Taking a Break
Sometimes we all need a little break so we can focus on our work. That might sound a little strange, but promoting and hanging out on social media really can cut into time when you're writing a book, or in my case several of them. I love talking to people, and getting distracted is so easy for me you wouldn't even believe it. On that note, I've forced myself to only check my email and social media accounts once a week. Believe me it's like taking drugs away from a crack addict, not that I would know personally, but I'm guessing LOL!
While there are no sexy beach views from my house on top of the mountain in Alabama, there has been plenty to keep me busy. Currently I have four open books that I'm working on, and other ideas that I'm forcing myself to put on the back burner until I've got these current projects complete. My brain really doesn't enjoy being manipulated into only four story lines, but I told it I'm the boss! We'll see how that works out.
It definitely helps keep me on the right page when my cover model let's me know they are going into the studio this week to shoot her poses. I've gotten several, and by that I mean hundreds, of emails about the second Jack book, and if you know me at all you know I hate disappointing. The problem is Jack isn't really speaking to me at the moment, so I've been forced to push him into the background while the other stories are filling my brain. I really want you guys to have the second book, and eventually it will happen, but unfortunately that just won't be as soon as I originally planned.
I kicked off the first book of the Fantasy Isle series, and there will be others. I said on it's debut that these would be read alone stories even though they fell under the umbrella of a series. This was one of the reasons I made them stand alone, because I never know when my muse will decide to be a jerk and not give me the next one. So ask me again who's in control and I'll tell you it's the muse. What motivated me to write the next book after Fantasy's Bar & Grill was the huge reader response in sales. While I write to please my readers, it helps me gage what readers are buying when those sales numbers come in. That's just business.
Revamping the Tears of Crimson book is the one literary project I'm doing simply because I want to, without outside influence. Since Tears of Crimson is the name of my site, and has long been the background for my publishing company, to me it's imperative that it get a face list. This will be a completely new book even to people that have read the first series. As it stands now it will not be a series, instead one full length book to keep alive the dream that started my career in writing. As I said earlier my cover model, Candace LeRae, will be in the studio this week shooting, so I'm really proud the cover stage is moving along quickly. Working with the cover is actually easy, because Candace brings the charm to what Tears of Crimson stands for. I'm really excited about seeing her brought to live as Cara again.
So that's where I'm at right now. I hope to get things back on an even level soon, and join all my incredible friends back in the world of social media soon! Don't forget you can always drop me a line at michelle@tearsofcrimson.com if you need to get in touch!