Thursday 16th November 2017

So it looks like next week could be quite a busy one.
Like a lot of people I get paid holiday from the day job.  I use a lot of it in May when I go Storm chasing and then to take the odd day off here and there for travel to tournaments and the like.  But I didn’t go to the US for quite so long this time, and coupled with the May bank holidays it ends up using a lot less holiday than it seems.  And so this year I’ve found I’ve been running with an excess.
I’ve tried to save this.  If something happened with the novel and something needed to be done urgently I figured I could use a week to put in some serious book time.  I tried to take it in August when I wanted to get the last draft of Black as Knight done, but due to other employee’s holidays, sickness and major projects I was unable to take it then.
The draft got done and sent back and so I’ve been sitting on a couple of weeks’ holiday ready for edits to come back.
But publishing moves slowly and I can only carry 5 days over.  And I’m not the only team member with this problem.  With about 5 weeks left in the year, today has seen some strategic planning in order to fit all the holidays that need to be taken before the end of the year.
The long and short of it though, is that I’m off next week.
It’s a bit sudden and I’m not really prepared but I have Shade Knight book 2 that needs some serious editing, so it makes sense that next week I spend most of it editing the book.
I love weeks like this.  I feel it gives me a taste of being a full-time author.  For just a week I can experience what it would be like if I could make writing my day job.  It also means I can catch up after being really lazy on the edits  (although to be fair this autumn has been very swordfighting heavy).
So I’m trying to make plans so I can maximise my time.  I may take one day out to escape my future office.  With Bucklerthon on Saturday, Training on Sunday and Wessex the following week, the weekends my week off is sandwiched between are very sword-centric and so my opportunities to have an actual break and go somewhere are very limited.
My friend suggested that I go to the Uffington Horse and I think that’s a great idea.  I wrote about it for a novel I have in first draft and whilst I used a lot of Google Street view to describe the location correctly, I’ve never been there.
Of course, that makes me guilty as I’ve not sent that draft to my agent but to be honest, with each round of drafts I get so much more proficient as a writer that I feel those other novels now need a rewrite.  The benchmark for what is my acceptable baseline is constantly going up and as a result, the more I feel my other novels, whilst good, are not good enough.
It’ll be interesting editing book 2 next week.  Whilst I doubt I’ll get it complete, I do wonder whether this book will take me as many drafts as Black as Knight to get to the same acceptable standards I now set for myself.
I’ll guess we’ll find out next week.
If you want to follow more of my journey, then be sure to check me on my social channels.  Likewise, if you’d like me to expand on any point mentioned above, please say so in the comments.

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