Irritable Me

It's kind of like Despicable Me, but without stealing the moon. :p   (Kidding)

I haven't written this morning because I'm writing a blog first, but Darian's story is over 10k now. I'm excited about that! I am seeing the structure and visualizing some scenes. It's all about knowing how to get from point A to point B without it being boring. We all know I doubt myself! I was looking over some quotes on reviews of WLINE and I started worrying about living up to expectations. ESPECIALLY when The Cost of Loving is taking so long to find a publisher! I seriously should have self-pub'ed. Kinda of regretting that I didn't. I have a few options and they need to get sussed out in the next couple months! My personal goal is to know where TCOL is going by the end of August. August will mark a YEAR from when WLINE came out and that is ridiculously long to wait for the sequel.

I worry about The Cost of Loving being over looked because WLINE was published so long ago but I DO have my current fans who have read the first one and seem to want to read more about Matt. Plus, in the really long interim, I had two readers of WLINE beta-read TCOL and they both liked it! In MY OPINION, The Cost of Loving CAN be read without reading When Love is Not Enough. It is just BETTER if you read it as a sequel. That said, the third book probably can't be read as a stand-alone. It follows right after TCOL and the events that take place in it.

The third one is titled: Love, Trust, And Learning To Live Again
I was going to consider changing the title but the more I write, the more it seems to fit. Darian's life is about all those things. I wrote the "blurb" yesterday. That was actually challenging. After a couple drafts I realized that some of what I wrote would be giving away the story in TCOL and the ending. Can't have that! I mean, YES I want to write a blurb that encompasses the plot but I didn't want to give away ALL the events in the previous book. Not when the second one hasn't come out. Matt coming out at the end of WLINE is giving away in the blurb of TCOL but I don't think that is as significant as giving away the end of TCOL. I want to keep you all in the dark. SO, I rewrote the blurb of LTLTA. It is intense and I will post it on my website as soon as TCOL gets published. (Or at least has a date!) Too soon and it just makes everyone frustrated in the waiting! Well, I'm frustrated anyway. Maybe I'll post it when I have 50k written for LTLTA because at least then it is almost a novel.

I am shooting for 100k. WLINE was 97k, and TCOL is 120k. LTLTA can be in the middle somewhere. I have a tab on my website for current news and I will update that frequently. Plus I have a word count listed in the TEARJERKERS tab where LTLTA is listed on the bottom right. I'll update that every few days to let you in on the progress!!!

About my IRRITATIONS....

Goodreads irritates me sometimes! Like when I see that someone else "rated" my book. I like to read their review or at the very least see what they rated it. I admit, I'm slightly obsessed but what readers have to say is significant to me. My frustration is that I CAN'T always see them. Like today: I notice another 5 star (which is awesome because I haven't gotten a 5 star in a long time) but I don't know who gave it! I can't see it listed. I search for "newest" and for "5 stars" and I only see the ones that were there before. It has been like this for a while. The last few 4-stars I couldn't see. The number went up and I couldn't thank anyone for liking my book. So it that was you, THANK YOU for the 4 stars, and for the 5 star! I am glad I wrote something you liked. I will continue to write and I hope you enjoy the sequel just as much! I normally like to say "Thank you" and "like" the review (ya know, if I like it and all) but Goodreads has not allowed me to see the latest ratings. WHY? don't know. So I will just have to say THANK YOU here on my blog and if you rated it and I didn't say anything just leave me a comment. I also like to "friend" people who like my writing. I "friend" other people too, don't get me wrong. I like networking. I "friend" people with similar taste in books and friends of mutual friends. Or if you read a book I WANT to read I may friend you if I like your review etc... Goodreads is good for networking over books! I like that! And now that I like to read, it helps me find more interesting titles.

Any other irritations? Not sure. Mainly frustrated over the above GR issue, and that TCOL is still not published.

The "sequel" issue... Found out that publishers don't generally like sequels about the same characters. They don't mind if the first one sells gazillions, then they might consider it. But generally, the sequel needs to be about "other" characters. Like the same setting (or town) but another set of people. Like if I chose to write a sequel about someone other than Matt and Darian. THEN it MIGHT have coaxed a publisher to want it faster. Just some information. Needed information because I was planning a sequel to My Roommate's A Jock? Well, Crap! But now that is on hold. Cole and Ellis are the characters in MRJWC and I was planning to continue with them. Now I am rethinking it. I have to figure out how I can continue their tale as a side thing and write a novel involving another couple. What couple? Dilemmas, Dilemmas!!

So, what are YOUR thoughts?

Are you excited that I'm writing a third book in the Unconditional Love Series? (LTLTA)

Are you excited about my m/m contemporary (comedy) romance coming out in December? (MRJWC)

Do you like reading sequels about the same characters or completely NEW ones?

If you "rate" on GR's, do you like it when the author takes the time to comment?

Let me know how you feel.

:)  Wade   xoxo