Splat. I'm Flat.

Spider, parlor, fly.

Just like those free shirt boxes you get at Christmas from those big department stores, I folded.

Completely collapsed in upon myself.

Splat, I’m flat.

*clears throat*

Admittedly, it’s not quite as bad as that. I do, occasionally, lean towards exaggeration in times of upheaval… yeah, ok, even “upheaval” is a huge stretch, sorry.

Bottom line: I asked for and received an extension for Writhe until Monday morning.

Go ahead. Boo. Hiss. Throw that rotten tomato you’ve been saving for just such an occasion.

Chloe Stowe = failure

*clears throat again*

In actuality, I realize that this isn’t a failure; it is simply a delay of thirty-six hours. As my publisher at Ravenous Romance told me, they weren’t going to start work on Writhe until Monday anyhow, so I’m technically not delaying anything.

But those darn nuts in the backroom of my head are pelting me with some very nasty accusations. As I am an adult, I have reacted as any adult would…. Sticking my fingers into my ears and “La-la-la”ing until I’m hoarse is a reaction I’m sure we all agree is appropriate. Meet madness with madness, is what I always say. *lol*

The main reason I took this step is not because I couldn’t finish the book in time, but that I’ve decided to restructure Chapters 3 through 5.

As I’ve mentioned (bemoaned, wailed about, whined extensively over) before, I was going to need to get the chainsaw out to hack out some chunks of the manuscript just to stay around the 50K mark. Shifting scenes around in those three chapters allowed me to cut what I needed while, I believe, making the story have an even more dramatic flow.

As I told my publisher, I want Book One of the “Lion & Steed” series to be a very strong piece. I want it to lure the reader in until they can’t back out. (Think: spider, parlor, fly to those, like me, who enjoy a Mother Goose take on the world... This, of course, is not to call my readers flies. This is simply a metaphor, simile, analogy-thing. If anybody in this relationship deserves squishing it is me.)

So, instead of rushing through these changes, I’m giving myself a little extra time to make these adjustments sing.

This is not a failure.

This is a smart business move.

And if I keep repeating this long enough, maybe me and the nuts in the backroom will start buying it.

Told you it was going to be one of those kind of days. *smiles*

Until tomorrow…

Chloe