As always, I’d like to begin this week’s progress report by thanking all of you awesome people who’ve followed, liked and/or commented on my blog!

Here are this week’s stats:

Words Written This Week: 10,874

Words Written For Book So Far:  45,668 in order/ 68,800 total

Last Chapter of Rough Draft Completed: Chapter 14

Chapters To Go (subject to change): 10

Days Until October 11th Goal Date: 54

Thoughts:

Thankfully, my writing really took off again this week. I not only met my goal, but I went one chapter over it (and a long chapter at that). I truly believe having an actual writing space (that isn’t just me sitting on my bed with my laptop propped on my legs) has helped tremendously. At first, I was afraid that I would sit down at my newly-created work space and hit a mental wall. That’s what happened when I tried to write at the kitchen table. But I’ve written more in the past week than since I started this blog.

Gush-time. Okay, so, we all know I’m a lady. Which means I have periods. Which means for me, the week prior is usually a time of unusual cravings and heightened emotion, both good and bad. And that week was definitely this week. On Tuesday, I was listening to music at work, specifically my private playlist inspired by my book, when Haley Reinhart’s cover of Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love came on. And I realized…I’d left Character-A in limbo in that day’s writing. He doesn’t know if he and Character-B will work out. I know how it will all turn out (to an extent; there have been a few instances when this story has surprised me), but he doesn’t. I could actually feel his anxiety and dread in the pit of my stomach. And that night, I was brainstorming a happier part of the book, at a point when Character-A surprises Character-B and, guys, I could feel their love. I felt how much Character-A loved Character-B, how happy Character-B was to see Character-A, how much they missed each other. I know I’ve done it before and blogged about it, but I was in tears just thinking about it. I wasn’t even actually writing.

In the recent past, one of my best friends asked me what I wanted most out of life. And I told her, I want to fall in love. Not to be self-deprecating, but falling in love is hard for me. I’m a somewhat bristly person who loves her solitude. But I can tell you, I am completely in love with this story. I am completely infatuated with Characters A and B (and all of my supporting Characters too!). I’m not trying to be too pleased with my writing either. It’s flawed. It’s going to need several rounds of edits, both by myself and by a professional. But man, I can see these Characters. I can hear their voices, their laughter, their cries. Everything they feel for each other, I feel. This is as close to being in love as I have been in a very long time, maybe ever.

Some big news this week…my book officially has a cover. On Wednesday night, I bought the cover art for my book. I was perusing the LGBT+ section of a pre-made cover art site, SelfPubBookCovers.com. Mostly, there were the typical covers that scream MALE/MALE ROMANCE (which is totally fine, but I want something more subtle for my own book). But then, I scrolled across one that gave me pause. My stomach dropped. I actually think I gasped. No, I thought, I can’t do that. Because once you know the story, it’s so startling, so brutally appropriate. I didn’t even think about it for a full 24 hours. And it was a fraction of what I expected to pay for a decent cover (but not so cheap that it fell into too-good-to-be-true territory). Which means I’ll have more money for my ISBN, copyright, professional editing, etc…yay!

My goal for next week is to complete Chapters 15 and 16. I’m at a point where I sit down to write just so I can find out what happens next. How awesome is that?!

I’m also setting a goal for this weekend to sit down and enjoy at least one book. I’ve been so wrapped up in writing my book/reading books to help me hone my writing, not to mention wrapped up with my life in general (work-related stress, concerts, etc.), that I haven’t read a book for pleasure since listening to the first two Adrien English mysteries by Josh Lanyon on audio book, Fatal Shadows and A Dangerous Thing, at the beginning of this month. Time to rectify that.

Note to self: Be careful around the sentimental love songs…especially when you’re about to be on your period and you know that you’re going to be an even bigger sap than usual.