Eliwood S. Gheist

Hello, friends!

One of my favorite pieces of writing advice is that thinking about writing is still writing. Imagine the famous image of an iceberg; the very tip we see is words on a page, and the goliath beneath the water is planning, thinking, moodboarding, daydreaming, outlining, speculating, building playlists, and frantically texting your best friend all the ideas you just got.

All that is to say; I have definitely thought about writing this post much earlier in the month of June so I can at least pretend to have a regular update schedule. We refuse to acknowledge delays as failure in this house, friends.

Somehow, during this time when I’m not working, I feel busier than ever. When I’m working a typical 9-5 office job, I typically have two tasks; complete allotted work hours, and then try to recuperate in the evening. Occasionally, I will add a daring third task (important errand, going out for dinner, or house chore), but most everything else gets crammed into precious weekends. Now, I have a daily to-do list somewhere in the realm of 10-12 items; none of them are the mammoth 8 hours on the clock, but it still feels busier to go about my day accomplishing this long list, even if I’m “done” closer to 3pm than 5.

It helps that most of what I’m doing these days is what I’ve always dreamed of doing; essentially, I have the time now to act like a full-time author. Reaching out to bookstores about stocking my book and doing in-store events, working on merch, taking graphic design classes and trying to learn more about marketing…all things I perpetually had on my mind, but it was difficult to find the time or energy for. When I start working again, I hope that what I’ve learned can keep carrying me forward. I’m so grateful to have the time off for now, despite the looming anxiety for the future; I’m getting to do things I’d only dreamed of before.

Upcoming Events

I’ll have some more updates soon, but today, I’m going to be at Divine Realm Books for book signing and a livestreamed reading! You can watch along here, if you’re so inclined.

I’ve got some more updates in the works, so keep an eye out! This is one of the most exciting and fulfilling times of my life, and I’m so thankful for everyone who has supported me, cheered me on, read my books, or encouraged me along the way.

What I’m Working On

I just wrapped up a fourth draft of my werewolf romantasy, Eyes Shine Silver in Moonlight. This book has an odd history (started as a challenge to write a monsterotica novel, turned into a fun, horny book about fantasy werewolf politics), and I think that’s affected its development process.

For the first Bludeye book and its sequel (Bludeye Beach and Return to Bludeye Beach, respectively), the fourth draft was approximately when I had the plot more or less settled, and was refining my approach and cutting/condensing scenes; in other words, I pretty much had the characters, story, and setting all solid, and I was just perfecting the delivery (as I would do for another few pass-throughs). For Eyes Shine Silver, I’ve still been working on what I consider developmental changes in this draft; fixing character motivations, adjusting world-building details, and trying to repair some significant pacing issues. I’m very happy with where it is now, and I finally feel brave enough to ask for feedback from beta readers. I’m also not really concerned that it took “more” time to get this manuscript where I want it to be. It’s a very different book from Bludeye Beach (or most other books I’ve written), and part of that is from reverse-engineering how it started to where it is now.

If anything, I’m really just happy to be learning more about my own process, how I work through editing, and finding ways to make my book the best I want it to be. But I do find it interesting, how dynamic this entire process is. I’ve been writing for my entire life, but I’ve only really taken the editing/fixing process seriously for the past couple years, or so; there’s a lot I’ve had to learn, and that I’m still learning.

The plan is to start working on draft 5 of Return to Bludeye Beach after a little break; the expected start date was July 1st. (I work really well when I take it in month-long cycles, and when I let myself take a little break between projects.)

That’s the plan, anyway.

I’m hoping to release Return in 2027, and I think it’s in a very good place. It’s close to where I want it to be, and I want to really focus on a couple polishing pass-throughs before I feel confident figuring out when I can release it through Hook & Quill Press.

But here’s the thing about writing. And creativity. And inspiration. And being able to focus on a project for 2.5+ years at a time, and trying to tell yourself that balancing multiple books in a series plus a horny werewolf book is borderline too much so you really can’t add anything right now …

Okay, well, let’s just say I have an open outline document, two older MCs that will probably kiss a lot, and I’ve been working on a map.

We’ll see what I start working on, come July!

What I’m Reading

I’ve recently become a big fan of Uketsu, first through the manga adaptation of their novel Strange Houses, and then the novel itself, and then their novel Strange Pictures. They’re terrific, twisty and compelling, and I devoured both novels in an afternoon. (Two separate afternoons, one per book, to be clear). If you’re a fan of creepy mysteries (particularly of the variety you might find on youtube or reddit), give them a read!

Hopefully you’re having a good June, friends, and that you’re taking care of yourselves. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time!

-Eliwood