Author: Cassandra Chandler
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Wandering Soul Cover Reveal!
I’m very excited to share the cover for Wandering Soul with you! Drumroll, please… I’m so grateful for the gorgeous cover—by the lovely and talented Kanaxa!—and for all the help and guidance I’ve received from my editor, Holly Atkinson. You both rock! I’ll be blogging more about the book in the coming months—less than four…
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The Best Laid Plans
It’s always fun to go back through my blog posts and see how I thought I had things all figured out. “This is how I’m going to edit from now on!” “I’m going to finish this project next, no matter what!” The truth is life is in constant flux. And if you’re pursuing a creative…
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First Drafts
I just finished the first draft of another full-length novel. Toward the end, I could see that I wasn’t going to make my projected word count. It wasn’t that any particular chapter was too short. Most of the chapters came in right about where I would expect—a good sign that the book is balanced and…
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Winter
Winter is the quiet time, a time for reflection and planning. When the days begin to warm, I know that activity will increase and time will seem to flow faster and faster, hurtling toward the end of the year. This is my chance to get in a little extra rest, extra hugs with my loved…
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Writing Time
Since I received The Call, my writing time has changed. It took me a few months to figure out what happened, but I wasn’t making my word count goals and I felt my attention had been split in ways I didn’t yet understand. Now that I’m farther along in the process, I’ve had some very…
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Living Fully
My life is incredibly full right now. This might be the way it will always be—my new normal. If so, I will consider myself extremely fortunate. It isn’t easy to keep up with everything. My house, family, job, health, friends, and of course my writing, all require a great deal of time, attention, and energy.…
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What to Do During Edits
I’ve written several blog posts about whether to write new material or not during edits. Now that official edits for Wandering Soul have begun, I’ve realized two things: This is my first experience with traditional publishing, therefore I really have no way of predicting what is going to happen or how publishing a book will…
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Decisions, Decisions
The more I make a decision to do something, the easier it is to make in the future. If I decide to go for a walk, it’s easier for me to decide to go for a walk the next day. Some people talk about this in terms of building habits, but I prefer to think…
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Sleep is Over-rated… but Necessary
It’s so hard to stop writing on those nights when the words are flowing and everything seems to be coming together almost effortlessly. Too many of those nights in a row can actually become a problem. There are things I need to take care of to keep writing. My home, my family, my health. Sleep…
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Reading from the Shelved Pieces
My current process is to write a rough draft as quickly as possible, edit it immediately until it says what I think I want it to say, then put it on the shelf for at least a few months (if possible). At that point, I have enough distance to edit it mercilessly, then polish it up…
Cassandra Chandler 