The Toll

I've been pushing myself pretty hard to get this draft done. Originally, back in November when I began writing Maestra, I wanted to be done with all the drafting by July. Despite several hiccups along the way (including a motivation sucking global pandemic) I'm not really that far behind. Most of the credit can come from a second wind that hit my sails the moment I began writing the third act of the book. Not only is it my favorite part of the book (I really love writing gut wrenching stuff...yes, I'm sick,) but I could see the end in sight -- that always helps me kick it into another gear.

In the past week I have written 12,000+ words in this draft. That's a lot. I'm also paying for it. I've had many dreams and nightmares about Maestra over the past week -- not only the story but a lot of other stuff that goes along with wrapping up a book. I've had several anxiety attacks about the upcoming marketing push, getting reviews organized, getting the cover artwork finalized, etc. I've slept like crap and it is showing. I haven't felt a decline in my writing quality, other than my spelling ability, so far. I'm trying to throttle back just a bit but, with about 20,000 words left to write in this draft, it's hard for me to want to do anything other than get this book done.

Is this book better than my last one? I can't compare like that. I will say this is my favorite, between the two, just because it was so challenging to write. I changed perspective, genre, tone between books. Maestra is either going to be viewed by fans of The Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett as a natural evolution into a larger universe, or a completely epic scale failure.

I didn't become a writer to be safe and generate cookie cutter stories to sell thousands of copies. I became an author to create art and tell interesting stories filled with troubled characters struggling to do the right thing. Will it pay off? Time will tell.

Check out Book 1 of The Concentric Worlds series, The Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett, before Book 2 comes out in September. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1701845431