schedule | H.M. Ward: New York Times Bestselling NA Romance & YA Author

I thought I’d take a second to let you guys know how I go about writing my books.

The key thing is: There are always several books in the pipeline at once. I’ll work on something for a while and put it aside when it’s not ‘speaking to me’ anymore. Why do I do this? So I can wait until inspiration strikes and then pick it up again.

Writing this way keeps things rolling along, avoids writer’s block, and periodically there will be a succession of rapid releases where three to four titles get published in a few weeks. You guys probably noticed that. It happened recently when Trystan Scott, Stripped, and The Arrangement all came out back to back. In the span of 4 weeks, there were 3 new titles. It took longer than that to write them, and the only reason I was able to release books that quickly was because I was working on more than one title at a time.

I’d just like to take a second and point out how insane it is to release books that fast. Traditionally, books that are released quickly come out every 6 months, with a typical release date of a year being more the norm. Hardly anyone releases books on a weekly schedule, but I do. On average, a new H.M. Ward title comes out every 2.5 weeks. If I wrote one title at a time, there’s no way that would happen, and you’d actually get books slower because wrestling with a book that doesn’t want to be written is like pulling teeth from a camel’s butt. It’s seriously messed up.

Once in a while, a few very excited fans will tell me to just write one thing at a time thinking that’s what works best, but the truth is that different things work better for different writers. This is what works for me, so the next time you see my upcoming releases, you can know those titles are coming pretty quick.

What are you working on now? SECRETS & LIES, THE PROPOSITION, DIVERGENT, THE ARRANGEMENT, plus some other stuff that has no title yet.
What did you just finish? A LITTLE CHRISTMAS ROMANCE (This year’s Holiday Novella)
What are you working on next? THE ARRANGEMENT 11
What’s the weirdest sentence you’ve written this week? Uh, that thing about the camel’s butt takes the cake.
Where can fans offer their ideas for your books? The facebook page. Right now I’m taking names for the heroine in A LITTLE CHRISTMAS ROMANCE.
Which book comes out next? Either ARRANGEMENT 11 or THE PROPOSITION. I haven’t decided yet. Then at the end of the month A LITTLE CHRISTMAS ROMANCE will be released.