Project Switch

We’re halfway through the year, which means it’s time to assess my progress and… I have to switch projects.

In my previous blog, I mentioned moving to Washington instead of Hawaii. This development set me back quite a bit, and I haven’t made as much progress as I hoped on the Crime Lord Series. I’ve spent more time than I care to admit, creating an encyclopedia of notes. Before, I would write and double check character and location descriptions on the fly. But, as we get deeper into the series, I need to know the history and relationship between characters, their mannerisms, description of clubs, homes, etc. Hence, the insane archive I’ve been building. This is tedious work and something I only have to do once and can just add to in the future, but the initial creation of character profiles and such is taxing and annoying. I’ve been sloshing my way through, reassuring myself that I have time, but now that we’re heading into July, I have to get real with myself and make some concrete decisions.

If I stick with the Crime Lord Series, I figure I’ll be ready to publish Carmen’s books in the Fall. This would give me hardly any time at all to complete the rough draft of book 3 in the Singed Series. I can already see myself writing and then rushing into publication just to meet my deadline. I don’t want to do that.

SO.

I’m going to pivot and switch projects to ensure I meet the deadline for book 3 in the Singed Series.

2–3 months should be enough time to complete the first draft. The manuscript is incomplete at 76k words. This would definitely be the longest book in the series and if I need to do any major rewrites, I want to give myself the time to do it. I figure I’ll probably edit/rewrite during winter, and aim for an early 2024 release. I also have a contract for book 4, so… Ideally, I would like to write these back to back, but we’ll see how that goes.

I'm not sure where I’ll fit the Crime Lord Series, but I promise I’ll put it back into the rotation as soon as possible. Best-case scenario is books 3 & 4 come pouring out of me and I publish everything ahead of time to fulfill my contract. Then, I could turn my attention to the Crime Lord Series, finally publish Carmen’s books and then write the next in the series (Raul’s book), which has been floating in the dark recesses of my mind for some time.

I wanted to update you on the project switch and why. I know my Crime Lord readers will be sorely disappointed, but I don’t want to break my first book contract because I was stubbornly trying to fulfill a personal promise, only to break another, which has legal repercussions. This is a painful, but logical decision. I’ll fulfill my other promise (concerning the Crime Lord Series) as soon as possible.

I hope you all are doing well and enjoying your summer thus far! Wish me luck!