Climbing a mountain is what I feel like I’m doing when writing a book. Many people believe reaching a mountain’s peak is the end of the climb, but that is far from true. In the real mountaineering world, making it to the top is only the halfway point. To claim success, a climber has to make it back to base camp ALIVE.

Here’s the tricky thing about mountain climbing—people usually have great motivation to make it to the top and they will give that goal every bit of energy they have. Unfortunately, they often burn through too much of their stamina and resources, leaving them with wobbly legs and very little endurance to make the climb down. That is where the danger lies. This is why the majority of mountain climbing accidents and deaths happen on the way down. Climbers are tired, get sloppy, and fall.

Sitting here at the peak of this book mountain, I’m thinking about the descent to base camp. What does climbing down a book mountain entail for me? Ugh!—That’s what.

Now the editing process kicks into high gear, and that becomes grueling pretty quickly. The joy of creating the story was like a warm ray of sunshine in the fresh mountain air compared to the frigid, toe-freezing, body-aching editing and marketing phase. (I chuckled as I wrote that, but seriously, sometimes being edited feels like being pecked to death by wonderfully, intelligent, sharp-beaked, eagle-eyed birds.) I truly appreciate the editing help, but that doesn’t mean it’s a fun party.

In addition to the editing woes, I also now have to put the time and energy into preparing to market the book. (Back cover copy, promotional social media copy, ad copy, etc.) This task involves different writing muscles than those used for story creation.

By the time I return to base camp, I’ll be ready for a week of staring blankly at the clouds with a warm drink in my hand. I’ll definitely want some cake, too. But I can’t sit there too long or my writing muscles will suffer from apathy.

I also need to make sure my lounge chair faces the next book mountain, so that I can be planning how to ascend to that peak. I’ll be considering things like: What will be the next story question to answer? How will I show character growth? What plotlines will I follow? How will the story advance the overall series’ plotline? And most importantly, do I have the gumption to gear up and write another 100,000+ word story?

But back to the here and now… While I’m sitting here on the top of Mt. Deadwood Mystery 14, I’m feeling pretty cocky. I think I have this. I’m pretty sure I can make the descent without falling off the mountain. Once I’m back down to base camp, I’ll rest for a week or two, and then I’ll pack up what I need for the next and start climbing again.

What mountain comes after this one? Check out the end of my newsletter and you’ll see what book mountains I’m planning to climb during the next year.

In the meantime, enjoy this month’s newsletter, which include a 99 cent sale, a free ebook, a peek at the cover of the upcoming collector’s version of Nearly Departed in Deadwood (in HARDBACK), a new prize for two lu

cky winners, and a delicious recipe!

Happy October!

Ann

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