Larissa Gault's Blog

Well, today I'm busy planning and packing for a short weekend away! It's a holiday weekend here in the good ol' US of A (MLK Day is Monday). Tuesday officially rings in the start of my spring semester and the last one before I get my degree! YAYYY! It's "just" an associate's but I'm very proud of myself. I'll be the first kid in my family to get a degree--and while my mom has a bachelor's in childhood education, my dad doesn't have a degree so I am very excited to walk in a local baseball stadium on a random Tuesday in April (or May? Can't remember) to get that cool piece of paper.

Now for my BOOKS. These past few days (and weeks) have been filled to the brim of editing The Way He Broke Me in preparation to send to my editor on January 25th. It will 100% be ready in time, but I like being entirely consumed by any one task, so I've literally spent all week editing 50+ pages. So far over 2 days of making electronic edits, I've done exactly 88,491 words. After the rest of my to-do list has been completed, I intend on finishing those edits by the end of today.
I've left myself notes (aka barely coherent scribbles on the first page of the printed version) for any additional changes. I have overused words to search for, little character things to add, description to fluff up in some places, and best of all......MORE CHARACTERS!

You might be asking yourself why the heck I would need those if I'm *finishing* the novel. Well, I'm glad you asked. A new environment and setting presents itself in book 3 (otherwise abbreviated as BC; no it doesn't mean Before Christ, though that would be fun, I guess). This setting comes with new characters! I have a few of them already (the most notable 4 that interact with the main narrative/character) but it's a very detailed place that I have yet to do anything but theorize about. Once I hand TWHBM off to my editor, since I can't exactly keep working on this book, I intend on spending some time on that setting and the new characters. Occurring probably simultaneously, my beta readers get it! Quick plug, those sign ups are still open in my Instagram bio.

This new/BC environment gives major Blindspot vibes, if you've ever seen that show. I have some face claims for an assistant, a forensic scientist, a communications liaison, ANOTHER assistant (but a forensic lab one), and a sniper (hehehehe). I still have to find details on a mortician (more hehehehe) and other various scientists and peoples. Moral of the story is that I am *excited*. TWHBM has been one of my favorite writing projects like, of all time, but BC might....it might take the cake. We get top-tier emotional angst and reconciliation, lots of uncertainty and comfort, and--OKAY. I have to stop talking about BC when TWHBM is like, 4 months away. Anyway.

I'm off to finish laundry (sad), do various chores (also sad), then editing (very fun), and then review the brain-dump of an AU that I wrote at 2 in the morning (perhaps the most fun of all). Have lots of fun because I know I will, babes.

A short post for today, but it's officially 2023 and I have to celebrate a little bit.

In the past few weeks, I've made huge progress on editing TWHBM (and the full title is now out!!), which is amazing! I can't wait to finish it because then I can send it to beta readers. I'm posting a form for beta applications on Instagram later this week--but in more exciting news, it's being published in April!! AHHHH! Okay.

I've been fixated on a completely different project this past week, though. It's a Narnia fan fiction--super fun stuff. I spent hours upon hours doing a Notion project board for it. Character pages, lists of Narnians, descriptions for all the rooms and castle...you name it, I wrote it.

I have a pretty clear idea of what the plot will look like and I've already had some scene ideas, but I haven't started writing yet. I might this week but...book two come first.... *dramatic ADHD hyperfixation sigh*

Anyway, I've been sick for the past 30 hours, so I'm going to consume some chicken tenders and then watch Lord of the Rings for the rest of the evening. More coherent updates shall come next week and maybe some sneak peaks of TWHBM! <3

well hi everyone

Surprise, I'm starting a blog! This is probably going to be filled with random book nonsense, rants about anything and everything, exclusive book news (mwuahaha), and lots of podcast stuff (which, if you don't know: I'm co-hosting Behind the Books with LJ Elizabeth, aka bestie & @lj_writess on Instagram). I'll likely post once a week, though what day that is will probably change, especially when I start college again in the spring. Final semester of academic English major suffering go brrrrrr~

So for today's post....
CAN WE JUST SCREAM FOR A SECOND THAT THE BOOK TRAILER *AND* RELEASE DATE FOR TWHBM DROPS LIKE,,,,, THIS WEEK???? I'm aware that's a lot of caps so I'll tone it down. Anyway. It comes out Friday, December 23rd, and I'm impossibly excited for it. It's ridiculous. I made the trailer at LEAST a month ago, but I didn't contact anyone for help with the title + date graphics until a few days ago lol (cough cough Susan you're the best). I've had a few alpha readers + some others guess the title...some got it right! And Lonnie wanted to be surprised but I had to say it for a podcast recording so she found out anyway. 'Twas a fun reveal. I honestly don't know when the cover reveal is going to be, but since my designer has me booked for not even a month before publication (major sad face even if I'm going to work around it with my proof copies), I can promise it won't be for a while. However......I have to pay for this monster of a book somehow, so there WILL be a merch drop of some kind in February or March. The costs shall go entirely toward art commissions, printing costs of said art onto goodies, and ordering author copies so you can get them signed!!! EEEEEEEK!!! Okay.

Enough about TWHBM; let's talk post-TWHBM and book 3. Because, yes, there's a difference. I've officially been done with the first draft (of TWHBM) for a month and a half now, and my mind is still reeling with ideas for these stupid characters (I say this affectionately). Between TWHBM and book 3 (aka BC, hehe) is a good few weeks of a time skip that places our main POV/narrative in a different location than the MCs of TWHBM. Cannot say more for spoilers, but it's interesting because I have to deal with a *lot* of emotional ups and downs due to how TWHBM ends. I suppose that's sort of my own fault? Oh well. I'll also have to develop a handful of new characters in BC. They're super important to the rest of the series, so I can't just....cheat and not do anything with them.

I'm always plotting or outlining in some way, especially with future works. The farther I go, the more ideas I have for the ending of this lovely universe. And to be honest, I don't know if there will ever be an end! I have a standalone idea that's set a good 5 or 6 years after book 5 (hehe) that fulfills one of my lifelong dreams of being a fake-dating romance book author. Yes, you heard me, spies and fake dating. It will be a blast. There's a bit of a "hidden relationship" in TWHBM, but it's nowhere near the "fake dating" fiasco that will ensue if these partners are undercover...hehehehehe. I *do* have another dystopian WIP idea for faking dating, so who knows if I'll do both or just combine them!

I also have some MAJOR fans of Viktoriya and Anastasia--particularly about their origin stories. They both grew up in the Black Box (at different times; they're just under 10 years apart in age), but both of their stories have so much potential. Considering what I have planned for both of these ladies in the future, I might have to go back and "finish" their stories. The large/main ship of the series also fits perfectly into a concept I was first introduced to on the TV show, Blindspot. Fantastic show and Reade & Zapata are my favorites (Patterson is close behind). My sister likes Kurt better, but that's because he's so moody. I digress. The point is that this couple could not FOR THE LIFE OF THEM leave the spy life behind for domestic bliss, even after I give them a happy-ever-after (don't hold me to that, by the way). But becoming a team that kidnaps bad folks (and/or their children) and giving back ransom money to the people/families those bad folks have hurt? Sign them up. And if they have their own kid, well.....if someone decides to take revenge and they have to get their kid back..... *sips tea*

It's quite safe to say that it will be a while before you see the last of the Ivankov series. Which one of these projects are you MOST excited about? Or is TWHBM so close you can almost taste it, and you can't wait to have it in your hands??? (Because me too. But you should still tell me which one you're excited about *wink wink*).

Ciao for now! See you next time--I'll be posting on Instagram to announce a new blog post so don't be concerned you'll miss it <3