Am I Too Anal ... for Book Two?

I was going to name this post “Am I Pedantic?” but instead, I went for the double entendre. Writing erotica should be fun, and I consider double entendres a whimsical part of it.

So … the question is “Am I too anal to write another book?” The answer is yes, but considering I’m anal about most things I care about, I don’t see this as a negative trait.

I’ve been working for some time on my second anthology, Spring into Summer, thought I had it done months ago, then completely rewrote the stories. It’s been back and forth with my new editor who is fantastic, patient, and has improved my writing tenfold. The road to this book has been longer than the first. Some call it the Sophomore Syndrome. I prefer to think of it as the I Really Don’t Want This Book to Suck Syndrome. It’s both a blessing and a curse when people expect something from you—a blessing because they’ve probably read the first book and want another, a curse if you can’t give them what they want—when they want it. There’s no one who expects more from myself … than me, so I tend to overcompensate. In my head, I’m saying “You want A & B? Sure, I’ll give you A & B, but I’ll also give you C, and maybe for good measure, I’ll throw in D.”

See what I mean? ANAL.

In a recent conversation with a writer friend, I confessed I couldn’t grind out a book every six months. Though I have a self-imposed deadline in mind, life has a funny way of intervening. I re-shifted my priorities for a few things I thought were more important than getting my book out by spring. In doing so, serendipity stepped in. That’s when I decided to make some story changes. Changing anything in one’s writing takes longer than expected—at least it does for me.

Spring into Summer will come out this summer, and the stories represent the best I’ve written to date. In every area of my life, quality trumps quantity, and so it should for my writing as well. It might take me longer to create my “backlist,” but I hope you’ll agree it was worth it.

In the meantime, the book cover has been decided. As the companion piece to my first book, Fall into Winter, you’ll notice it has a similar look and feel.

I can say with almost 99% certainty the cover will not be changing.

Hope you like it.

eden

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