I have been incredibly excited by this new project. Firstly, I love shifters! I read a lot of books with shifters in them and I just don't seem to get tired of it! Secondly, I really feel like I've stepped up my game and improved with this new project. Practise makes perfect and I'm certainly getting in a lot of practise! The added challenge of camp NaNoWriMo has helped push and motivate me too. I think after having such a long gap between Aphora and the sequel - no matter how justified I may be in excuses - writing this new trilogy has been to prove to myself I can do this, I just need the proper motivation and perseverance to do so.  I started April working from the sofa as the husband was using the office to work from home and I was looking after our son. Whenever my ten month old got distracted with 'Hey Duggee' or played with some toys independently, I grabbed my laptop and sprinted (basically where you have a set time, for me it was a few minutes, and just bang out the words: it can help direct you and narrow your focus for a short time frame). I also wrote when he napped. Now, challenging myself to get 50K done has meant I haven't gone back to edit ruthlessly as I write and this has actually been a MASSIVE help. During the creation (that sounds fancy) of the first book in the trilogy, I started to do this less and less because editing is a totally different mind set to writing and creating. I would re-read a section to continue if I had to leave mid-way, or even a whole chapter if I was unsure about anything, but I tried not to edit - even if it was just a typo, I tried to ignore it as best I could. Of course, this means I am going to have some choice words for myself when I do the first edit! I sound like I was super focused for the entire time...ha...I'm not just good at procrastinating. I excel. Snacks. I love snacks. Snacks anyone? This was about 70% of distraction techniques used. I ordered some popcorn from Joe and Sephs (like, I LOVE this popcorn) made cookies and cakes (the cookie in the image above was actually by the husband - he ain't so bad) and took time portioning up an easter egg even though I knew I just going to eat the whole thing in one day anyway. At one point, I even did a Joe Wicks workout and boy...I am not cut out for that! So you see, procrastination could legit be my middle name!  I'm just going to bring the focus back to the update. 50,000 words completed and now I'm on the home run to completion which I hope to still do by the end of April. After that, I will be doing another edit of book 1, now I've had a break from it, to hopefully send to the editor for a look at the plot, pacing, character arcs and so on. I'm so glad I found this editor, she is very good and worth every penny. While that's with her, I will be doing edits on book 2 and preparing 'Aphora: The Last Guardian' for publication. The editor has it at the moment for its final copy edit and then it's all systems go getting the cover ready for the paperback format and getting it formatted for kindle. Deadline is approaching! Next month will be a busy editing one for sure! Hope you enjoyed the update and I look forward to sharing some more news about Bloodline Alliance soon! I've updated the page for the Bloodline Alliance books to give you a short insight into the new trilogy - what do you think? Happy April guys and remember to stay home and stay safe. I'll leave you with a parting image of the ever so cute Bailey, who had joined me at my 'desk' for a very important chin tickle. 
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