M.A. Parker

It’s spring, with tulips and daffodils blooming in every corner of the yard. I can see tiny signs of life on my lilac bushes (my favorite) which fills me with such joy. When they bloom, it’ll be the best week of spring.

Life as an indie author means, that a lot of time, life obligations take priority to writing. Sadly, writing was suspended to focus on getting ourselves settled after getting news that upended our routine. Thankfully, it had nothing to do with anyone’s health, but it took all my time and energy to help get us course correct. Thankfully, it happened a lot faster than I could’ve hoped.

The downside to this, is I had to focus more on life, than getting books going. Editing on book two of Bischoff Black stalled. I did receive feedback from my developmental edit and a second editor. One of the feedback notes was the books ending didn’t feel quite right. So, I have decided to end the book in a different place (moving 4-5 chapters to the next book), and add in more details to others. So, major edits to the middle of the book is needed. However, both said the beginning is great and only needs cosmetic changes.

Sadly, after I got all the chapters moved and edits notes into a new draft of the manuscript, everything came to a stop. Which means, I haven’t even made it through the first chapter of rewrites. This frustrates me as much as you, my friends. Do not despair, I plan to still have book two out this year. It might not be on the timeline I originally planned, but it will happen this year. The second part is the art for the cover. I’m still working on the digital art for it. The main concept is there, and I’m working on adding more details to get it to the level needed for publishing.

As for the Historical Romance: I’m still waiting for feed back for a test read of what I have completed. From what they read, they’ve giving me some really helpful advice about things to change with characters. When I get their full report back, I’ll get those implemented and hopefully get the HR out this year too. I already have the cover done, but I haven’t looked at it in a while. When I get this draft off for line editing then I’ll review the cover to make sure it’s still meets my expectations for the book.

For now, everything is back on track with writing. I’m happy to be back in my element, in front of a computer, writing out the stories in my mind. I’m excited to get two books out to you in the coming months! Fingers crossed that this level of disruption is done for the year. Thank you for stopping by and staying up-to-date with the process.

Happy Spring and Happy Reading!

Hello, Friends!

I’ve been working hard over the last few months, and we’ll over-look the part where I forget to update! So, here is the update on book writing over the last couple months.

Historical Mystery Romance: While the manuscript for Bischoff Black was off for developmental edits, I used this time to work on getting this manuscript to a complete story stage. It took the full two months to get it to a place I felt it could be read a cohesive story. And I got there. However, there is a lot more finer things that need to go into the book, as it is a mystery. Not to mention getting the suspense right. Mystery writing is a bit more challenging, but it has been interesting to research and structure the story in the right beat marks.

Bischoff Black Book Two: I’ve received back the developmental edits from Ramona. I planned to start revision on the manuscript starting in February, so I could finish the other manuscript. On Sunday, I got everything ready and started the next big edit for book two. The goal is to have all the edits from the developmental edits done by month’s end. I’ll regroup at that point to see where the story is, hopefully, getting more outside perspective on where changes need to be made.

BONUS: New Fantasy Novel: I finished early with the romance/mystery book. I decided to pull up one of my fantasy books that I started during a nanowrimo a few years back (sitting at 56k words). It’ll be a stand alone book. It has adventure, magic, fighting, unlikely paring of characters, assassins, tackers, mysteries, warring lands, and a revenge plot. It’ll be a fun read for anyone who likes fantasy novels.

Being able to work on the fantasy novel really helped refocus my efforts. World plotting and creation is my favorite part of the writing process. Working on those elements with the fantasy book was exactly what I needed to get excited for writing again. Sometimes the job of writing/editing makes you lose the joy of creating stories. I hope to add in this book to the rotation going forward, or at least working on it in off hours to get the creative juices flowing.

Great things are in the works! I’m excited to share them with you in the coming months.

Happy reading!

Hello Readers and Friends!

Great News!

Book two in the Manheim Treasure series is off for developmental editing!

I’m so excited to reach this stage. For me as an author, this means that the book is a complete story. All events and elements for this book are complete. The book flows from chapter to chapter in a cohesive story line. All the chapters are more than just a line of thought or a brief idea of what is going to happen.

One thing I didn’t count on when starting this story, was the amount of places and people I would need to create. Add on the fact they need backstories, families, backgrounds and so much more. I’m wondering how other authors keep it all straight. For me, I have a separate Scrivener document that is for keeping track of all the people, places, and times that are in Bischoff Black. It is crazy the amount of details I already have, and we are only on book two! I used to keep everything in a notebook. I miss using paper and pens, but with a story this size, it became difficult to find what I needed easily. Now, I can look up what I need. All my notes are organized and easy to find. Organized notes are almost as using pen and paper!

My manuscript will be returned by the first of the year. Then the real work begins!

For now, I have until the end of the month to finish my stand alone book. It is only 8 days into December and I’ve barely made it to chapter 16 trying to read through the story. It is so hard to just read it and then start the actual editing process. I can’t help but ‘fix’ things as I go. Fingers crossed, I can keep focused and get this manuscript ready for editing! It will be out in 2026 as well!

Keep checking back for updates!

Happy Reading!

Parker

I have officially secured a spot with my favorite editor for the start of editing on book two!

YAY!

With that being announced, now I need to get myself a completely finished manuscript. What I have now is a lot of completed chapters, but all the important chapters that are still in a detailed outline situation.

I haven’t been in a motivated or inspired place with writing, but I also haven’t given myself a concrete outline for having it done. So, securing a spot with Ramona means I have to get it done. Book two is at least a year behind schedule. (I’ve been trying to get my second business going this year, so writing got put behind).

I hope to have firm updates for everyone in the next few weeks about when Book Two will finally be out.

Until then, happy reading!

It’s so hard to find the right angle for a post.

Or targeting the right ‘demographic’.

Let alone, figuring out any of the right steps to make your book seen.

Every avenue for publishing has it’s risks of succeeding, and I chose this path. But it doesn’t mean that frustrations can’t plague you every step of the way.

Today is one of those days where the weight of taking on the monumental task of writing, editing, formatting, creating artwork, designing covers, publishing, and – ugh – marketing is overwhelming. None of which includes the daily struggles of life in general, with the added drama of feeling like the whole world is deciding to fall apart.

But, everyday, I bring my hot yeti mug full of coffee into my office. Sit in front of my computer, and keep going.

I love writing. I love creating art and stories. I can’t stop if I wanted to.

Everyday, I create a media post to help anyone find my book. I’m hoping that by creating one every day I’ll have enough that I won’t have to struggle to make them. Right now, I have about 10 made, and now I can start posting again. I think I’ll post them here too. Just because I put so much effort into them.

Marketing focus is on Book Two. (don’t ask how progress is coming on book two…at least today.)

Maybe I need deadlines….

Hmm…

Anyhow, that is where the feelings are today. Marketing sucks, but I’m still trying to make it work.

I’m jealous of those who have that natural ability to talk to a camera, or make everything sound amazing. My hats are off to you!

Anyhow, happy writing, reading, and breathing.

Getting back into daily writing after a forced break (you know health issues or emergencies), can make it difficult to find that creative spark. Especially when it’s book two, and you really never believed you would get this far in the story. Maybe a niche group of us writers who will understand this because it took us a decade or more to publish the first book! Yay, we did it!

Anyhow, I’m in that category of writer. I knew the first book plot front and back, but forgot to work on the other books in series during the process. Rookie mistake because now there are so many things I should’ve put in the first book to foreshadow what is to come, but I digress. Although, I can make up for it by knowing what will and needs to happen in the coming books, right? Right?

Where my problem is, I’ve got a good sense of the plot, the people, and what needs to happen to get to the end. But, I’ve made it a bit complicated that I can’t just write book two without knowing who does what, and how they connect to the main plot. That being said, I decided that I need to know how the story looks from the antagonist’s point of view. I know, I know. This should have been done long before now, but again, rookie writer here. I used to think that was over used writing advice, so I’m the first to eat my words on that subject. Don’t judge me too hard, please?

Being a new week, and with new determination, I’ve pulled up my world building file for Bischoff Black in Scrivener, and under my antagonist’s tab, I’m continuing on with that point of view. It’s been eye-opening and surprising, to say the least. Forcing myself into a different mindset, let me see the world I build from a different perspective. Mostly because I’m a passive person by heart, and being in an aggressive, self-serving mind set is hard to comprehend. At the same time, this is what needs to happen must be put down on paper for the story to work.

In the antagonist’s perspective, the hardest question is: what is the worst that could happen to my main character? And then you write it down. You write what the betrayal will be. I found myself actually hesitating typing it out today. I didn’t want to say it, to think of what it will do to everyone. And then, looking at my cast of characters and deciding who will be part off this betrayal, an what their fate will be. I felt sad, and I didn’t want to do it. But, it must be done. The best stories are not written where everything goes well, there has to be those moments of loss and betrayal.

Yet, it surprised me in that moment. It made me go, oh, that is going to hurt when they read that. I hesitated, but forced my fingers to type it out. Slow and with great hesitation, knowing all the while, that I still have to add more and more with each book. But right now, I’m taking a moment away from this narrative because it was as shocking to me to write it, as it will be for you to read it. And know, when you get to these moments, I felt your pain and possibly tears!

It’s not all bad! I promise. It will have some great highs to make up for it. It’s a journey, but one I love to take everyday. I hope the book in your hand is bringing you joy.

As always, remember, creativity rests in chaos!

If there is something that is painfully obvious, it’s that I’m horrible with social media.

To be honest, I’m not a social bug. I don’t have that natural love of engaging with others. I’m the opposite, really. I’ll freeze up and say the wrong thing. I love watching social media stuff, but there is nothing that prompts me to join in.

So, you’d think I would be good at posts on my website….nope. I’ll manage to get a few posts lined up and set to post, and then I completely forget about it. I focus on the writing and art, and everything else is pushed to the back of the priority list.

I’ve watched a few tips on how to get everything set up ahead of time, but the one time I did, there was a problem with the scheduler and I had to delete everything. If you’ve ever had to delete or lose a big chuck of work, the desire to start over is so hard to bring back.

Marketing yourself is a big part of selling anything. I wish it was simply – read my book, it’s way more interesting than me. It might happen. Wishes do come true, right?

But on the other hand, it is June, I haven’t finished one book for editing, no new covers made, and a fun few months of being sick/doctors. And if I had the chance to write or make marketing stuff, I always pick writing.

Maybe a bit of balance is needed, or more energy, or motivation….sigh. It doesn’t help that it is summer and my schedule is completely out the window. I think I really need to adapt. I have a hard time with adjusting quickly to change to a set schedule. Add that to the list!!!

Anyhow, onward we go. I’m still alive – working on editing both books, and refining my digital art skills to help with covers, inserts, etc. It’s a slow process, but it’s still moving forward.

Are you ready for an update?

I am. I’ve been in editing mode for weeks now and making progress.

Bischoff Black – Book 2:

I have printed out a copy of the first full draft. I have three different highlighters to mark up the manuscript for the next round of edits. How I’m marking it up is by three categories:

1. rewrite
2. expand/add more
3. delete

There is probably other things to focus on, but I only had 3 different highlighter color and I couldn’t think of what else to focus on in this draft. Bk 2 went through a NaNoWriMo month to create first. So it was a basic extended outline of the story. The second round extended the scenes that were stuck in my head. The third round made sure all the scenes flowed cohesively and created a full story. So, now we move on to round four. To me this is the most important edit in my process. Each chapter will fill out and the story will come together. Also, the surprises pop up. Parts of the story I didn’t know where there. I love this part of writing. Often in this draft, the problem areas in the plot suddenly type out onto the computer. This happened in the first book, too. Problem points or plot holes worked themselves out during this edit. I’m excited to see what comes to life in this round.

Historical Fiction – Stand Alone:

While the paper edit is going on, I’m working on my HF book. If you are new here, this book is the first one I ever started to write. It was the genre I was reading at a teenage, and I wrote my own. While teenage me was able to put it all in one notebook (which I still have somewhere), it is a far cry from what would be enjoyable to read. Since it is my first book, I wanted to finish it. Even if it was only for me.

I would say I’m on round 5 or 6 with this draft. Its hard to tell because I’ve been working on it for many years. However, the writing process on this book has been by jumping around adding chapters with ideas/tropes I wanted in the book. I realized that now I needed a good solid read through. So I downloaded a copy to word (doing this stops me from editing/making changes as I read), and I did a full read through. It was humbling because I thought it was nearly complete, but in fact, halfway through the whole story fell apart and scenes were mixed up. I shouldn’t be surprised, seeing as how that was written. It took a few hours, but I moved chapters around, and highlighted the ones that need extra work.

Where I’m at right now, I’m still letting Bischoff Bk2 settle for a bit. Therefore, I’ve spent the last couple weeks focusing on making this story flow from beginning to end. There is going to be a mystery element to this book, and I need to make sure that element is equal to the romantic parts.

I hope to have this book done by end of May and get it off to an editor. Goal is to have it done and published this year. Of course, I want the same goal for Bischoff Bk2, so I may have to look at how to edit faster!!

Thank you for following along.

Happy reading!

When stuck in the endless cycle of edits, I choose a few ways to get through it. I find that the breaking up of styles helps to see the story in different ways, thus it becomes easier to find errors, plot holes, character disconnects, and places that need improvement. After setting the draft aside for a week to a month, I usually do all three steps, but changes on how far the manuscript is the process of completion.

The export: my favorite program for writing is Scrivener. I love it. When I get to the end of a draft, I compile the chapters and export to a word doc. I find I need a place separate from Scrivener to help me read through the draft without editing. It rarely happens that I can make it through a full read without making a change. But the chance to read through it gives me a clear view of how the story is as a whole.

Print: Usually this is edit is within the first few drafts, and maybe at the end. I like to have a paper copy to read through with highlighters. There is something about seeing the story on paper that brings out a whole different feel to your work. If it’s possible, I like to do it at the end as well. Though, my little printer struggles with so many pages, as book one was over 400, so I have to take it to a print shop at that stage.

Text to speech: Does anyone else use this feature? It can be done in both Scrivener and Word. Hearing the story out loud help spot the parts where words are repeated, missed, or misspelled. It also highlights the parts in the story you didn’t catch that don’t flow or are repetitive. I loved doing this with my first book, and look forward to implementing it near the end draft of book two.

Side by Side: I often will have the word doc I read and made notes on, side by side with the next draft of the book. This is also the method I use when I get work back from my editor. Working back and forth is the best way to add in edits to the new draft. Often times, I’ll get inspiration through this progress for places I happen to be stuck or just don’t flow the way I anticipate. Many times, it is easy to update the draft with ideas that I already noted in my read through. Thus, it gives me a back up, for if the worse case scenario happens, my work somehow gets deleted. I keep a folder of all my drafts now, because this has happened so many times. However, it was when I worked in Word only. I haven’t had it happen since moving to Scrivener. But, I’m not taking chances.

What ways do you edit? I’d love to hear if there are more efficient ways to get through a book edit. I always want to reach perfection with each edit, and I have to remind myself that isn’t possible. Even with ten eyes on your work, you will never catch every mistake in a book. Though, going through as many edits as you can, will help reduce those to as few as possible.

So, if you see errors in books, I hope you know it bothers us as much as you. But at some point we have to let it go and move on to the next book. Hopefully, the story engages you enough that the errors are soon forgotten. 🙂