One Journey Completed

On July 21st, I typed The End on my book, Journey of a Broken Writer. Y'all, I'm silly. The editing was an emotional journey, too. I cried for so many reasons. I learned more about myself, my life, and writing in the editing process than I had expected. 

I couldn't afford to hire a professional editor, and even if I could have, the process likely would have taken much longer than the two weeks I spent working through the manuscript with AI.

Don't think for one minute that it was easy. The AI didn't "fix" things. It flagged potential issues chapter by chapter. I reviewed each one, decided whether I agreed, revised the manuscript myself, and moved to the next chapter.

"Surely it couldn't have been that hard if you used AI to assist?" 

You would be incorrect. This was what I can only call an Editorial Event. And it took multiple sessions. In fact, I think that's what I'll call this from now on. I have three more books to edit.

Below is a breakdown of what each editorial pass examined. 

Structural Editing — Does the book work?

Developmental Editing — Does each chapter work?

Line Editing — Does each paragraph work?

Copy Editing — Is the manuscript technically clean?

Publication Editing — Is it ready for readers?

Thematic Analysis — What is the book really about?

Author Reflection — What does the book reveal about its author?

AI didn't just give me a list of things to fix. It reviewed every chapter through seven different editorial passes. I reviewed the findings, made the corrections, and asked for the next chapter. The work contains 62 chapters. This took days. Long, tiring days that left my neck, back, and butt aching and the rest of me exhausted. By the fifth pass, I wondered what else had to be checked. Couldn't I stop there? No, I needed all of them. 

And I especially needed that last pass. 

The revelations from that pass were encouraging and heartbreaking. It didn't just read my book. It read me. Those words won't be in the book. And that is where I put The End and cried. 

Oh, maybe that sounds silly to you. It does to me when I reread it. But you don't know what it took for me to arrive at this spot. You can't know what I had to do to write Journey of a Broken Writer. 

I don't know if anyone will buy or read this book. I wrote it to encourage other writers who have experienced discouragement at some point. By the end of this editorial journey, I understood I was writing it for someone else. I wrote for a 15-year-old girl who had seen her dreams crushed. 

I wish I could go back and tell her they were mistaken, that she had been a writer all along. I can't. So, I think I'll write another book.

Fighting Back and Hitting Targets

I think the title works. I usually save the title for last, to make sure it fits the post. It feels like I've been fighting with myself. Months of writing and walking every day while depressed and in pain have taken a physical toll, but I will admit to a bit of pride here. These are not things I can normally do on a good day. 

Writing is still predominant, even though I've been unwell. I'm now in Book 2 of the Dream Stealer series. Then I remembered that I had finished Journey of a Broken Writer last year and need to get it ready to publish. Well, why not? So, I've been working on the edits for that. Be nice if I could get that up in the next 90 days. 

Most of that was in June. I mentioned some of the health stuff in the last posts, so I won't rehash it here. Things have been uncomfortable. I was also battling a lot of depression. The only time I seem to come out of it is when I'm writing. I told someone it was easier to live in the fictional world I built than the real one I live in.

So, July is ten days in and I am finally not in pain. On the first I went in for an epidural of steroids. It wasn't really painful. The numbing shot hurt worse than anything else, but it wasn't unbearable. 

Listen, I had an epidural when I had my second child. The first one, born in 1979, was a Lamaze baby. Natural childbirth was a thing, and I was a typical 70s girl. Let's do this. Honestly, I was only in labor for five hours and had less pain than when I ruptured the disk in my C6-7 vertebra. When I had that first epidural, it required I sit bent over; and when combined with a significant front baby bulge, it's uncomfortable. You can't get around the baby. This time epidural was a piece of cake. They let me lie on my stomach.

The results have been surprising, but a relief. I still have mild-to-moderate pain in my cervical spine area. I have to take frequent breaks to prevent pain in my upper back because I sit too long when writing. I'm probably not going to be chopping wood or lifting bales but I didn't do that anyway.

Today, Mike came and cut my lawn, and because he has some pain problems of his own, I stopped writing to help him cut the yard. I love working in the yard, but for months I haven't been able to do much of anything. Since February, I've worked my way up to walking 1.6 miles. Then I had the setback with the back pain. After I helped him today, I realized that I may not be doing much cutting the yard.

Now, never in my life have I set goals. Until today. Because I have to. If I'm going to get this done in the time I have left. I need to have targets. Maybe targets are better than goals. Hmm. I like it. 

So, my targets are:

• Finish the edits of Journey of a Broken Writer and get it published under my brand. (Yes, I have one now.)
• Finish book two of the Dream Stealer series.
• Work on getting my blogs in order. 
• And exercise more because I can't stand not being able to do what I need to do.

That's it. If I can hit those targets, I'll be on cloud nine. Well, until it rains.

Compiling Documents in Scrivener 3 for Windows

 It's been a while since I posted anything here. I've been battling spinal issues for months now, and it flared so severely that I made several trips to the hospital for scans and treatment. I have an appointment tomorrow for a nerve conduction test (NCT) that I call the voodoo doll test. They put you on a gurney, stick pins in you, and send electricity through the needles. They'll be checking for any nerve compressions and where they are located. 

On Thursday I go back to the pain management doctor to see what treats he has for me. At the moment, there are no medications to relieve my pain. And a new low-pressure system came in last night. 

What I have for you today is a chart for users of Scrivener 3 for Windows. Compiling within the program is confusing and a pain. I tried the manual, but even though I am a user guide fan, their manual is not user-friendly.

I admit, I slipped out to visit the AI and was able to get a simplified guide. Well, simpler to me because I could finally figure it out with this guide. Download it if you wish. If you have a problem, leave a comment or email me from the link in the column.

Scrivener 3 for Windows Compile

Writing With AI-Grok

Eye of the God: Book 2 
Of the Dream Stealer series
Created by Grok AI

I'm at 63,000 words of Eye of the God (Book 2 of the Dream Stealer Series). I can't believe I've written this much in one month. Since November 19th, 2025, five months, I've written more than I have at any one time in all the years I've been writing. It's a little confusing to me. I don't know why I've suddenly got this story to work. All I did was shift the time back 20 years.

The doctor put me on Cymbalta for fibro pain in October, and it opened my brain up like a tin can, and all this stuff could get out. I could suddenly think. I finished Book 1 on January 23rd, 2026. Astounding by any measure and over 130,000 words. 

Unfortunately, I had a negative reaction to the medication and had to go off it in February. My writing didn't stop, but it has slowed because my pain levels escalated. I wish I could go back on it. I told a friend I need more drugs to write. His response was, "I'm sure that's been said before." Here I am in April, and although it is slower, I'm still getting it done. 

One thing that has helped me is the use of Grok to do my outlines and to help me research the psychic, military, and medical research needed for the story. I couldn't have done so much writing without that. Without AI, the creation of a field of science that doesn't exist would have been impossible for me without years of research. 

 

I know much is said about the negatives of AI. I believe there are many negatives, but for writers limited on resources and time, the research is invaluable. Because of the AI, I've been able to put my plot information into the system and get a usable outline. I'm a pantser because I hate outlining. I'm now thrilled to use outlines to write.

AI could write the novel, but that would take the joy of writing from me. I write because I love writing, creating ideas and stories. Technical gaps in my knowledge are a problem in this story, so I let the AI refine my work with accurate details. I'm the final say in those areas. Sometimes I don't like the ideas it presents, and I change them. 

Using the process has been the most fun I've had in a long time. I love batting my ideas around with the AI. It has been exciting to tell it what I'm thinking and then seeing it laid out in order (sometimes I skip around in my thoughts). On a chart! 

I can give it the characters' names, biographical information, descriptions, and family connections. I then get profiles and genealogy charts. It's the coolest thing, and it means I'm not spending writing time compiling these. I have a Book Bible of about 500 pages for both books. 

So, for the critics, I can only say, you're thinking incorrectly. For those who use AI to write, you're either not talented or you're lazy. Writing is a gift that I have treasured since I was eleven years old. I won't give it to a machine. 

Think of AI like a tractor. Before tractors, man had to use horses and plows to plow the fields and then had to harvest it by hand. The creation of the tractor slashed the time and effort. Modern combines have done even more to save time. 

Tools are to be used in combination with human ability.  If you sacrifice your talent, you cheat yourself.

The Beginning of a Dream

 

Simon Bishop: Dream Stealer

Today marks the completion of the first draft of my novel, Where Dreams Begin. 

I'm so sad it's done. 

Isn't that the craziest thing you've ever heard? I'm sad that it's finished. I feel like I've said goodbye to friends and family. 

It began a long time ago. This past year, November 12th, 2025, I was working on the original story but decided I didn't know enough about the characters' history. I've only been messing with them for 10 years. 

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to do some bios on them. I decided instead to do character sketches. I can't explain what happened, but once I began to write, the words poured out. I had 30,000 in less than 2 weeks. And it didn't stop. It kept coming at that rate. I was writing up to 8 hours a day. I cried nearly every day for a week over what I was writing. 

Let me clear up one thing. Just before this, I went into a severe fibro flare. I was in constant pain all over my body, joints, and muscles. Details of my August, September, and October nightmare are on Life on the Ledge. Those months caused the flare that resulted in an increase of Cymbalta for the pain. 

The med increase worked. Pain stopped, and my brain woke up. Literally. I began the story November 12th and finished January 31st. The final count was 134,525 words in three months. 

I should be celebrating, but I'm sad that it's over. The good news is I already have ideas about a second in this series. Yes, series! No, I can't believe that. But writing this first one has given me a whole new outlook on it. Maybe I can do it. Maybe. I'm sure going to try.

Dream Stealer was the original title of what I was writing. Where Dreams Begin is the first in the series. The title of the next ... Eye of the God. 

Just writing that is exciting. 

Hang on to your seats. This is going to be fun. I can't wait.

Oh, that fella up there? That's Simon Bishop. He's the hero.