Thriller – Cannons to Cruising

My blog fell by the wayside this summer. June and July were filled with revisions for WHAT I WOULD DO FOR YOU, then I solo-parented for three weeks while Conor blew some stuff up. August was spent trying to soak in as much PNW sunshine as we could before school started. Blake Island, blackberry picking, trips to Seattle, art fair in Anacortes, out-of-town visitors, waterfall hikes, and ‘Feral Friday’ playdates. We are still a few weeks off from the true darkness, but I already miss my 9pm sunsets! There might be a few more dinghy trips left in the season, but I can feel the window closing until next spring. This changing of the seasons has thrust me back to reality and my to-do list, including an update here.

It’s hard though, because I don’t know what I should post and what I need to keep on the down low! This is a new stage in my writing career, and I’m trying to figure out the rules. What details can I reveal about the stages of my projects? I can tell you that my agent and I are happy with the final version of WIWDFY. We will be discussing the necessary revisions for GYBE, my YA sailing thriller, very soon. I also brainstormed a third project this summer that is a YA Irish folklore-inspired fantasy, and I’m waiting for feedback on the proposal to see if it’s a project worth continuing.

Books aside, I have tried to be brave and submit some short pieces of writing lately. Keep an eye out for a reflection piece I wrote for War Horse magazine coming out in October. I also just found out that a micro-fiction story I wrote for 101 Words was accepted this week! When I first started pitching, I was always so in awe of the other writers who had a lengthy bio. I am a writer with a bio now!

Speaking of updating my bio, I will soon pass along the Pen Parentis Fellowship crown to the 2025 winner who was chosen earlier this month! I can’t believe it’s been a year. SO much has changed, and I am incredibly thankful for my professional growth between then and now, and the people that have impacted and helped along the way. Hopefully by this time next year, I’ll be holding my hardcover book in my hands (and bawling my eyes out).

Love,

Taylor

2024 is off like a rocket. I finished the first draft of my 8^th book last week and had a VERY exciting phone call about my 7^th book that I’ll divulge more details about later. But back to finishing the book!

My YA thriller ended up being 77,264 words long, which was close to my target word count. The working title is GYBE. For a book that was just ‘vibes’ in October, it only took ten weeks to become a fully-fledged novel by January. Ha, Gybe-vibes. I think my average pace of six months per book is realistic long-term, although I would love to reach the point where I complete a project every four months and do three per year. However, I don’t know if that will be possible until fall of 2025, when my youngest will start kindergarten. So, for now, I’m just enjoying the brain dump that happens once I’m done with a draft and letting the plot threads leak out of my ears.

I’m putting the draft aside for a couple weeks so it will be fresh when I start to revise. I’ve been focusing on some of my New Year’s goals instead. I like the word ‘goals’ instead of ‘resolutions’. ‘Resolution’ seems very constrictive and almost punitive, like one misstep and you’ve failed your resolution. Might as well throw in the towel for 2024! My goal for this year is to meditate more. My hope is that meditation will lead to improvements in other areas of my life—patience, creativity, and lessening anxiety. Instead of a bunch of small, individual goals, I’ve gathered them all up into one action: meditate! Efficient, no? I think it’s working so far (thanks, HeadSpace app!). I manifested the crap out of the first 2 weeks this year 😉

People ask how I celebrate being done with a draft. It is very nerdy and not at all exciting for anyone who isn’t me. Usually, I say, “Woohoo!” then I double-space the whole manuscript. I draft in single-space format, so after I type ‘The End’, I get to watch the manuscript page number multiply. I look forward to this moment for months (don’t judge me). Then celebrations might involve a cocktail at the end of the day while Conor cooks a nice dinner. Then it’s back to life as usual. Here I am, doing laundry and watching my kids bounce off the walls post-draft. The reality of being a parent writer!

Love,

Taylor

Tag: Thriller

Welcome back!

Happy New Year!