Katie Runyon

My first round of editing is almost complete. The warmer weather has caused some delays, but by the middle of the week I should be done. Then I might start round two, since I have some good feedback for the first chapter and am excited to put some of those changes in. But after the first two chapters, I might switch over to The Dark Within. I’m still unsure how I want to start the next chapter, but I’ll figure it out. Even though it can be distracting, I am so glad I am working on ideas/plotting before I even started writing them. With the first book, I didn’t have all that much thought out before I began writing, which has caused a bit of trouble. Especially since books two and three are so connected, I really have to make sure that I don’t trap myself in book two and make more work for myself. (Which I found I was close to doing.) In the first chapter, I introduce the Antagonist, Onisepla, and the reader finds out how old he is. So, what was the problem with that? Well, without giving too much away, his age is very important to the third book. Quite frankly, he wasn’t old enough to make the background story I had planned work. So, I had to go back and rethink his age and abilities. Now, Onisepla is a few hundred years older and a bit stronger than I had originally planned. This will require a bit of a reworking for the chapter, but I’ll get to that soon enough. While planning the next installments of the series is a good thing, it also has a down side. The biggest one? It can be a bit distracting when you are trying to edit a previous story and all you can think about is the new one floating around in your head. I’m not the kind of person who can easily go back and forth between them. The last thing I would want to do is get things mixed up. Plus, while I’m going through the first book again, it is refreshing my memory a bit, since it’s been a while since I even looked at most of it. Not only do I have three stories that are dying to be finished (or written), but I have a whole new series wanting to break through. I’ve been trying my hardest to keep it at bay. I have enough on my plate right now and a whole new series could really put a cramp on things. Of course, this is making me wish I had these three books completed so I can work on the new series, which might give me some motivation. But at the same time, I don’t want to move on to another series. I don’t want The Elementi series to be over with. Of course I could always go back, but I don’t know if flip-flopping from series to series is a great idea. Going from book to book is difficult enough. But somehow I will get through it. (Even if it’s not as soon as I’d like.) But here’s hoping that it gives me the kick in the butt I need.