#Authorlife

Every so often I want to give you a little "peek behind the curtain" of my #authorlife. 

Here are just a few things that are going on right now. 

• Last Saturday I taught an all-day class on Scrivener - a writing software that I love. But wow - all day. It's a lot of talking, even for someone who talks as much as I do! I've made a mental note to be sure to plan to eat out after teaching this class in the future! And maybe to plan to sleep in the next day, too!

• Even though Beneath the Surface - Book 1 of the Dive Team Investigations series - doesn't release until March 2018, this week started with some emails about promotional materials for the book  - things like postcards, bookmarks, and social media images. I'm super excited to see what sorts of things the team at Revell comes up with! 

  

  
  

• Then the edits for Beneath the Surface hit my inbox (Yes, the Darth Vader theme music is appropriate here - you're humming it now, aren't you? Excellent). The edits are due back to the editor on the 29th. Yikes!

• At the end of the edits there's this lovely little spot for me to provide the "teaser" for Book 2 in the Dive Team Investigations series.  This would be the same Book 2 I am currently writing and that is due to my editor in early December. :) 

• Now, my brain can't decide if it wants to work on the revisions for Beneath the Surface, or rework the first chapter of Book 2, or just ignore all that and work on a proposal for a completely different book that is half-written and just needs to be finished and turned in! (Yes, for those of you wondering, this is Max and Sara's story).

• This week I also got invitations to attend two different publisher dinners - at the same time - while at the ACFW conference in September and I had to choose which one I would go to (because sadly - no clone). And yes, getting invited to a dinner with a publisher makes me want to pinch myself!

• I also had the privilege of sitting down with a White Collar Crimes investigator who is going to help me bring my hero for Book 2 to life (the fictional hero's name is Adam Campbell and he looks like Ryan Reynolds). He answered a ton of questions, showed me a real credit card skimmer they'd taken out of a gas pump, and was super patient. This kind of research is one of my very favorite things about being an author. 

• I'm in the process of developing a new website so I'm making decisions on that stuff, too. And by developing, I mean I've hired an A.MAZ.ING website developer and she sends me ideas and I try to make decisions without hurting her feelings and she tells me not to worry about her feelings because she is awesome (but I still worry).

• If you've been following along on social media (and if you haven't - why not?) you already know that this week was also the big "Lynn gets an office" week around here. So instead of writing, I've been painting and sanding sheetrock and cutting boards and loving the fact that my kids get to work with my Dad (who can build anything - really). More pictures and a big "reveal" will happen eventually. For now, I'm still dusting. Everything. It's everywhere. Dust is evil. (And before anyone comments - No, I did not have on safety goggles. No, my hands were not actually anywhere near that blade despite what the picture might look like. Yes, I was being careful. For the cut I needed to make, that actually was the safest way to do it. I try to take good care of my fingers. They are rather important for writers! And yes, I do like power tools.) 

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• Oh, and did I mention we've already started back to school with my homeschoolers and my precious Emma is d-y-i-n-g for school to start which won't happen until next week? 

Whew! I'm tired just reading all that. And believe it or not, I left stuff off the list. All sorts of things that are part of life and don't have anything even remotely to do with writing, but are still super important. 

If you're so inclined, I would appreciate your prayers. Especially over the next few weeks as I juggle multiple projects and a lot of life craziness. 

And if you have any burning questions about writing and publication, share them in the comments and I'll try to answer them soon. 

Grace & peace,

Lynn