Good Mornernoon, everyone!

I’m still waking up, so pardon a little bit of silly here.

Did ya see!? Did ya see!? Jo’s second book has a cover! I am sooo excited about it. My cover people worked hard on it, and it shows. It’s awesome; especially to see Beckett’s face 😉

But I know you’re all now wondering, “When do we get to READ it, Krys?”

Well, let me clue you in on how clueless I am about that.

Usually, my writing of a story can be broken down into stages:

1. Idea Phase. This is when I have the idea (usually in whacked-out dream form) for a really cool story. I sit on it a day or two, just keeping it in the back of my mind, trying to decide if it has potential for a real story, or if dreaming gave me those intense emotions that just made it all feel important.
2. Outline Phase. Assuming the idea proves to be worthwhile, I make an outline of the story. Beginning, Middle, End; that sort of thing. get the key points for the plot and some characters fleshed out.
3. Rough Phase. Here, I go through the outline and turn, “then they fight,” into actual descriptions of their movements. Maybe fill in the spot that said, “they talk about her past,” with actual dialogue. I do this until I have a working story, and this is my favorite phase. I love typing and making the story real. It’s an awesome feeling.
4. Final Phase. On my laptop, I read through everything and make it all make sense and make sure it flows well. This phase is fun because, a lot of the time, this is where I think to add in funny comments and random laughs. And yes, I crack myself up.
5. Editing Phase. Making books is expensive. I had to choose if I wanted a good cover or editing (I have to sell hundreds of copies to break even on my budget), and since I am capable of editing (to a certain degree), but completely useless with Photoshop (I’ve tried, guys; I really have, and it’s just too much for me), I pay people to make the book cover and I spend about a month editing my own work with my phone, where I somehow seem to catch all kinds of mistakes I don’t see on the laptop.

Shattering Solitude is in stage 5. I’m about halfway through. If I work hard, I think I can make my goal of having it out by March 25^th. If life gets in the way, however, it might be closer to the end of April. It really all depends on what life throws at me in the next few weeks, because editing is the hardest stage, both mentally and emotionally. It takes a lot of brainpower to focus and catch every misspelling and grammatical error and what-the-fudge-was-I-even-trying-to-say-here!? that I run across, and then I have to endure the hours and hours of I-really-thought-this-was-amazing-the-last-time-I-read-it-but-this-is-awful-ohmygosh-am-I-an-awful-writer!? thoughts as I go. It sucks.

But, if you like my writing, then you might find the next bit of information to be thrilling.

I have Jo’s 3^rd and 4^th book in stage 4. Her fifth and six book are in stage 3 and 2, respectively. I know exactly where her story is going, and if life cooperates, you could read it all before the end of 2023.

After her, I have another character I really wanna dive into – a girl named Nayeli, who you haven’t met, and her love interest who you’ve only heard about – who exists in the same world, and will have some crossover with Jo. I have outlines for at least 4 books for her, possibly more, depending on how much fun I have when I write her story.

Then there’s a third couple in her world I’m looking at diving into. You haven’t met either of them yet, but you will, and I think you’ll be as excited as I am to hear their story. It’s only in outline phase for 1 book, but I have 20 pages of notes on things for them to do, so I know it’s gonna flesh out when I get a little closer.

And then, of course, Annie’s going to need his own love story. All I have is the idea for that one so far, but I’m really jazzed about it, so I hope y’all love it when I finally comes around.

Now. Besides Jo and her universe, I have about two dozen stories that are stand-alones or don’t have a universe they fit in (it’s amazing how many different ways witches can exist in my mind). I also have a storyline with about 6 stories (two of which have passed the rough draft phase) about two half-humans in a world with prehistoric animals and magic. I’ve been working on it a LOOOONG time, but it never seems good enough. One day I’ll get there. I promise.

And then there’s the Reincarnate Universe. I am super excited to get to this one, too. I have three or four characters, each with at least three outlined books. The first one has about six books (apparently, that’s my magic number) and one main character controls air, while the other controls fire, and – as always – there’s love. The first coupling is a major enemies-to-lovers that I loved getting on paper, and I can’t wait to frustrate the hell out of all of you when you see them interact and feel all the tension. (FYI; this series also stars characters with mental illnesses of various sorts, making it a project that’s close to my heart)

Anyway, the point is, I have a sh*t-ton of material to work with. You can expect me to stick to similar genres, but they will be diverse; from epic fantasy to urban paranormal. As long as I can get readers to support this habit of mine, I will keep writing as long as I can. Hopefully, everyone else wants me to keep doing it too (and they’re not secretly thinking, “this poor girl thinks she can write, let’s pat her on the head and go along on our way”) and I can keep selling copies and spread the word. The more readers I get, the more time I can dedicate to writing. The more time I have for writing, the faster these stories can get out.

And, maybe one day when I have a few hundred fans, I might be able to afford a cover and an editor, so I can stop doing the awful corrections myself.

Until then, it’s up to my fabulous ARC crew to catch the junk I miss and turn my works into the stories I know they can be. You guys are the best!