New book and new hours

Yesterday, I wrote up the first draft of an article I need to turn in by the 25th. But two things happened after I finished that first draft.

The first thing to happen was, I didn't think the title was right. Actually, it seemed misleading. So I tried to come up with a more accurate title. I thought the new one was okay but still had something wrong with it, but I couldn't put my finger on it. So I asked an editor her opinion and she said it was too long. Ah-ha! That's it! It was definitely too long. So I tried to think on that some more. I wanted the title to reflect my angle but, at the same time, let readers know it wasn't what it seemed to be. But I couldn't lead them like that! Readers put a lot of faith in writers not to pull one over on them and trying to get away with a "got you!" kind of article title will turn them off reading instead of getting a good laugh out of them.

Also, I was being stubborn. I wanted the title to SAY a particular thing, but not in a way that was misleading.

Last night, I was chatting with my husband while he was at work. I threw one title idea out to him and he said it sounded okay. It wasn't the "right" title but I decided to just keep it for now.

I had 12 days to come up with a better one!

But it didn't take me 12 days. Actually, all I had to do to get a better title was just sleep on it. This morning, after I did the usual writing stuff on the computer, I went to take a shower. And it was in the shower I came up with the perfect title for that article. Yay! Actually, I had two perfect titles, but because I didn't want to invite some kind of lawsuit if I did a play on a popular TV series, I went with the other one. I like both of them. They both fit the article perfectly. Woo-hoo!

Now, as to the second thing that happened: When I was writing this article, I saw that the topic is BIGGER than I thought it was. I got the idea for this article while doing research for the haunted houses book (yes, it's a paranormal-themed article), but I was so deep in working on the book, I wasn't able to write the article yet. Time passed. We finished the book. Got it accepted. Went through the editing rounds, etc. And I'm able to breathe again. (LOL) So I decided this was as good a time as any to get that article written up. Especially since I've been asked to submit one!

But as I did this article research...I just saw how it could be MORE than just an article.

Actually...it could be a book. I am serious. There's enough material on this topic to make it a book.

But before I allowed myself to get excited about another ghosty book, I first did some research on the 'Net. Just to see if this kind of book has been done yet.

And, fortunately, it hasn't! Woo-hoo! There are books reflecting this topic and that have something to do with it in some way, but not a full-fledged book on this topic alone. There are also some web sites, but they are not as detailed or lengthy.

Which is what I'm going to be with it!

So it looks like I'm writing another book this year after all. Yay! And it came at a perfect time, too: I got an email from an editor inviting me to submit a ghosty book. I'm going to run this one by her to see if it's something she would like.

On top of the editing work I'm doing, editing my books, hunting for an agent and fixing up book proposals, I'll be working on this book as well. But I won't be spending HOURS at it as I have been before. My daughter and I struck a deal today: Mommy only works on her books when the kids are sleeping or at school. (Or otherwise preoccupied, in the youngest's case.) That means any time up until 2 p.m. from the morning hours and any time after 9 p.m. in evenings. Sounds good to me. At least the time away from the book work will allow opportunities for more ideas to simmer.