Writers who write and publish on a regular basis are often juggling more than one story at a time.
- One story is the manuscript they are writing now, adding new scenes or chapters every day.
- Another is the book in production; maybe the authors are doing revisions or line edits or reading page proofs.
- Finally there is one about to release or recently released, and the authors are doing interviews about it or writing marketing copy.
- And since books rarely go out of print these days, thanks to ebooks, it’s possible to be fielding questions or comments from readers about a book the author wrote ten or twenty or thirty years ago.
Readers may wonder why, when they say to an author, “I loved it when Character A did XYZ,” that the author stares back at them with a deer-in-the-headlights look. That’s because the author is searching desperately through the old memory bank for that book’s particular information. At least that is true for me.
And I’m kind of in that place at the moment.
Wishing for Mistletoe is preparing for release on November 6th, so there is marketing work to be done. I’m writing To Capture a Mountain Man; I’m after 25% finished with the first draft. And I’ve got my thinking cap on for a new Kings Meadow story, so I’ve been listening to the audiobooks of the five existing stories set in that location to get those creative juices flowing.
So if you and I happen to meet somewhere and you mention something you liked in one of my books, be sure to give me time to find that information in my brain. I’ll appreciate your patience a lot.
~robin
Robin Lee Hatcher
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This is SO, SO true, Robin. When I’m doing an interview I have to have a copy of the book beside me as a “cheat sheet” since by the time it’s being promoted it might have been two or even three years since I wrote the first draft!
Cheat sheets required. 😃