So. You’re about to learn how crazy I can be.

I took a leap last week, after seeing this blog post from Joe Konrath. He let it slip that he’s done some crazy things under pseudonyms, including challenging himself to write a book and publish it within an hour. He did it four times — while drinking beer (his words!). The results are completely goofy and off the wall. And here’s the kicker, they were FUN for him to write and get out there.

This strikes a chord with me. Too often I get mired in perfectionism, in pride, and in fear. It doesn’t stall me completely, but at times I feel like any progress is achieved at a molasses pace because I have all these hangups over projects that I am probably TOO attached to. Writers, do you hear me on this?

Anyway, Joe Konrath challenged others to write and publish fast — his 8 hour ebook challenge. I accepted, and I ROCKED IT.

The result is the creation of a brand new pseudonym, Delilah Vane, focused on paranormal and fantasy ebooks for teens. The book I wrote to conquer Konrath’s challenge is called My Undead Life: Waking Up Dead. And yes, that’s a live Amazon link to a 2,700 word episode that I wrote last Thursday. Last weekend I wrote and published the second and third episodes, Girl Vampire and Roses Are Red.

I did everything myself, and I went from zero idea what I was about to a storyline and one completed episode out of ten, with cover art, editing, formatting and publishing — in under eight hours. (For those of you thinking it, yes, this is what happens when I attempt my own cover art. 🙂 But the point was to push limits and experiment. I definitely pushed out of my comfort zone.)

As my inspiration, I credit the fact I’d been re-watching season 5 of Buffy, and mentioned to a buddy last week that it was past time for my vampire to show up (an old joke with me at this point)…add in the fact that I’ve been wanting to try a serial for a while, and the whole mess combined to create…My Undead Life! A teen vampire story that should also be fun for supposed grown-ups like me, who love Buffy and Angel and remember with fondness all those great late 90s teen angst shows like My So-Called Life. (As an aside: Did you know that someone who fell in love with Angel in the first season of Buffy in 1997 could now have a fifteen year old daughter…named Angel? It could happen. Really. And then that girl could totally meet a vampire and end up another vampire named Angel. (As a further aside: Yes, this is how my mind works. It’s a fun place to be.))

Do I have any idea what I’m up to here? Well…I’m going to finish ten episodes and then combine them into one book. And I have a couple of other ideas that I’ve struggled with due to the younger age of the anticipated audience. So, I believe Delilah is here to stay. I’m not sure whether I’ll start a new blog, or make a Delilah page on this blog, or do zero promotion and see what happens.

I couldn’t decide whether to post about this or not, but I know some of you would have been upset with me if I didn’t even mention it. I’m also excited, because I had my most productive week of the summer last week, writing 8,000 words of this new story.

If you do check it out, I’d be interested to know whether it seemed like the same writer or someone new, and what you thought of it. It’s free until September 3rd. 🙂