 191 of 311, which is, again, not perfectly accurate because I am polishing some scenes I wrote in a separate doc before pasting it into the draft. But, I am basically two-thirds of the way through the draft revisions. Yay!

Since I am getting close to starting the work that will end with a published book, I am considering my marketing strategy and I will be sharing here first when I get more dedicated socials in place. (Newsletter, dedicated Instragram, etc.)

Thanks so much for reading!

Here’s a little snippet:

When they’d moved far enough from the others, Aaron sat down and when Pyre tugged at his mind, he followed.

Opening his eyes, he found himself standing on their island beside Pyre and Corban.

“Like this?” Corban asked.

Aaron flinched back. “Oh, that’s weird.”

The naim laughed. “I’m using him as an avatar. I can’t exactly picture myself speaking, I don’t have a voice, but I remember his.”

A wave of sorrow rushed through him, and he regretted his anger at the dragon for simply existing as he was made to exist.

“I’m sorry, Pyre. It wasn’t fair to be angry with you.”

“You are under an incredible strain. I feel your struggle.” The naim shrugged. “This could be useful. I hadn’t considered it before. Perhaps because Corban was more accustomed to telepathic communication. Its still new to you.”

“I’ll say.”

“Cyrus is a brutal trainer.” Corban growled.

Aaron chuckled at that. “Yeah, well, this whole situation I’m in is brutal.” All the humor left his being as the reality settled back in, no longer displaced by amplified emotions. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“You’ve only just begun, Zuriel. None of us really know what you are truly capable of.” Corban grinned at him. “I’d like to find out.”

Making good progress

I made it through the section I had to alter and put back into the story. I am now on page 154 of 311. Just about half way through (depending on how much rewriting happens in the next section).

I have another section that probably wont need too much rewriting before I get to the messy bit that I know isn’t settled just yet, especially with the plot lines and POVs I cut. Hopefully I can get this pass done by June or July and get another pass in before my August goal of getting either some alpha readers or a developmental editor.

Here’s a snippet:

“Okay,” he took the wooden sword from each of them. “Now run.”

Pushing past the initial distaste at the idea, Aaron ran with Halvar close behind him.

As much sense as it makes to have me train with you, I would like to remind Cyrus that I am not actually the Dueling.

Aaron laughed. Oh, poor you.

I should have stayed in better shape.

Round is a shape.

Halvar surged forward and shoved him. “I am not round.”

Aaron laughed harder, grateful to be lost in the moment, joking around with his best friend. It made the strangeness of everything fade.

Thanks for reading!

Let’s Go!

I am so excited about getting this draft wrapped up.

I am a little stuck because I am getting into a long-ish battle sequence and the ending I have settled on has changed what book 2 is going to be and I am so excited about that part of the story as well and it’s pulling my mind a little ahead of where I am actually writing.

But, I am so excited to actually know where I am going with this.

I can’t wait to get into tearing it apart and fixing it. But I do have to finish it first. I am making good progress with that. The draft is now about 110,600 words.

Here’s a little snippet:

Aaron clenched and unclenched his fists as he stared at the empty whiteness where the bleed would soon open before him.

Deep breath in. Out.

He reached toward his sorcerer magic, holding each element near the surface.

They’d worked and planned and how he had to trust the men he worked with.

It’s time. Halvar’s voice filled his mind.

The air before them rippled as the bleed opened.

He took another deep breath, all the weariness and anxiety was lost in the surge of adrenaline.

“Go.”

Almost done

Hello!

Last week I missed my update for a few reasons, the chief of which was it was the weekend of my daughter’s birthday and we were celebrating.

But I also didn’t have much to update because I spent most of that week stuck in a particular scene in The Shadow of Vale and puttering around in my two contemporary romance stories while I tried to figure it out.

Well, I have figured it out. Yesterday I had one of those writing sessions where the characters were saying and doing things that were not in the outline and were actually brilliant arguments for why the order I had the events planned to occur in was wrong.

I have since paused to pray and figure it out and this morning I think I know how to finish this book and what the next book is going to look like (and it will probably be the last for this story).

I haven’t worked everything out entirely, but I am excited for how it is looking now. Granted, I am well aware that I say this all the time. What can I say? I’m a pretty happy, optimistic writer.

So with this clearer vision in my mind, I am hoping that by the one year mark (March 12th) I will be done with this draft and able to let it rest a bit before tearing it apart again (but not rewriting it, I think I am finally past that part of my process) and then editing.

I did have a secret goal of maybe aiming to publish by Oct of this year, but that feels a little too optimistic even for me. haha!

As of now, the draft is sitting just over 107k and with the events coming I think it will land around 140k, which was my first gut instinct of a word count goal.

Here is a little snippet:

“I can’t go to battle and face Samael. I can’t save Vale. I can’t make him pay for what he’s taken from me; from all of us. But I can do this. I can stand by you. I can love you.”

Happy New Year!

Hello again!

I have had a very strange, but fruitful past few weeks. I spent a month serving on Jury Duty which was a rather wild experience. Very pleased I got to do it, though it felt like I had two jobs for a month and my babies are very excited that I am not gone most of the week now.

I took some time to focus on my faith and drawing near to God and that has done wonders for my creativity. I believe this is a gift He gave me and I aim to honor Him with it, so it makes sense to me that I am having a much easier time getting the ending of The Shadow of Vale together.

The draft is now over 100k and I am in the build up to the ending. There are two points that I think work as stopping points for the story, I am leaning toward one more than the other, but I will see how it feels when I get there.

I found a point of tension that helps build to the end of the first book and lay the foundation for the next book and I am quite pleased with how it’s working out. A little surprised I didn’t see it before, it’s been laid into the story almost from the beginning. Almost like I meant to use it haha!

Here is a little snippet:

“Playing with this much water actually sounds really fun.” She grinned and reached out to link the life point. She was immediately aware of the water and gave it a tug as she released Zuriel’s hand and sprinted toward the cliffs.

“Aila? Aila!”

Aila jumped off the edge and savored the brief feeling of weightlessness before gravity fully took hold and she dropped toward the water that rose to catch her. With a laugh she took a few steps to slow herself before turning around to face Zuriel who stood on the edge looking worried. She pressed her hand to her mouth at the sight of Pyre fidgeting behind him as if he had been preparing to dive after her.