Publishing Time Travel

The other day I was corresponding with another Maine crime writer who has agreed to do a blurb for my next book, Critical State. I was emailing on an unrelated matter and their reply said they are really enjoying my book. I replied that I was so glad they were liking Raven, my first published book. Then it hit me. Duh. They were talking about Critical State: An Olivia Wolfe Novel. Which I was also glad they were liking.

This is a new experience for me. Because I’ve got the time and attention now, I’m working on multiple books at once and it can be a bit of a brain scrambler. I’m still working on marketing and speaking to generate sales for Raven. I’m working with an editor to finalize Critical State. I’m currently writing the first draft of the next Olivia Wolfe book to follow Critical State: Glass Cliff. On any given day I might have correspondence related to any or all of those three projects. Today I also emailed to a first chapters contest the first 5000 words of another book I’m revising, From Away, which will start another series set exclusively in Maine.

So, it can get confusing. I’m thinking about a book from last year, another that will come out in 2027, and a couple that should come out in 2028.

Other authors manage this, including a few of our Maine Crime Writer colleagues who publish multiple books a year (you know who you are!). Especially when thinking about work in different series, I find I need to take a moment and set myself in that world again before picking up the draft or making notes.

I know some authors don’t read when they are writing, some because they don’t want to be influenced by another writer’s voice, some because it’s too complicated to inhabit multiple worlds at the same time. I get that now.

Currently reading: Dead Money, Jakob Kerr, 2025