Writing Update

So many female writers -- both indie and traditionally published -- are supported by their husbands or boyfriends during the "down" times that readers often expect those of us with full-time jobs (or, in the case of us teachers, MORE THAN FULL-TIME jobs) to produce books as fast as those who don't have to do other work.  Also, lots of the stuff published (not just self-published) in the last few years has been pretty crappy, as it's been rushed to readers.
I'd rather take my time, let my ideas and characters develop, edit -- and edit more.  Oh, and work at my real job, the one that pays the bills.
Thus, I began writing The (Dis)Appearance of Nerissa MacKay (rhymes with "sky," not with "day") in  late summer of 2011.  I did my first re-write in November of 2012.
Beta readers (some 16 of them) were called in then, and I re-wrote and edited three more times in 2013.
In July of 2014, Max helped me with the new cover, I bought three more proof copies from Createspace, and I got two alpha readers to tackle the book.  Three more massive revisions followed that year.
In 2015, I've edited the ms twice more.  Then, just a few minutes ago, I re-submitted the files at Createspace.
If all goes well, I should have the book out to the public in a month or so.  (Yes, I'll need to edit it at least once more before then.)

Last September, I began work on a sequel, entitled Nerissa MacKay and the Secret of the Seventeen Scrolls.  The first draft of that is a few chapters long so far, and the outline is finished.  But I had to put it on hold and finish the first Nerissa book to make sure all the details would work out.

And then there's The Chocolate Smuggler's Notebook.
Sigh.
It's still in the first-draft stage.  I got stuck midway through, and I can't decide how dark and/or how "grown up" the book should be.  I got Olivia trapped in a trunk and I left her there -- because I can't decide where she'll be when it's opened or who will open it.
Any suggestions?  So far, I've thought of miners with an underground (literally and figuratively) community or outlaws.
It may be quite a while before I get this one unstuck.

So, for now, I'll just celebrate the closeness of the release of Nerissa.  ---- And start brainstorming a book trailer.