The Slump at The End

As the author of over 10 NF titles and over 7 novels I’ve come to learn a thing or two about writing books. The first thing I’ve learned is that no two books, for me at least, are alike.

While I rarely struggle with the type of non-fiction I write, since that’s just outright sharing information and sharing personal experience and commentary about that information, fiction is a different animal.

Fiction can be a challenge to the creative muscles. I tend to struggle with different parts depending on the book. Sometimes beginnings are rough, other times the endings are hard. In some instances getting over that hump in the middle is a challenge. For some books, the initial writing is the easy part. For other books it’s the editing that’s the easy part.

Always, at the end of a project, I feel either excited to move on to something new, or sad to see a project end. There’s always that bit of anxiety and hesitation before sending my newborn baby out into the world to be read and, yes, judged, by other people.

Right now I’m at the ending of a project. For this one I’m feeling a bit sad to let it  go. I loved the characters and the story. I loved it so much that I did leave room for a sequel, but the book definitely stands alone. I’d only go there if the readers loved it.

This is a considerably longer novel than any of my other Anne O’Connell novels, and it really does fall into a genre I’m very comfortable writing in. This may account for the length (over 60K and I haven’t finished all the revisions yet). I’m also rather nervous to see how my fans react to this particular one. Training Amy is the book Anne became popular for. A lot of readers either really loved, or really hated Switched (its sequel). This book delves into paranormal/fantasy, while still maintaining  those hot bdsm erotica scenes Anne is known for writing.

Next on the agenda for Anne – I’m going back to my roots. I’m writing a very sexually charged, sexually driven thriller in DOM359.  I really want to thank all the readers who have stuck with me while I explore each of these stories running around in my head. I hope they provide you with plenty of entertainment and enjoyment.

Of course after Her Demon Lover and before DOM359, I am working on Rising Darkness. The next book in the OTS Mystery series. The second book, Into Darkness, seemed to turn off more sexually repressed readers and male readers because, while it was rather occult heavy, it wasn’t as ceremonial magick heavy like the first one. People loved the first one. With the third one, I’m going to return to that ceremonial magick bend that everyone loved in OTS #1. This one will be necromancy heavy in an Agrippa-esque manner. The rituals I describe in  these books are all very authentic. In this sense, art imitates life.

Now I’m just rambling about everything. Anyway, back to working on the final edits/revisions on HDL. If things go as planned, I’ll have it to the editor for one last go round this coming weekend. Hopefully all line editing will be dealt with swiftly and completely. We’re fully expecting this one to be available by the end of the month.