I finished proofreading book 6 on Tuesday, then gave myself a day off for the Independence Day holiday (though I did do some research reading for an upcoming project). I did some housework and baking, but otherwise it was a lazy day until it was time to head with some friends to the lake to watch fireworks. They were shooting the fireworks from across the lake, so it looked really cool with the reflection in the water, but we were far enough away that we didn't get that visceral "under fire" feeling I like about fireworks. From where we were sitting, we could see at least three other fireworks displays off in the distance, even after our show was over. We're still working out the optimal fireworks experience -- a good show from the right vantage point that doesn't require getting there too terribly early and has enough access points that it's not too hard to leave. There's one show in the area that's awesome and that has all-day entertainment, including a vintage aircraft airshow before the fireworks, but about half a million people (literally, not an exaggeration) come to that, so you have to get there by about 4 in the afternoon, and then it takes hours for the crowds to clear out.
Now, it's back to work. I've been working on a book for a few years, off and on (more off than on) in between other projects. It was initially my response to rejections I was getting on everything else I tried to write that went along the lines of "We love Shanna's work, but we were hoping for something more like Enchanted, Inc. But not something in that series." So I came up with something that had some of the same elements but that was entirely separate. And I think it veered off to be very different, but possibly falling into the same category. I don't know. It's a maddening book, but I do love it in so many ways, and I think it's very close to being ready. On the off chance that books 5 and 6 turn out to make any kind of splash, then it would be nice to have something ready to submit to capitalize on that. And then I can devote myself to book 7.
I for some reason thought I'd announced the release dates for those upcoming books, but apparently I didn't. The planned release date for Much Ado About Magic is August 15. The planned release date for No Quest for the Wicked is currently October 1. Mind you, these are the dates when we'll have everything ready to go with the various online booksellers. The bigger ones apparently launch almost instantly while the others have been known to trickle out. I guess it's like the regular bookstores, where some will shelve a book on release day and others may or may not get around to it for a while. I don't know yet if there will be a hard copy option anywhere. I've got a list of questions in to my agent, and that's one of them. When we were discussing doing this a while ago, that was mentioned as something that could happen, but I don't know the specifics. This is all a brave new world for me and something of an experiment.
Now I need to switch mental gears into this other universe. Would it be considered procrastinating to spend part of the day watching a mood-setting movie?
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