If you ever catch me talking about publishing a book a month again, call an intervention.
Please.
I had everything under control. My planner was planned. My writing was on target. The stars were aligned.
And then I was offered a writing retreat to Italy (!) and some pros looking over my latest Pie Town manuscript. Which... wasn't ready because I'm publishing a book a month, dammit, and that takes writing and marketing and tweeting and blogging and... You get the picture.
But I couldn't not take advantage of such an awesome offer.
All I needed to do, was step things up a bit. If I could finish up the editing on my November title, I could switch to editing my latest Pie Town manuscript, and have something that wasn't complete garbage for the pros to look at.
Sure. I can do that.
And then... I got an email from my editor about my third Pie Town mystery, Pie Hard. She was wondering why I hadn't responded to her email, dated mid-July, and including the copyedits to the book.
I swear to God I didn't receive it. It's not in my spam folder, it's not anywhere. To Gmail, it doesn't exist.
Fortunately, my editor believed me, because apparently she had some technical problem with email. Also fortunately, even though it was due August 7th (ha!), all was cool. She said I could get it to her later.
And then, while reading a new book on newsletters (another obsession of mine), I realized that I'm giving away the wrong book to my subscribers. As much as I love The Alchemical Detective, it's urban fantasy, and doesn't have much genre crossover. What I needed was something most of my readers could enjoy -- a funny cozy mystery with magical elements. Just a novella. No biggie. I could set it in Angels Camp, near Doyle, and give it some Doyle crossover. I can see it in my head -- an antique shop (because Angels Camp is littered with antique shops) and a heroine who can get psychic impressions off old objects.
And I want to write it NOW.
But I can't. I won't.
I'm launching a book a month through November if it kills me, and getting the Pie Hard edits back to Kennsington, and editing as much as possible of Pie Town 4 by September 1st, when it's due to the Italian crew.
Here's my pipeline update:
Save me.
