I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to finally be able to write that I have finished the draft of Son of the Salt Chaser. More than anything I’ve done so far, writing this novel took grit (yes, even more than taking care of my child).
Getting the sequel written:
The draft of SOTSC started in earnest October 2020, about a month before my kiddo was going to be born. It was so, so hard to focus on writing when I couldn’t stop thinking about the little one that was going to be with us so soon.
Flash forward a month: we have a screaming newborn paired sleepless night after sleepless night. I allowed myself two weeks to focus on the baby and keeping everyone in the household fed and alive, but after that, it was back to writing. Hell, I had to be productive during maternity leave, didn’t I? (The answer is NO, but that isn’t what I thought at the time.)
Turns out writing with a newborn isn’t as easy as writing without one. Who knew?! I had to carve out writing time every second I could: before she woke up, when she napped, after she went to bed. My husband–bless him–cooked and cleaned and did about every chore that needed to be done just so I could write.
When I wasn’t writing, I felt guilty because I knew I *should* be. When I did write, I never had enough time to do it. I chipped away at the dang thing. 200 words one day, 1000 words the next. On and on and one. It took months of this. Finally in mid-September that I finally finished it and sent it off to my editor. I thought it would take me 6 months with a baby. It took 11.
But that’s okay! Now that it’s in the editors hands, I have some much-needed rest time. When I’m not working or the kiddo is napping, I’m reading and watching TV and browsing the internet and *gasp* BLOGGING (hello!).
Needless to say, I am enjoying my free time. So what’s next? In the near future I’ll receive my edit letter. This will detail the big developmental edits we need to work through. Then, we’ll go to scene edits and line edits. To read more about the editing process, see this blog post I did for Daughter of the Salt King!
You probably won’t hear much from me until I’m done with all of that. So now is your chance: any burning questions? What have you been reading? Any bookish news I need to know about? I’ve been living under a rock, see.
Questions to be answered (spoilers!):
– Will Saalim remember Emel?
– Was Saalim the only jinni?
– Does Emel get seasick?
– Are jinn the only magic creatures in the desert?
– Does Saalim own a dog?
Add Son of the Salt Chaser to your Goodreads TBR here!
