This week, I’ve been working on the “make the words pretty” pass of Weaving and Wyverns, book 4 of the Tales of Rydding Village series. That’s when I read the book out loud, performing it as though I’m recording an audio book. It’s a great way to catch awkward phrasings and to make sure I’m really seeing what’s on the page, as opposed to what’s in my head. My audiobook narrators have said my books are easy for them to read, and it’s probably because I do it this way.

This is when I tend to find a lot of “why did I do that?” moments, where something doesn’t make sense to me and I don’t remember why I wrote it that way. If I have to read it several times to figure out what I meant, readers don’t stand a chance, so that means rewriting.

This is a pretty draining process because I’m not used to talking this much. I could barely sing during choir practice last night. My voice was pretty much shot. I’m taking breaks between chapters and drinking a lot of water, and I’m trying not to talk when I’m not reading the book.

I have one more pass, when I read the formatted book out loud to myself. That may happen next week, or I may hold it for the following week to give myself a bit of a break. And then the book will be ready to go.

After that, the rest of the year I’m planning to focus on thinking and preparation, getting some new promotional things going, and also giving myself some time off to enjoy the autumn. I scheduled in a week of vacation, but I may not take a whole week off. I may do it in smaller chunks. If it’s a really nice day, I may head to the Blue Ridge Parkway and do some hiking or visit an apple orchard. If it’s a cool, rainy day, I may spend the day baking, drinking tea, and reading. Otherwise, I’ve got an old book I wrote but never revised that I may take a crack at, and I want to do some planning/plotting for future books so I can dive right in next year. I’m going to try to schedule my days so I fit in fun around the writing, either getting the work done in the morning and playing or working in the yard in the afternoon or going exploring during the day and spending some time working in the evening.

But first, I have to get this book done and out into the world.