You know that one kid in school who figured out how to do the star swipe on Powerpoint before everyone else and used it constantly? Yeah, that was me. I always picked the fanciest script and the most elaborate themes and it was pretty far into college before someone sat me down and explained it doesn’t matter how nice something looks if no one can read it. Which still didn’t sink in for a few more years.
Now I’m a lot better about it, but with formatting Biker Bules and Ace of Wands I’ve realized I might have some lingering bad habits I need to kick. Which has resulted in me taking a deep dive into formatting that was far more complicated and difficult than I anticipated. I figured I’d be making chapter headings and fancy drop lettering. Instead, I’m sitting here staring at margin numbers like they’ve personally offended my household. I’ve gotten pretty much all my typesetting finished, but I’m nowhere near fancy stuff like that yet.
I’m determined, though. I want these books to look and feel like they were made with all the excruciating effort I put into them. No matter the result. I did have to stop halfway through typesetting because one of the tutorial videos I was binging went into cover design and I realized both the Biker Blues and the Tarot Mafia covers need a bit of tweeking. Well… the Tarot Mafia ones need tweeking. Biker Blues got a complete overhaul.
I like the end result more now though. I still had to use some photoshop magic since I couldn’t find models that perfectly match Venom and Blue, but I got close enough for government work. I think.
Writing wise, I’ve honed in on Liar Liar and got a pretty decent chunk of the outline completed now. I kept working it and reworking it, but nothing was sticking until I finally held my husband hostage to listen to me ramble on. He asks a lot of questions my brain just skims over, and it helps “knock the marble off the slab”. He’s absolutely feral for the next book, and I kind of feel bad he won’t get to listen to it for a while since I’m focusing up on the Tarot Mafia series right now.
All in all, this was a rough, difficult week filled with my car getting put in the shop, horrible news on my feeds that remind me why I don’t go out in public, and a few tidbits of joy to keep me going. The usual.
This weekend I’m going to be heading out of state to visit my in-laws, but I’m hoping I can get some more writing out of the way and maybe get a jump on the last edits for Lucky so I can get that one a release date as well. Wish me luck!