It’s almost here! The publishing date is almost here! I’m tying up a couple of loose ends such as photography and defining samples and previews of book one. Worst of all, though, I’ve flip-flopped on the title for book one, and I’ve come to the conclusion that sometimes too much feedback is not a good thing.

I love this gif thing

What’s in a Name?

Waaaaay back when I first put together the idea for the series, I bounced book titles off some friends and settled on Risers and Dreamers, describing the two classification of students who attend my fictitious Rose Cross Academy. We threw around other titles, which may have been more striking to readers, but in the end, the book title came down to recognition. By this, I mean when you hear a book title such as Prince Lestat and Throne of Glass, you immediately know the author’s name. I wanted that sort of recognition to follow my titles.

After seeking more feedback around the time I started to prepare to publish, I was inundated by suggestions. Opinion was split between following one-word titles, like Below, and the two-word titles I had originally put on the books. I flip flopped even up to as soon as last week! Until I finally buckled down and decided to go with my instinct.

What mainly made up my mind was down to the title recognition, even if the title seems amateurish. For instance, if you throw out a title like Below, I didn’t feel like you could have the same immediate connection to my series as you would with a title like Risers and Dreamers. Having a unique title at first may not be a bad thing; it’s recognizable. Potential readers will see the title and read the description and go “Oh, okay. I get it.” That connection will be made, even if the title is not a gripping as some of the other options.

What’s in a Cover?

The other thing that has flip-flopped on me is cover art. I’ve gone through four iterations so far and it’s down to two possible covers; one of a school hallway which ties into an invasion which happens in Chapter 8 of the novel, and one of a pair of blue eyes which hints at one of the antagonists of the series. Both have their positives.

With the school hallway cover, I already have in my mind scenes I want on the covers for the next four to five books in the series. These covers are more time consuming and difficult to produce, but would make visually appealing covers.

Almost there!

The blue eyes cover works well, as for each book I can increase the sets of eyes to correspond to the chronology of the book. It will be perfect if the series stays to 6 books as there will eventually be six blue-eyed baddies. But if I can’t wrap things up in 6 books, then I’m in trouble. And this is a big unknown as I only have clear beginnings and endings figured out up until book 4. There’s a battle to write as well, but whether or not I can fit that all into Book 6 is a big question mark now. So with that, the blue eyes covers are out.

NaNoWriMo 2015?

I’m gonna try for it this year with Becca; a schoolgirl with Downs Syndrome survives a new high school by summoning nightmares to antagonize her tormentors. I’ve thought up a few chapters and scenes, but I’m not sure if I’m going to have time to put it all together, or to reach that magic 50,000 word mark. Either way, it just doesn’t seem right (or write?) to not participate in NaNo this year as I’ve participated for the past 3 years. And my mom has joined this year, so I have a double incentive. I’m gonna be a published author during NaNo 2015 – I’m gonna be busy!

On to the Updates!

Hey, have ya heard? I’m publishing! I’ve only mentioned it a billion times! And I’m also finding that I have no creative talent whatsoever in the visual realm. I’m seeking help with the website, I’m having photos done professionally, I’m having the book cover done. It’s a bit of a setback, but since this is my first book, I’m not under the gun to get things out on a schedule. I’m trying to organize everything that needs to be done while at the same time not letting the list of to-do’s overwhelm me. And the extra distractions this time of the year like NaNo and the holiday rush are definitely chewing into my time.

But through all of this, I’ve finished the rough draft of Book 2! It’s a whopping 100,000 words, and that’s after I’ve cut out two chapters. Yikes! This book had been my NaNo2014 project and it’s since grown a little too big for its britches. I’m going through the rough draft and trimming down more . . . well, at least I’m trying to trim. I’m finding that once I’ve finished a chapter, the word count actually goes up again. Whoops.

I have the series ending figured out as well. Currently the series is sitting at 5 books and I know I can’t fit everything I need to into Book 5, but I haven’t had a moment to chop things apart into a Book 6 yet. So, that’s till up in the air. I’m a bit torn. It’s a little sad that I have the ending figured out. I’ve grown to attached to this series, and even though I still have four or five books between now and the end, I’m a little sad that it will have an ending.

Welcome November

With that out of the way, I need to get writing … and editing … and socializing. Oh good grief, there’s so much to do, and I have to hold down a full time job at the same time!

This is me right now, orange hair and all!

Wish me luck!

• Rissa