Important reminder about ARC opportunities + writing updates!
We will return to our previously scheduled programming after this brief message to make sure readers see ALL THE EXCITING THINGS!
I know, I know, my next post was supposed to be a deep-dive review of StoryOrigin’s beta reader tool, and it will be! But please pardon this interruption because EXCITING THINGS ARE AFOOT.
A few months ago, I split my mailing list in two: one for readers who love my books (here), and one for authors with publishing tips and tea (this Substack). So in case you missed that announcement and you enjoy my fiction work, join my reader newsletter so you don’t miss any important updates about my next thriller, You’re Overthinking This.
You’ll get a first look at ARC opportunities and bonus content (like character art). For example, last week I announced that anyone who joins the cover reveal team and helps reveal the cover on June 4 will GUARANTEE themselves a spot on the ARC team and be the first to read. (Here’s the application in case you missed it.)
By joining my reader newsletter, you’ll also get a free short story right away, which I updated last week to include a special extended surprise about You’re Overthinking This at the end. 😈
A smorgasbord of updates:
Writing something new
I’ve mostly been focused on drafting my next novel. I usually try to get through a first draft as quickly as I can—what I usually call a “zero” draft because I vomit it out so fast and sloppy, I need to rewrite it—but this time, I’m editing as I go. I simply don’t have time before my deadline to rewrite the whole thing!
This is only possible (for me) because I’ve written a 9k-word outline, so I’ve mapped out the red herring and twists in such a detailed manner that theoretically I won’t get to the end and be like “ACTUALLY NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE, I NEED TO START OVER.” Keyword: theoretically. In my thrillers, my own characters always manage to surprise me, so here’s hoping they hold it together and cooperate!
I’m currently 21k words in, but they’re draft two words, and I’m ready to move forward. My deadline is September 1 LMAO wish me luck.
You’re Overthinking This
I’ve gotten my copyedits back from my editor with a glowing review: “This is MASTERFUL work, Diana. I am so in awe. You consistently had me second guessing myself (and my own guesses) and every time I felt confident I knew what was going on, suddenly another clue would show up and BAM, I was wrong again LOL.” YAYYYYYYYYYY.
I thought I’d have a ton more work to do at this stage. (I don’t know why. The thing already went through the wringer with my thirty beta readers. Impostor syndrome, maybe?) But so far I’ve been able to move through the edits pretty quickly. Either way, my deadline to get this to my proofreader is May 22, and then I’ll be able to move onto the formatting stage, which I’ll be doing myself using Vellum.
I’ve also commissioned another piece of character art I’m so excited about, with dimensions I could use for the endpapers if I do a special edition at some point. I’m very tempted to do a Kickstarter, but I’m already feeling overwhelmed with everything on my plate, so I’m not sure if I’ll do one before launch or wait until after the ebook and regular edition paperback launches. If any indie authors reading this have done Kickstarters, I’d love to hear from you on how they went in the comments, and whether you’d recommend I do one before or after launch.
Got my rights back!
After years of trying, I finally got the rights back to my sophomore book, These Deadly Deadly Games, from my publisher.
I’ll likely do a deep-dive on this story at some point. My next step is formatting the file. All I have is the PDF, and when you try to open it in Word, the PDF headers and footers get inserted in the prose, along with the manual dashes from line breaks. It’ll take a lot of manual formatting work even just to get the current version of the ebook back up, and I want to make some edits before officially relaunching. But with everything else on my plate, it’ll probably be a few months until I can get to it.
What I’ve been watching/reading/playing
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I reread the hardcover before seeing the movie, then immediately listened to the audiobook (I needed more Rocky!). Amaze amaze amaze!
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. Apparently this is quite the polarizing book but holy heck I was RIVETED. I couldn’t wait to pick it back up each night, and loved the prose—it was both an easy read and gorgeous, and I remember thinking, “wow I need to reread this just to study the craft.” I enjoyed the twist in this one as well.
Scandal (TV show). My husband and I finished binge-watching Scandal, and WOW WHAT A SHOW. There wasn’t a slow moment throughout all seven seasons, and it was masterful how they kept coming up with new twists among the same characters. The first half of season seven was downright terrifying.
Horizon Zero Dawn (video game). I’ve been struggling to connect with a game in recent months; since a new Fable game is coming this fall I tried the original Fable trilogy, but got frustrated by how long the interaction animations took. I got the furthest in game 3. But HZD is the exact kind of RPG I’ve been looking for; I love a game with a huge mystery that makes you eager to find out what happens next, not just play. I just started it late last week but I already know it’s going to wind up somewhere on my favorites list.
That’s it for now; time to get back to drafting! Hope you have a lovely week.
