Here we go again

Like I mentioned with Wolfbreed #1 some time ago, there’s a point in every novel I’ve written where I feel like, “OMG what kind of garbage am I writing here?” It always happens in the last third of the book. I hit a wall where I feel everything I’ve written is total shit and I have to slog my way through the next few scenes no matter how excited I am about the project. However, I must still be growing as a writer, because I’ve just made two discoveries about this phenomenon.

First, this did not happen with Prophets, and I think it must be related to the fact that it is the first book in a trilogy, and really is only the first third of a narrative and not a stand-alone book.

Second, and more important, in today’s “slog,” I discovered a way to short-circuit the process. I skipped back into the first third of Valentine’s Night and added a new scene retroconning a plot point I realized I needed for the ending. Turns out that, while it wasn’t my intent, adding the scene (where my vampire RN heroine gets to set her own compound fracture in a wrecked police car) managed to re-ignite the enthusiasm that made me launch the project in the first place. Now I’m back to being excited about attacking it this weekend. Got to remember this for the next novel, it’d save me some angst.

On an unrelated note, I got notes back from Anne for Wolfbreed #1 (still need titles), and with them I have the first word on when it will see print. As of right now, we’re looking at Summer 2009. Mark your calender.