Filling Plot Holes For Fun (and Profit)

So, I’ve been doing edits on Fireborn, our August release. This book has had an interesting life. I wrote it in January 2015 as a sequel to Reaper Girl, the novelette that was published in the Under Her Protection anthology. It was 23,000 words, too short on plot, not enough murder (lol) and I set it aside to work on other things. Then last year, it was time to work on this year’s production schedule and I thought, hey, if I just expanded it, I could have a novel to publish in one of our empty slots. Never mind that I had about five months before the deadline (January 1st) and had hardly any ideas about what precisely I would expand it with. (I’m pretty sure my fellow TDPers thought I’d lost my mind, but I saw it as a challenge).

I wrote like a madwoman for three or four months, then submitted it on time, no less, on January 1st. I was supposed to get editorial feedback on March 1st, but there were some delays, so I got it on April 1st, with a revised release date of August 1st. With me so far?

In late April, I had a panic attack because I was sure my next deadline was May 1st and I was pretty sure I couldn’t finish on time (for health reasons) and emailed my people and asked for a two-week extension. I believed I could finish it by then. Ha, ha. Hahahahaahahahahaaha. Nope. (But, good news: I’d forgotten that we’d changed my deadline to June 1st. I had never been more grateful for my faulty memory ever.)

I’ve already completed two in-depth editing/revising/rewriting passes so far. I’m two weeks from my deadline. I just started what should have been no more than a proofread.

But…

Uh, I found a pretty big plot hole. That I freaking missed after TWO passes. What does this mean? It means that this week I get the fun job of filing that plot hole—which, unfortunately, has what we call a “ripple effect.” Meaning I need to change every single reference throughout the entire book. Because it’s freaking everywhere. Whole scenes have to be rewritten. I also ended up adding about 12,000 words to the book to beef up some other things. I also have to change the climax—I was going to keep it mostly the same, but then got a wild hair and decided that my editor’s idea was pretty cool.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love this book. I love these characters. When I first thought about turning Reaper Girl into a series, I had no idea what would come of it. Also? This my first actual mystery. I mean, some of my other books have mysteries in them, but they aren’t full-fledged mysteries. So that was a bit nerve-wrecking as well, wondering if I’d made it work or had a mess. Apparently it wasn’t a mess, so yay.

Ideas for book 3 are coming fast and furious.

Actually, I’d had a ton of ideas for novels in general for the past few weeks. Maybe this fresh air and being home is giving my muse a chance to play a bit? Who knows, but I’m jotting down anything that sounds cool.

Last night, I hit page 50 of 131 pages. Just under half. I have confidence that I can make my deadline. I really do. I just hope no other hidden plot holes raise their ugly heads because seriously, I’ve done so much tinkering that I’m fresh out of energy to continue tinkering. I am sure of one thing though.

This book is going to ROCK.

Stay tuned. It releases August 1st.