What I’m Writing: January 2020

unsplash-logoDana Marin

So for the last few years I’ve been mostly in the habit of posting a weekly update on my writing progress on the fanfic side, because that’s generally been where I’ve been doing most of my writing. In 2019 especially, I did almost no writing on original projects, because that is the kind of year 2019 was.

But! RIP to 2019, 2020 is (so far) different! I’ve found my focus shifting back to my writing as Dessa Lux (and possibly Dira Lewis?) and that’s where I did… 84% of my writing, according to my trusty word count spreadsheet, so I figure I might as well update you on how that’s going instead!

Words written this month: 9,592 – objectively not a lot but still better than I did with original writing in any month of 2019 (any month since finishing Omega Wintertide), so I’ll take it!

Works currently in progress:

Wolves in the World #3 (Ethan & Declan’s book): 947 words this month, 20,553 words total, currently working on Chapter 4 of 20-ish. 

I’ve been working on this since late 2018 and, haha, turns out this is a complicated book and a little bit difficult to write! I really, really want to get Ethan’s story right, which meant starting the book much earlier than I originally and naively imagined. Which means writing about Ethan before he’s named himself Ethan or told anyone that name or his correct pronouns, which means I love my sensitivity reader very much and also keep not showing them things because I am determined to get it right first, which is a bit like cleaning before someone comes to clean your house and… clearly not very efficient. Also, Chapter 4 in particular has a lot of the thing that’s hardest for me to write, which is a different POV on events that we already saw in a previous book. Sooooo that’s… happening. Slowly. I am hopeful that someday when I get out of Chapter 4 (and actually get my shit together and show Chapter 3 to anyone) things will move along a little more easily. 

ETA: Late this year or early next, probably?

M/M historical fantasy in an AU of 1834 with magic soulbonds and gay marriage: 1,172 words this month, 11,807 words total, currently working on Chapter 3 of about 13. 

I suspect that I will come back later and laugh and laugh at the idea of finishing this in 13 chapters but that’s what the outline says right now so LET ME DREAM. They kissed! A little! But they are still very sure that They Can Never Be Together Because Entailments And Dastardly Cousins And Whatnot. Please do not ask me how many books I currently have plotted out in this series, because it is about what you’d think and I really need to focus on writing the first one first.

ETA: ?????

M/M contemporary sugar daddy romance: 2,428 words this month, 4,315 words total, currently just starting Chapter 2 and I have no outline and also technically the main characters haven’t met yet but I am still cherishing the hope that this will be a totally reasonably mid-length book! SHHHH. 

ETA: Sometime in 2020 I hope?

M/M contemporary holiday single dad romance: 5,045 words this month,  4,621 words total, frozen at the start of Chapter 2, but I DO have an outline, sort of, even if it includes a lot of question marks and caps locking and no notions of chapters. But this could ALSO be a totally reasonable length and I’m hoping that starting writing on it immediately after Christmas 2019 gives me a reasonable shot of putting it out by Christmas 2020?? 

ETA: November 2020, I mean it.