The issue with my eyes and how it will impact my publishing schedule

Some of you probably read my other author blog. If that’s the case, feel free to skip this part because I am going to talk about the issue I have been having with my eyes. I have been to the optometrist and ophthalmologist, and while they find nothing structurally wrong with my eyes (like a cataract or glaucoma), I do have dry eye. The eye drops don’t work for me as well as they do for other people with this condition. The things that works best for me are the warm compresses and spending time off of computer screens, iPhones, magazines, and books. Essentially, anything that requires me to read, hurts my eyes. They strain them to the point where my eyes water up to the point where I feel like ripping them out because I’m so uncomfortable. When I keep my reading time, brief, I feel normal. So far, if I limit my computer time to two days a week, I am OK. So this is my new goal. I only write stories on the computer. That means I have two days a week that I can do anything with my books. But I don’t always get to write when I’m on the computer. There are times when I have to update my website or blog. There are times when I have to do book related stuff when I’m on the computer, such as uploading a book to Book Funnel (which is something that I’ve recently been asked to do), setting up a book ad for promotion, or keeping track of my income and expenses so I can report it to the accountant at tax time. Then there are other tasks I need to do that have nothing to do with books, like stuff to do with the school for my deaf son or emailing people. I have not been able to write anything for a couple of months now.

I can no longer write books as fast as I used to. Even writing this post requires me to use the microphone function on my computer so I am able to dictate instead of type the words out. (I am going over it to clean out the errors so this post.) The technology on dictation has gotten better than it was a few years ago. The fact that my computer has the microphone option on the F5 key makes it even easier. It is harder for me to dictate a story than it is to type it, but I am slowly adjusting to the new way I am going to have to write stories. Dictating blog posts and emails are helping me adjust in this area.

Anyway, what this means is that I have slow down the writing, editing, and publishing process of my books. I also need the help of some trusted people in order to get my books done. Work I used to be able to do by myself is work I now have to hand over to others. Thankfully, a few people have volunteered to help me as I transition from being able to type my stories to dictating them. Anyone who has had to clean up a dictation project knows that it takes considerable time to figure out what the speaker meant while dictating the story, and they will find more errors in a dictated story than in one that was typed out. I am very fortunate these people offered to help me. Their task will not be an easy one. My goal for next year is to get two books out. These are the books I have already finished, but these books need to go through the editing process. I used to use my eyes to edit the books myself (in addition to using an editor), but now I am going to have to hand over the entire process to them. These are people who have busy lives. I will work with their schedules, and I will wait for their timelines on when they can work on my stuff. So my release dates will take into account the things they have going on in their lives.

At this point in time, I have two books finished. I also have two books in the works. In one book, I only have one scene done, and three chapters done in another book. My estimate is that I will have two books out next year. I know for sure that I can’t have anything out for the rest of this year. I’ll talk about this below.

The Earl’s Jilted Bride (Marriage by Obligation Series: Book 3)

I am hoping to get this out in January. I was originally hoping for this month, but with my eyes being the way they are, it just wasn’t feasible. It hasn’t helped that this book required multiple rewrites. Because of those rewrites, I have not even been able to get this book over to my editor yet.

Worth the Risk (Marriage by Obligation Series: Book 4)

This is the one I’m tentatively scheduling for June of next year. It’s finished, but it’s in first draft. I haven’t been able to look over it. I don’t know when I will be able to look at it. I am hoping that setting the release date in June will give me and the other people helping me sufficient time to polish this up so it can be the best book possible.

Anyone But You (Marriage by Obligation Series: Book 5)

I have only gotten one scene done in this book. I have no idea how long this one will take to finish. I will have to dictate this book (and all other books from now on). After I dictate each scene, I will hand them to somebody to clean up. This will be a lengthy and time-consuming process. After the first draft is done, I will have about three other people, maybe four, go over it to clean it up as much as it can be. In the past, I have done a more thorough edit, but from now on, I will have to do a brief look over before I publish the book.

Tagalong Bride

At the moment, I have a series designation (Love Under Desert Skies) on this cover. I am planning to remove it. I am not sure if I can start a new series. I do not know how much longer I will be able to write books. It is getting physically harder to do it because my eyes don’t cooperate with me anymore. While a few people have volunteered to help me with these books, I am not sure if this situation can work for the long term. As of now, I am not making any plans beyond this book and Anyone But You. I am thinking, due to the slow nature of my writing, that this book, and Anyone But You, will be out in 2025. I will have to see how things go.

I’ll be posting here less frequently.

It makes no sense to make monthly posts, since my production has gotten to be less. So I will write as I have updates to share. There’s no sense in wasting your time by repeating myself over and over again.

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I hope everyone has a great October!