Red Hour is fully drafted!

Time to celebrate by editing it.

Despite the curveballs this fall threw at my family, I am so happy to have completed a major 2024 writing goal. Red Hour is finally fully drafted.

This story surprised me. Sam’s voice came through strongly, the world was grittier and the violence was a little rougher than my previous fantasy imaginings. While working tirelessly to edit and improve my first two series, I longed to get back to this book and finish the first draft. This journey started a few years ago and I had huge gaps to fill, especially a big section of transition to get to the ending that I had already written. I have spent the last year writing new chapters and connecting scenes to flesh out the bare bones story I had. I love these characters and the nasty creatures they slay, and I’m proud of the new plot developments and fight scenes I wrote.

I’m going to take a few days off from this book and then start again at the beginning, editing to make sure I am being descriptive enough. My first drafts don’t usually have consistent sensory detail (sights, sounds, smells, etc). During first drafts, I tend to focus on plot, world-building, action, dialogue, and character development. That means my characters could walk into a room that I don’t bother to describe at all until a piece of furniture is needed for unfolding action. I might introduce a new character and not say anything about what they look like. When editing the first draft to turn it into a more polished second draft, I pay attention to how I open each chapter, move into a new place, introduce a new character to make sure the reader can see what I see in my head.

I’m excited to get back to work on this story, so I can share draft two with beta readers. But most of all, I am really excited and proud to say that this draft is DONE.