What have I been up to since the release of "Say What You Mean" (SWYM) and why does #20kin5days hate me so much?
First the good. It has been approximately a month and a half since the release of "Say What You Mean," the sequel to "Hey Auntie." Thus far, I have heard fairly solid things. Personally, I am gonna have to let it breathe for at least another month or so before I can fathom trying to read it myself.
Because the minute I see an instance where something could/should have been said differently I am going to lose it. The life of a creative is not easy mane lol.
Totally unforeseen, the impact of the sequel on downloads of the original. I must say that I am fairly pleased with how that worked out. Both of them together have brought about some random conversations about characters and scenes. And of course a couple of questions on if there will be a book three.
Sorry, lost connection there for a second. Let's move on.
If you purchased and read #SWYM to completion, then you know that my next project will be "A Cross to Bare," a Halloween novelette dropping this October. I'm not really sure why, but I am looking forward to releasing this project.
With the heavy lifting for that project already being done, I am pivoting to my current WIP, "Salt & Pepper." This will be my first full-length novel, which I am anxious about for one very important reason. You people in Romancelandia and your rules are OC. I'm a rebel with my pen man! However, I have seen how you all like to tussle over the smallest of things, so I will acquiesce, I guess.
"Salt & Pepper," follows my MMC, Christopher "Boom" King (seen in #SWYM) as he restarts his life and understanding of what trust & love mean, following the ultimate betrayal--finding out his wife and best friend have been cheating with one another.
Enter #20kin5days!
Founded by the incomparable Tasha L. Harrison and amplified by the Wordmakers Community, #20kin5days is a quarterly writing challenge that melds solidarity, accountability, loads of support, and prep work to help writers attack writing projects. It's a challenge for the experienced and inexperienced, and has spawned many a finished draft as well as the completion of projects for others.
This past challenge which just ended on June 11 once again, kicked my ass. This challenge simply does not love me, I don't even think it likes me to be honest. With that said, I do enjoy taking part. For me this challenge normally helps me to pull my writing projects into focus. Though I normally end my five (5) days with anywhere from 7-12,000 words, a clear direction for my story is normally the result.
Going in, I planned on using this quarter's 20k to help me jumpstart Boom & Nia's story. The prep work for the challenge, allowed me to flesh out a skeleton, layout potential chapters for the story, and conceptualize my three-act structure--because #Romance has rules or whatever.
So I guess, in a way, the shit worked...again. Time will tell though.
That's it and that's all though. If you took #SWYM for a spin, thanks for giving it a chance. Hopefully, it got you a little closer to seeing my name in the future and saying, "ooh, I heard that one dude, wassaname, um, the dude that wrote that one book, Teddy Graham. No, Jsin Graham, that's it. I heard he has something new coming out."
I'll be good with that.