What’s Next?

So, sharp-eyed viewers may notice a new addition to the sidebar thingamajig. Well, two additions, I guess, now that I’m actually looking at the sidebar thingamajig. The first—which is not the thing to which I was originally referring, but is the first new thing one may see—is a little promo-type thing for my first author event in (gulp) about six years.

That’s right. This Saturday, from 10am until 3pm, I will be in attendance at a book event. I may be the author hiding under a table or behind a tree or behind another author, but I will be in attendance. Trying to track me down may be like playing a live-action version of Where’s Waldo, but I will be there, along with many other authors who can actually engage and interact with the human race in a completely normal way. Which I cannot. At all. (Not that this confession will come as a surprise in any way, shape, or form to absolutely anyone out there.)

But I will be there. Anxiety and all. If you’re in the area, stop by and say hello…

If you can find me.

The second addition—aka, the one to which I was originally referring—is Retail Rhapsody, which was officially set loose upon the world yesterday. Which means—and I can’t believe I’m actually saying this—I actually accomplished the first goal on my 2025 Goals List. On schedule, even.

And now I kind of don’t know what to do with myself. Which is the actual point of this actual post. (You were beginning to think there wasn’t one, weren’t you?)

So…where do I go from here? On what should I focus now?

Writing-wise, here are the possibilities:

Option A: Dust off Terrible Romance Sequel

Publishing this book is Item #2 on the 2025 Goals List, so it makes sense to start here, right? Except…I’m no longer sure this is an actual viable project. Things have happened that have made me doubt it (and yes, part of those things is the fact that I am me, and this is what I do, but it is not the only thing at play here), so I feel like I need to take a good, hard look at the manuscript to determine what’s next for it. Is it a viable story, or does it need to be sent to the scrap pile and replaced with something else? Which means I probably need to start with a manuscript read-through.

Also, there’s that whole thing where this manuscript still lacks a proper title. Nothing that’s been brainstormed thus far has really resonated with me well enough and long enough to get the nod. But maybe that’s because it’s not a viable project?

I kind of hope that it is, though. Otherwise, all those words I’ve written for the third book in the series (The Third One, because I remain impossibly terrible at naming books) are really going to be a waste. It can’t exist without the second book.)

Option B: Start Full Circle read-through

Publishing this book is Item #3 on the 2025 Goals List because apparently, I made this list while super high on something. I’m not going to go through it all again, but, if needed/desired, you can check out last month’s post for the recap of why I’ve been dragging my feet on this.

But…you know, it’s definitely not because I’m scared or anything. Because I’m not.

Option C: Work on first draft of Adventures In Babysitting

Finishing the first draft of this project is Item #4 on the Goals List. An impromptu brainstorming session with a friend last month gave me an idea with which to play and netted me, like, 600 words. There will likely be more words added once I figure out in which direction I want to take the idea. I have a few possibilities, but I haven’t yet determined which path is best. History would suggest that I will ultimately end up writing out all possibilities to see which one feels right.

You know, in case you ever wondered why it takes me so damn long to actually finish writing anything.

So, what do you think? Option A, B, or C? Or some combination of the three? Or something completely different that I didn’t even think about?

Cast your vote in the comments! (You know, if you want.)

All right, this post is starting to get a little long, so I’m going to wrap it up. As has become tradition or whatever, here are my numbers for March:

All right, that’s gonna do it for me today. Thanks for stopping by, all. It’s always much appreciated.

Be safe and well.