Behind the Curtain: Healing x3 Part Two

In honour of Healing x3 Part Two becoming available this Friday, I thought I would give you some behind the scenes details about my process writing and editing this novel. 

The first thing that’s unique with this novel is that I actually plotted this one in the same outline as Part One. It was basically just one long outline that I split at the ending cliffhanger of Part One. Speaking of that cliffhanger, I apologize for how mean it was, however, I had to get you back for Part Two, didn’t I? On a similar note, I started writing this book right as I finished the first one. Basically, I plotted and wrote as if it was one long novel, and then just split it in two.

Editing this novel was…a process. I started editing it last fall with the intention of releasing it at the end of 2024. That obviously didn’t happen, since it’s February, and there’s a few reasons for that. One, balancing NaNoWriMo was a challenge, so editing was not a priority. Second, I really hate editing, so when I was trying to make time for my writing, editing was the first thing to slip. It got to the point with my second round of edits--where I’m just applying my notes--that I put a podcast on and forced myself to edit until I got it done. I also got my wisdom teeth out in the middle of editing, so that made it more of a challenge. 

Another thing that was different with this novel is the amount of rewrites in it. What I mean by this is that there were supposed to be more intimate scenes in this novel. However, while writing it, I went through something that made writing those scenes more challenging than normal. I did keep two of the ones that I had to go back and write months after the first draft was done. I did also cut two of them and replace them with something else, since it was easier for me to write a less graphic scene for. It was a hard decision to make, since the first one has many a graphic intimate scenes in it, but I did what was good for me, and in this case, it was cutting some of those scenes. Don’t worry, I want to make sure that one of them makes an appearance in Part Three. 

And that’s the last thing I want to bring up. There is actually a Part Three to this novel, currently in the works. It still follows the same characters, just a little way in the future. There’s so many things that I wish I could tell you about Part Two, but given that it's coming out on the 28th, I know that I’m the only one who has read it at this point, so I don’t want to spoil anything. 

It’s not really a spoiler, but for those of you who didn’t love Vance in the first novel, just know that some of my favourite scenes of his are in this one.

That's all for now, folks!

-C

When Thing Don't Go As Planned (Literally)

 As I normally do with these blog posts, I’m going to take you behind the scenes in regards to my planning. And before you get too worried, no, this is not how I set deadlines, since there’s a post from last year about that. No, what we’re talking about today is what happens when those deadlines don’t work as well as I hoped they will. 

Now, something that’s quite common with me is that the last week of a month and the first week of the following month are usually pretty heavy for me. I like having things due at the end of the month, and I like to start a month strong by getting a lot of things done. January into February was no exception to this, since I was trying to finish up some backplotting on a few projects so that I could focus on the next ones. I’m also trying to edit a novel to have it out by the end of the month, so it was kind of crucial for me to get a good start on that in January. 

As I’m sure you can imagine where this is going, the universe decided to throw a wrench in that plan in the form of my wisdom teeth. The final week of January, I was in excruciating pain and could barely eat, let alone write. Then, I had urgent surgery to get them out right at the end of the month, and obviously, I was more concerned about recovery than editing. All in all, I was not working on my projects very much for about a week and a half. Which really isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things, but with the way I set deadlines for the end of the month, I’m horribly behind now. 

Okay, that’s dramatic. I will be able to get caught up with a couple hours of work, but it just goes to show how easily my deadlines can be skewed. It’s also making me realize that perhaps I’m setting too many deadlines for myself, but I’m choosing to ignore that. Instead, I’m just trying to focus on getting caught up. 

The biggest thing that has suffered as a result of me having to get surgery is my editing. As I’m writing this, I have eight chapters to edit over the next two days to stay on track to publish my book on time. Which doesn’t sound like a lot, and is really only going to take me around two hours, but I’m also in the round of edits where I’m pulling content from it and also, I hate editing. Couple that with the fact that I have a lot of other logistics stuff to plot, and it’s safe to say I’m going to spend this weekend sat at my computer, hopefully getting closer to keeping my deadlines in tact. 

Am I surprised that the deadlines I set a few weeks ago aren’t working as planned? Not even a little bit. Because I don’t write full time, there is never a month that goes by without me having to change my deadlines. Sometimes it’s by a couple days, sometimes the entire schedule that goes out the window. However, because I’m completely independent and answering to no one but myself when it comes to my writing, it honestly doesn’t matter if something is a couple days late, or I have to push my publishing deadline by a few days. The only person that actually knows my deadlines are me, so when I have to change them, it’s perfectly okay. 

So, what do I do when my deadlines get completely skewed? Well, it depends. Since I was only out for a week and a half, I should be able to just play catch up and not have to redo the rest of my deadlines for the month too much. On the off chance that I do need to rearrange the rest of the deadlines, I’ll just have to shift all of my deadlines later. Everything that I wanted to get done this month still needs to get done at some point, even if it gets done a couple of weeks later. 

There you have it. A strange look into the aftermath of deadlines. Not really that much about writing, but something I’m actively dealing with at the moment, and something that is repeatedly coming up for me. 

That's all for now, folks!

-C

January 2025 in Review

It’s safe to say it’s been a heck of a month. Through chronic illness flare ups, ideas for a ridiculous amount of projects, personal strifes, and the general chaos of the new year, it’s safe to say that I’m breathing a sigh of relief now that January is over. Without spoiling too much for you, I thought I would share what I’ve been working on. 

The first big thing I’ve been working on a lot is backplotting, or plotting things that happen before the story that aren’t canon yet. It’s been taxing my brain a lot, but I’m happy to report that I’m mostly caught up. Granted, with each new project, I have new lore to plot, but I think I’m almost caught up for existing projects. I have learned that I prefer doing lore and backplotting at the time I’m plotting a project, rather than having to go back and figure things out. Not to get too mushy or anything, but I love seeing how my brain fills in the gaps in my writing. What I mean by that is obviously everything I’m writing my mind is coming up with, and it’s been really cool to see how my brain is connecting the puzzle pieces of my projects while plotting lore. As I’ve said before, it’s likely that no one else will ever see that backplotting, but I truly love doing it.

The second thing I’ve been working on is desperately trying to force myself to edit. If you follow me on Instagram (C Hilts (@c.hilts.books) • Instagram photos and videos), you’ll know that I have been (very slowly) working on the release of my next book. I am pleased to announce that said book, Healing x3 Part Two, will be available on February 28, which means that I managed to get round one of my edits done and all of my rewrites. Now, I’m just hoping I can get the next two rounds of edits done on time. Honestly, getting myself to edit has been like pulling teeth, but I’m doing the best that I can to make time for it, especially since I was a jerk and ended Part One in a nasty cliffhanger (Sorry to my sister, who has angrily reminded me of this for months). I would’ve liked to have gotten more editing done, but alas, I didn’t. 

The third, and arguably biggest thing that I’ve been working on recently is the idea of my multiverse. Basically, it’s the idea that my next eight novels all take place in the same universe and have some mild crossovers, but they don’t need to be read in a certain order. Now, full disclosure, two of the projects I’ve tied in are fully plotted, and one of them is mostly plotted, so I’m really only plotting an additional five. Which is still crazy, but less bad. Truthfully, I’ve just been figuring out how they’re connected and gathering ideas for them. I also really love the idea of getting ideas from my friends for these projects, but that’s something I have to work on. I will say, the multiverse has its own binder now--it’s even zippered with a handle, so you know I mean business. I don’t really have a lot of updates on what this means, since it’s in the very early stages, but once I can start revealing details about it, y’all will be the first to know. 

So, although I haven’t been giving a lot of updates regarding what I’m writing recently, just know that I’m still here, and there is a lot of stuff in the works. Including my next novel, so be sure to stay tuned for the behind the scenes look at that coming soon. 

That's all for now, folks!

-C