So, let’s talk numbers.

The name of the book I finished writing back in March is unreleased, so we'll refer to it as 'vamp wip'. It's also book one in a duology.

It's a beast. A very chonky book, and it came in at 174,283 words when I finished the first draft.

I've already finished working through the first round of edits, and the book is out with beta readers :) Since it won’t be released for a couple of years still, there will definitely be more rounds of editing after betas take a look at it.

In the first editing pass, the goal was to make it readable; just to correct all the errors I made while I was speeding through the drafting phase. (As I expected, I ended up doing a developmental pass - added perspectives from a character whose influence I’m trying to amplify, strengthened scenes, etc.)

To see my projected publishing timeline, click here!

Anyways, let's talk about a moment that really stretched my creativity in this book. There's a chapter where things get a little...hot. And to be clear, I don't mean just with sex, even though I’m referring to a sex scene. This book has a decent amount of open door, explicit sex scenes in it, so that's not what I'm referring to here.

I can't give you too many details, because that ruins the whole thing, but just trust me. It's hot. It's morbid. It's disturbing. It's also kinda...a turn on? Maybe I need a psychiatrist. (I definitely do.) Either way, I’m interested to see my beta readers’ reactions to this scene.

The scene just sort of…happened. When you read the book, finally, you'll get to see what I mean.

I don't know where it came from, I don't know why it needed to happen that way but it did.

Just remember, when you read it, the key word is 'fire'.

Next time we chat, I'll share what was definitely my least favorite part of writing this book.

Until next time, bestie!