Writing Update... Editing, Heatwaves & Computer Chaos!

Hello again!

I thought it was about time I popped back with another little writing update because quite a bit has happened over the last few months.

How The West Was Book 2... The Editing Has Begun!

The biggest update is that How The West Was book 2 - the second and final part of this duet - is finally in the editing stage! I started editing last week and... well... let's just say it's been slow going so far. I've managed to get through around three chapters, which isn't bad, but I'd definitely hoped to be a bit further along by now.

The problem? Another bloody heatwave.

If you're in the UK, you'll know exactly what I mean. My productivity has mainly consisted of sitting in front of my fan with it on full blast, trying not to melt into the chair. Editing requires far more brain power than I've been capable of in 30+ degree weather!

I'm still aiming to get the edits finished over the summer, with a tentative autumn release in mind. That said, publishing dates are always a little flexible. It could end up being sooner... or it could be a little later, depending on how the editing process goes. I'd rather take my time and make the book the best it can be than rush it out before it's ready. Harper and Wyatt deserve that.

Self-Employed Life Has Been... Chaotic

Outside of writing, work has been keeping me incredibly busy.

Running my virtual assistant business is never boring, and the last couple of months have definitely proved that! I've lost a few clients, gained some lovely new ones, and generally been juggling all the usual self-employed ups and downs.

Then, just to make life even more interesting - my long-time PC decided it had officially had enough and completely died on me at the beginning of June. Cue mild panic.

Thankfully, I'd backed up around 90% of my files to the cloud, so although I did lose a handful of things, nothing truly important disappeared. All of my photos, videos and sentimental files were safe, which was honestly the biggest relief. It definitely reinforced why backups are worth their weight in gold!

The Mystery Four-Book Series...

If you read my last blog post, you'll know I accidentally started planning another book while working on How The West Was book 2. Well, that "one but possibly three books" has now evolved into what looks like it'll be a four-book series. Apparently my brain doesn't believe in keeping things simple.

It's still very much in the planning stages because I need to do quite a bit of research before I can properly map everything out. I'm incredibly excited about the idea, but I'm trying to be sensible and focus on finishing How The West Was book 2 first. (At least... that's the plan.)

I also have several other half-finished stories sitting patiently in my folders, so I wouldn't be surprised if I spend a bit of time working on those too whenever I fancy a little break from editing.

That's All For Now!

So that's where things stand!

How The West Was book 2 is being edited, the next series is slowly taking shape, work is keeping me busy, and thankfully I'm now working on a functioning computer again.

Now I'm just hoping this heatwave gives us all a bit of a break so I can actually concentrate for longer than twenty minutes at a time!

As always, thank you so much for following along with my writing journey. Your support genuinely means the world, and I can't wait to share more about book three as it gets closer to release.

Until next time, stay cool, drink plenty of water, and if you're also surviving this heatwave, you have my deepest sympathy!

Tania x