FADED, book three in the Flicker Effect trilogy, is my fifth novel (sixth full-length manuscript), and one of the things I’ve learned over the course of writing a half dozen books is I don’t feel like I’m officially into the draft until I’ve passed the 10,000 word mark. I started writing this draft when I published FRACTURE at the end of June, and as of yesterday I can finally declare this draft a WIP!

If I continue at this rate it will take me five more months to finish the first draft, but I haven’t been reaching my daily word goals (it takes me a bit to get back in my rhythm) so I hope to have it completed much sooner than that. And based on the reviews of FRACTURE, I better hurry it up.

Speaking of FRACTURE, while I don’t have a ton of reviews on Amazon yet, so far they are all 5-star! Woot-woot! And FLICKER has picked up a little speed as well. Do you hear that? That’s me chugging along at this self-publishing game. I’ve never expected this to be a fast process, so I’m happy with every little win*.

In other news, I’ll be speaking at a writing conference here in Grand Rapids this coming October. The Quit Whining Start Writing conference is put on by Splattered Ink Press, and my presentation is called Bringing Out Your Inner Teenager: How to Write for the Young Adult Audience. Catchy, eh? Never mind that I’ve never done a presentation like this before—I’m sure it will be fantastic! Tickets are still available and you get a break on the price if you purchase before August 18—so buy your ticket now!

Other than that, my summer’s been busy with golf (I shot my first 43 on nine holes!), refinishing our patio furniture, and stopping the weeds from taking over my backyard.

What have you been up to?

*My apologies for the marketing-speak. I spend all day, every day listening to marketers at my day job.