“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” Those words, written by Douglas Adams, pop into my head whenever I’m given a date to turn in a manuscript. It is comforting to know that even great authors can struggle with deadlines.
With my second book, now titled The Scent of Lemon and Rosemary: Working Domestic Magick with Hestia, the struggle wasn’t as great as it had been with Sew Witchy, where I stayed up forty-eight hours straight taking photos to meet the deadline.
In May I turned the second manuscript in technically on time thanks to time zone differences between me and my editor. This week brought a new deadline: manuscript edits. And this time I was able to turn in my edits a day early. That’s progress as far as I am concerned. It helped that the edits were easy to make.
Sew Witchy was a weird idea that I had expected to maybe self-publish once it had been rejected by every Pagan publisher out there. That didn’t happen and I was launched into a nearly two year long journey through aspects of publishing I had no experience with: taking photos, drafting patterns, learning how to insert call outs in a manuscript.
This time around was easier in some ways, more difficult in others. I found formatting citations to be a pain in the butt, and of course I had to cite things like Twitter threads and NPRs tiny desk concert. (It makes sense in the book.)
The only great trouble was providing photos as guides for the illustrations. I was told my photos didn’t have to be perfect and pretty much given free rein over what should be illustrated. You would think that kind of freedom would make taking the photos easier. It did not. I ended up putting tremendous, unnecessary pressure on myself to get it right.
I’m trying not to dwell on that stress, though. Instead, I am focusing on the fact that I have finished my second book and the process was easier this time around. The next book should be a piece of cake.
Per my editor, The Scent of Lemon and Rosemary, will be published May 2021.