Hi, readers–I’ve got a quick peek behind the scenes for you!

Last week, I started setting up camp in our bonus room. It’s the only room in our house where the cats aren’t allowed to wander, which made it the perfect location for spreading out all my many, many, MANY scene cards.

This is the first time I’ve tried this approach, and I honestly loved it. Yes, I spent a bunch of extra hours making the scene cards. And yes, many of them will end up being combined or trashed altogether as I round out the outlining process. But I really like the end result of being able to manipulate the scenes with my hands. Something about that works wonders for my brain!

I haven’t counted up the cards yet, but I do know I had 42 columns as of last night. That’s almost a column per chapter if this book follows my usual path, but I expect several of those columns to get split out into multiple scenes that might move forward or backward, depending on how the plot looks.

With all the cards in a relatively coherent order at this point, though, I’m moving forward with completion of my outline. That means I should actually get to start writing super soon!

As much as I’ve dreaded tackling the tougher content in this book, I’m feeling pretty well-prepared. My goal was to plan to the point that I had a solid mental and emotional grasp on the most painful parts, and I’ve absolutely done the best I could with that.

I’m so eager to reunite with the Black Pack and their friends. The opening scene of this book should be a fun way for me, as the author (and ultimately you, as the reader!) to fall right back into the story. I’ve been working hard to develop new magic, new characters, and new locations to dazzle and delight you. All your old favorites will be there, too!

Who are you looking forward to seeing again?

If you haven’t signed up for my newsletter, be sure to do so by clicking here. It’s the best way to know exactly when the next book will come out. Subscribers get extra goodies sometimes, too 😉

Cheers!