Last Updated on February 24, 2014 by Palessa
Well yesterday I submitted the first draft of Portrait of Gray after poring over it for weeks. Writing is not an easy thing and as I’m not a trained writer, I want to make sure I actually do the story justice. I knew it was time because I was about 70%-80% comfortable with it and just knew I needed another set of eyes to tell me what I was doing wrong, what didn’t make sense and why I was using the word ‘felt’ like it was going out of style (also constant use of he, she, and other crimes against writing that I perpetrate on a regular basis).
Some people who’ve read the Unchained Hearts may naturally assume that book 2 would be a pick up. It’s really not and I knew that when I finished UH. Grayson’s transformation fascinated me. He went from drugged up profligate to this great supporter of Virgilia and his family. I knew there was more to him and needed to understand his 180 degree journey.
PoG is longer and a lot more emotional, I think. I actually found myself misting up at a couple of places even after reading it a couple of times during my self-editing phase. I don’t mist up easily for anything so this is how I knew that this would be a bumpier ride. In UH, you learn a little secret about Grayson that does come to a head in PoG and that does set things up for Book 3. Joan Baxter is not letting up and you get to see just how her vindictive thought process works. Julian is more of a sympathetic character in PoG and Cass & Virgilia are now supporters in a big way as Grayson goes through some of the most painful experiences in his life.
The little ice cream shop does make an appearance. It is based on this out-of-the-way ice cream place that I got introduced to by my Dad some years ago in Miami. They make their own ice cream and it is ridiculously good and rich…so I had to put that in there for sure.
I don’t want to go too much into it but just know that it’s in the hands of the publisher and I’m awaiting my flogging. I am happy with what came out and I made a promise to myself that unless I was happy with it, it would never see the light of day. I plan on keeping that promise because well, it’s how I want to and need to do this author thing.
I will be sharing excerpts, the cover and other pre-release stuff (one interesting possibility that may be in the works 🙂 )so please check my Facebook page. Another promise I made was to reveal excerpts and/or teasers FIRST to my mailing list. So if you want to get those sneak peeks before everyone else (I’m planning about 2-3 excerpt shares) then you need to sign up for my mailing list.
Stay tuned…