It’s been a while since I gave an update, but I’m currently about a quarter of the way through editing Rakkan Conquest 4 after the alpha reading process. If I’m honest, it didn’t go to plan, and only one of my alpha readers finished the book in its entirety, not because of any issues with it, but just because the others didn’t have the time to finish. The one that did finish it didn’t give me any criticism and simply liked how it played out, so either the book is perfect (which I know isn’t true) or nothing stood out to them enough as an issue.

But from the partial feedback I had from one reader in particular, I have a good idea of some changes that do need to be made that also affect the rest of the book, so I haven’t adjusted my time frames and am simply getting on with editing ready for the beta read (where people hopefully will finish the book. At least I know my parents will!)

While editing, I’ve also had the fun of planning a wedding (because I just hate having free time), but I’m still eager to get this draft finished in the next month. Ideally, the book goes to the copy editor the week before the wedding and when I’m on honeymoon so I have productive time off, but we’ll see how it pans out.

I’m sometimes asked how I find the time to write, but to be honest, I often feel I spend far more of my day wasting time rather than being productive. For me, downtime is important or I burn out, so I end up spending maybe a couple of hours a day writing on top of my full-time job, then I’ll get down anything around the house or in the garden. The rest of the time I try to relax either by going to the gym, hanging out with friends, watching a bit of TV, or spending time with my fiancée. I don’t schedule writing time at weekends, but I often do have to spend some time then to catch up on missed goals during the week. I feel this schedule works best for me, but there are times when I just need to get my head down and do more.

The next few weeks are probably one of those times.