Question Du Jour: How Do You…

Write so fast!!!

I get an email at least once or twice a day from someone asking how I possibly write so fast.  “You publish a new book every other day!”

Ok, so no one has said that exactly, but the implication is there: how do I manage to pound out 90,000 words every other week.

Today I give you the super secret answer.  Shh… come closer.  Don’t want to destroy illusions of my brilliance here. (Collapsing on the floor, grasping my sides, and howling at that one.  Snort).  Ready for it?

I don’t.

In fact, from the end of April through the end of October, I had only written new material to fill up gaps in Willow–less than 20,000 words total I’m sure–and my Camp WriMo stuff that hasn’t been finished at all.  What? You say!  Well, it’s true.  November has been the exception for two reasons.

1. It’s NaNoWriMo time!  I’m writing Not a Word and enjoying every second of it
2. I’m at the end of the Willow Saga and there’s a LOT of stuff that needs fleshing.

You see, I’ve been writing for almost eleven years straight.  I started with Aggie, went on to Grace, then wrote Hope (Yes, back in 2006 I wrote Hope and six years later, we published it… see what I mean?), and Argosy Junction, and…   So, do you want to see what my “Books in Progress” folder looks like?  I’ll show you a list (woefully incomplete right now I might add) of in progress or completed works waiting for publishing.

In Print (or partial series in print)

Thirty Days Hath…
Allerednic
31 Kisses
Noble Pursuits
Discovering Hope

The Aggie Series
Ready or Not
For Keeps
Here We Come
Mama’s Boy (coming in the future as well as a “Christmas with Aggie” kind of thing maybe next year)

Ballads From the Songbook
California Joe (Outlined–not written)
Cowboy Jack   (Complete)
Blind Child’s Prayer (outlined–not written)
Bonnie Black Bess (outlined–not written)

The Brethren
Argosy Junction
Reluctant Shepherd (outlined–not written)

The Hartfield Mysteries
Manuscript for Murder
 Crime of Fashion (Complete not published)
Final Straw (In Progress)

Past Forward Series (Nearly finished publishing)

The Annals of Wynnewood  
 Shadows & Secrets
      Cloaked in Secrets
      Beneath the Cloak

Who Am I?
Recall (Book 1 in Who Am I?)  (Complete unedited)
Refresh (Book 2 in Who Am I?)  (begun but not complete)

Journey of Dreams
Prairie  (Complete in editing)
Seaside  (In progress)
Desert (outlined–not written)
Highlands (In Progress)

The Not So Fairy Tales
Princess Paisley
Everard
Leicelin (outlined–not written)
Princess of Congolia (outlined–not written)

Legends of the Vengeance
Book 1  (Complete)
Book 2 (In Progress)
Book 3
Book 4
Book 5

Valle de Morado  A ten book series chronicling the family of Californios and Californians in Napa from 1841-1941.
Casa de Sueños  (Complete)
Encantado (In Progress)

Complete

Introductions (Complete not edited)
Plotting Santa  (Complete not Published)
Webster’s Bakery (mostly Complete)
Volition  (Complete-unedited)
Speak Now (Complete unedited)
Advent (Complete–published soon)
Deceptive Appearances (Complete but unedited)
Mismatched  (In progress–nearly complete)
Bentley (Nearly complete)
Confessions of a Decluttering Junkie (Almost complete)

In Progress

The Agency (In Progress)
But, Gram! (In Progress)
Exiles (In Progress)
Captured! (In Progress)
Clash with Jesus (In Progress)
Dead Limb Walking  (In Progress)
Diaretic  (In Progress)
Home Improvements (In Progress)
Morning Compute  (In Progress)
The Course (In Progress… nearly complete)
Riddle of Destiny (In Progress)
Confessions of a Compulsive (but Inept) Crafter  (In Progress)
Not a Word  (In Progress)

Book Ideas

Boomerang (outlined–not written)
Reappearance (outlined–not written)
Vignettes from the Vintage Runway (outlined–not written)
Kisses of an Enemy (outlined–not written)
Faithful Wounds  (outlined–not written)
A Man and a Mouse (outlined–not written)
Beneath the Pigment (outlined–not written)
Common House (outlined–not written)
In Real Life (outlined–not written)
Kirky (outlined–not written)
Love is Patient  (outlined–not written)
Momster  (outlined–not written)
New Generation  (outlined–not written)
Patient Wooing (NEEDS A NEW TITLE BADLY)  (outlined–not written)
Photo Booth (outlined–not written)
Retroactive Truth (outlined–not written)
Rhonna (outlined–not written)
Subject to Change Without Notice  (outlined–not written)
Silent as the Grave (outlined–not written)
Regression (outlined–not written)
While In a Comma (not a typo)  (outlined–not written)
Homeless  (outlined–not written)
Month of Sundays  (outlined–not written)
Abandoned 365 (outlined–not written)
Anything for Her Child (outlined–not written)
Big Proposal (outlined–not written)
Double Identity (outlined–not written)
Eco-Friend-Me (outlined–not written)

The Guardians of Valimar  (outlined–not written)
The Explorer
The Keeper 
      The Dreamer
      The Healer
      The Soldier

So, see?  There’s really a lot already written and a lot in progress, and a WHOLE lot planned… but nearly every word of this was done before June 2012.  I am a fast writer.  But for the past six months, I’ve been publishing previously written work over the past ten years.  And we’re rapidly running out of those books and moving into new ones.  And I’m excited about that too.  🙂

As you can see, I’m not going to hit Writer’s Block anytime soon.  😀