Getting closer! Vengeful Darkness Updates
Whew, I know it’s been a longer wait than anticipated (I never dreamed this last run-through would take a week /sob), but I genuinely appreciate the outpouring of kindness and support on social media! I’ve been posting daily updates in the Coven (my facebook group), Discord, and Instagram, so if you haven’t seen the updates, you might want to join the community online and get involved with other fans waiting like you are!
The support has been phenomenal, and it means so much to me. Thank you to everyone who has sent kind messages and words of encouragement.
Current Status of Vengeful Darkness
If you want to hear more about why it’s been taking longer than anticipated, you might enjoy this coffee chat YouTube live from Friday. I discuss my creative process and why I’m never again doing preorders (ha).
As discussed in the video, I’ve been struggling more than usual with anxiety. I went to a hotel last week, hoping that one great night would be the end of the book. Instead, I had a major anxiety attack and ended up having to come home.
This isn’t a fun or easy thing to admit, and it certainly isn’t fun to go through. But I’m human, and I want you to know I’m doing everything I can to get this book done while also protecting my own mental health and well-being.
I did spend some time at the hotel pool, writing for a few hours, and I made some good progress!
Daily Progress
I have been making daily progress on the book so far, which means each day it gets a little closer.
Sometimes, when I get to the final stage of a book, I just know in my gut that it isn’t quite right. The options at that point are to either put out a book I know isn’t right (not really an option for me) or to dig in and see what I can do to fix it. Sometimes, it’s a one-day fix and yay, book complete!
Sometimes, as in this case and with Fate’s Surrender earlier this year, it takes major rewrites I wasn’t expecting.
Obviously, this doesn’t really go well with preorders, in general. I will seriously never do a preorder or announce a release date again until the book is finished. When I set up these two preorders back in October, I honestly had no reason to think I would run into any issues.
In the end, though, I think Covid and lockdown stress, along with a little one at home who needs a lot of attention and a new house build and move coming up just proved to be too much stress for me to handle while trying to be 1000% fully creative.
Not an excuse, but just an explanation for why the book is a week + later than I anticipated.
Continuing On
So, each day, I get up and keep working to make Vengeful Darkness the best it can be!
It’s coming together so much better than it was two weeks ago, and for that I am grateful!
In the grand scheme of things, a month late on a book is not unusual or hate-worthy. It’s just sometimes part of the creative process. Years from now, few will remember the situation around the release, while those people reading and discovering the series as new readers will appreciate having a better book.
As I sit writing this, it’s Tuesday June 8th at about 12:45 PM. I have less than 20,000 words of edits to comb through, some of which I already know needs to be rewritten. I can’t say how long it will take to get through, and I’m not going to speculate on when this will release. It won’t be today or tomorrow. Beyond that, we’re taking it a day at at time.
All I can promise is that I’m working as much as I can on it each day, putting my heart into the process and the characters I love so much, and the book will release as soon as it can.
Thanks for waiting and for sharing in the excitement of Book 11 coming soon.
I know it might feel like a long time, but hopefully once you get the book in your hands, you’re going to love it!!
Comments are turned off on this post, because some of the comments on my last post were part of what caused my anxiety attack, and right now, I just need to stay positive and focused. If you would like to send encouragement, join me in the Coven or on Discord for updates!
More news as soon as the final pages are in the hands of my editor!
Thank you!