FYI -- Book writing is hard work

Yesterday, I got an excellent start on Chapter 5 of The Trouble With Demons. My plan is to finish it tonight or tomorrow at the latest. It's mostly dialogue, and as my husband will tell you, I do like to talk. ; ) Once I immerse myself (and my characters) in a scene, writing dialogue is like taking dictation.

For those of you who think writers think of a story, then sit down and cruise through that first draft, you're ever so slightly mistaken. In fact, you're downright wrong. For me, and for many writers, writing that first draft is like squeezing blood out of a rock. It's difficult to get started, the middle is a quagmire, and the endings are a bear. Let's face it, writing is hard work. Is there a part of a book that I don't have difficulty with, that doesn't give me fits? Apparently not.

But I love it, or I wouldn't do it.

I know I have to have a solid first draft to get to the part where I have the most fun -- the rewrites. (Yeah, I enjoy rewrites. I'm sick that way. It's the editor in me.) The first draft is for getting the story down. Everything after that is weaving in the magic and bringing it to life. Now that's what I call fun. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of the "joy of discovery" in those first drafts -- when the story goes off in an unexpected (and completely cool) direction, when a new character suddenly makes an entrance, or when an established character does something completely out of character (and it not only works, but rocks).

Now I'm back to Chapter 5 -- Raine gets advice (and some critical insight) from her dad. And yes, Raine's dad (Eamaliel Anguis) is in The Trouble With Demons.