Writing, Writing and More Writing

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I have been working on my second book a lot recently. I am almost to 30,000 words, which is almost a third of the way there (I'm shooting for about 90,000) in only 3 weeks! At this rate, I might be done with it by May, just in time to start revising the first book.

It is really hard not to grab my manuscript and a pen and get to work on my first book. It's like having a Christmas gift sitting in your room for three months just begging to be opened, but you know you should wait until Christmas Day. I might have peeked, just a bit.

To help my own writing, I've been reading lots of books, mostly fantasy because that is the genre I am writing in too, though I've also read historical fiction and a few other genres. It's interesting to read books not just as a reader, but as a writer. Reading becomes not just entertainment, but a chance to pick apart other writer's work, see what works, what does not (at least in my opinion) and sometimes wonder how the person was ever published. Just think, some day, someone might be saying that about my work.

In that vein, I am really excited for this author's latest release, coming at the end of May. I stumbled across her work a couple years ago and voraciously read through everything. She has a free short story, so if you enjoy fantasy and/or fairy-tale retellings that are somewhat dark, mysterious and have realistic romantic relationships (aka no love-at-first-sight) then you might just enjoy her work.

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