My Weekend of Epic Proportions-Book 2 Updates

I am flying so high right now off of excitement that I just had to write a blog post for you guys!

As some of you know, I have majorly struggled with writing Enemy Within. Things just weren't clicking like I wanted them to, and between tax season and school taking over so much of my time, I wasn't going anywhere fast. And things were all over the place. Well, I had a lovely chat with my blogger friend, Jessica at Confessions of a Bookaholic, last night. She basically told me to just write the book "I'D" want to read. That may not seem like world-rocking advice, but where my mind was last night, it was for me. I've let the pressure of wanting to please you guys, the lovers and the haters of Descended by Blood, block some of the natural creativity within me. I still want to please you guys, but it will just be done in a way that I know I LOVE, and then secondly hope you all love as well.

After that chat, things started rolling for me in my wee writer's brain. I have been thinking about writing Enemy Within from not only Brooke's point of view, but also Mirko's (Squee, Right!?). But I kept telling myself that it would be too weird to add a point of view in the middle of a series. Well, last night, when I decided to just write the book I wanted to read, I knew I wanted to read Mirko's point of view, too. And he's been basically bugging me to let him have his side told, so I just rolled with it. And then the flood gates opened up. So many awesome scenes came to me. Some of the ones I have written and never really felt like they packed the punch I wanted were now uber awesome if told from Mirko's point of view.

I still had some hang ups with the story, though. I've always struggled with confidence about this story. Mainly because I never felt like it was strong enough. I've been reading Larry Brooks' Story Engineering, and he talks about how Character, Theme, and Concept all work together to create a GREAT story. Lack in one area and it's a weak story. And I was lacking in the concept area. Well, my writer buddy, KC Neal who is also reading this book, and I started to talk about our concepts. I told her what mine was and she nailed it on the head where I thought I was lacking. Then the whirl wind of explosive ideas happened.

We figured out how to fix my concept, make the stakes in the last 50% of the book higher, and basically make this book ROCK! I truly feel like Enemy Within will now be a better book than Descended by Blood is. #Wicked Right!?

And my whirl wind of  "Holy Smokes! YES!!!" didn't end there. I ended up going on to book 3, which will be titled Forbidden to Kill. I'm feeling generous, so there you go with that golden nugget. ;) But anyways, I went on and basically wrote out the gist of everything that happens in book 3. And it is BEYOND AWESOME!! This series is going to end on a higher note than I could have hoped for or ever imagined it would. This is a series I can be more than proud of. And I am more than in love with it! I think I might have actually reached that amazing place that is so rare for an author--I'm OBSESSED with it!

As for a release day, I don't have one yet. I have a set date in my head of when I want to have the first draft finished, and then another of when I'm hoping for the editing and revisions to be finalized. However, I'm doing more editing rounds with this book than I did with Descended by Blood, so it's hard for me to even have a set date in my head right now as I don't have an idea of how much I'll end up having to fix. But it shouldn't be "too" much longer before I have a date.

And also, because I'm feeling generous and because I love you guys, I'm gonna tell you that I've redone the cover for Enemy Within. Yes, the original was pretty, but it didn't "speak" to me. And because I am such a VISUAL person, which also carries into my writing, I had to switch it up. And let me tell you, this new one is SO EFFING AWESOME!!! And no, you can't see it yet, but I'm in the beginning stages of planning out the cover re-reveal.

And finally, because I am totes feeling generous (Gosh! It's like you guys got me drunk and I'm giving away all my secrets!) I also have the cover finalized for book 3. And it may just be my FAVORITE of the series. Okay, I lied. It IS my favorite! And no, you can't see that one yet, either. Neener-neener-neener. #EvilAng ♥