Sylvia's Soliloquies

'Her Christmas Legacy' First Edit - 7/9/18

I've finished the first edit of 'Her Christmas Legacy.'  I think first edits are the worst just because of all the note taking I have to do.  Especially when I know I want to do a sequel for a book.  I have to take note of not just the character's appearances and jobs and so on, but also ever detail mentioned about a building or room or location.  All the little rules set up in the world also start to pile up.  It's just so tedious.

But, this is the last first edit I have to do!  I won't be doing another first pass again until like a year and a half from now, which is crazy to think about.  I can't believe my editing phase is almost done.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I need to start going into publishing mode soon.  I haven't published anything since 2013.  I know things have changed and I'm not looking forward to relearning all the eccentricities of getting things formatted for publication.  But, it's also thrilling to know that soon, two years worth of work will finally come to fruition!

That being said, I've got a few fun announcements to make in the near future.  Once I finish up the edits for 'Her Christmas Legacy,' I'm going to announce the release dates of all the books as well as the tentative schedule for the six new books to come out next year.  I'm pretty excited about the projects I have lined up and I can't wait to get to work on those!

For now though, I need to keep my head in the game and see through my work on this book.  It's been rough reading about Christmas while it's hot and humid outside...  I hate the summer...  Here I am melting in the heat and reading about pumpkin pie, gingerbread, and Christmas trees...  It's torture!

The short though, that I plan to do, will likely not be during Christmas.  I have a fairly good idea of what I want the short to be about and to have it happen during Christmas would be illogical for the characters, even if it would be more sentimental.  In fact, I wonder if I should keep this a Christmas series or have future books at different times of the year.  I really like Hereford Hills and its outdoorsy nature.  I would kind of like to see it during different seasons, but I'm not sold on that either.  I have a fairly good idea of what the sequels will be about and they wouldn't be particularly dependent on time of year.  Though the last book, could easily be linked to the Christmas season...

Sorry, I'm being vague because I don't want to give my intentions for the characters away.  I can say that I plan on two more books.  The last book, I'm like 95% certain I know exactly what will happen in it, but the second book is more of a transition between the first and third.  I don't think it would be right to jump from where 'Her Christmas Legacy' leaves off and where I need the third book to start, so I think a second book is necessary.  Just not 100% sure what exactly I should do with it.  So that one I'm more inclined to have at a different time of year.  However, if the first and third take place at Christmas, would it make sense for the second not to?

Okay, I'll stop my rambling and move on.  There's one other thing bothering me that I'd like to figure out before sending the edits to my beta readers.  As with everything, I'm uncertain about the title.

I'm not opposed to 'Her Christmas Legacy,' but I'm far from sold on it.  However, the alternatives I've come up with are also pretty meh.  What I'd really like is 'Home for Christmas,' but that title has been used for a ton of other books as well as movies and so on.  When you're a nobody, you need unique titles so when you do have a wondrous moment when a fan suggests the book to a friend, the friend doesn't accidentally go looking for the wrong book.  So I thought maybe 'You'll be Home for Christmas,' but it doesn't particularly roll off the tongue.  Then, maybe 'Her Christmas Diary' except Gina's diary isn't just about Christmas. Or 'The Six Christmas Trees' but that seems a bit too abstract.  I need Christmas in the title because it's the easiest way to pull people in who are looking for holiday reads, but it also hampers my ability to come up with a good title.

I don't think I'll ever not hate titles...

Anyway, that was a long post.  Sigh, so much to do, so little time.