I did it!

It’s been a long, long time since I’ve finished a draft, y’all. I almost forgot what it feels like! My last book, Burning Bridges, was published two years ago in June and since then I’ve been trying and trying to get the sequel to There’s No Place Like Gnome written.

Unfortunately for me, 2024 was not my year health-wise and while I did write during that time when I was able (I started at least four different drafts), in the end, nothing I wrote felt right.

In March, I hit 60,000 words in my latest draft and realized that the idea I had for Lee and Emma was just not working. For the first time, I took a step back and allowed myself to entertain a totally new idea. I spent one full week plotting and daydreaming and planning…and then I launched myself into writing.

I did some math and realized that if I could write 10,000 words a week, I could get an 80,000 word draft finished in two months. I wanted to get as much done as I could before summer started and then that would leave me a couple of months to do my own edits and rewrites before submitting it to my editor in August.

I’m proud to say that I finished this draft yesterday—a full week and a half earlier than planned!

I have never, ever, ever written a full draft in this short amount of time. The closest would be Water Under The Bridge, which I wrote in about four and a half months. It’s a wonder how things can change when you stop fighting with something that isn’t working. Once I had the right idea, it was so much easier to write and the story fell together so quickly.

The last six and a half weeks have been filled with words. It’s been nothing but fun to submerge myself into this book, and I was able to do that because I let it be imperfect. For the first time, I didn’t put pressure on myself for it to be the final draft as I wrote it. This story came out on the page with so much joy. That was not the case whatsoever with Burning Bridges! It feels so, so good to enjoy writing again.

That being said, I still have a lot of work left to do! Possibly the hardest work! Before this, I typically wrote one draft and would make pretty minimal changes before finalizing it. This time around, I have a lot of things to fix. Plot holes and theme arcs and battling my true arch nemesis…Show Don’t Tell.

Last week I reached out to my editor to make sure she had a spot for me in August and unfortunately found out she’s no longer editing! So I had to quickly find another and I’m so thankful that today I did! She’s a powerhouse and I’m honestly a little scared but sometimes it takes some tough love to make a project the best it can be! I’m so excited for you to read this book—and even that is something I haven’t truly felt before! I’m usually so nervous wondering if my work is good or if people will like it, but this time…I’m so, so pumped for you to read Lee and Emma’s story!

So, as of now, my timeline for publishing is still going according to plan. I’m hoping to get this book out into the wild this fall—crossing my fingers for October at the latest.

Thank you to all of those readers who have repeatedly been asking me “when’s the next one coming out?!” because I know it’s been a long time. Even seven months ago, I felt so disconnected from writing and the books I’ve published that I wondered if I should just throw in the towel. I’m so glad that I hung in there and trusted myself enough to do a complete rewrite with a brand new idea. Thank you for hanging in there with me while I dragged myself through 2024. It took everything in me to get myself here, on the other side of those health struggles, and I’ve never felt more excited to keep writing.

Wish me luck on edits!