Revising the Vampire, week 3

No rant today! Just eternally weary of people trying to fix something that isn't broken.

Since I'm mostly done with revisions, I focused on doing some light editing this week. Bumped my word count up to 66420! I also realized that my MC, Evan, who is also an author...needed a pen name, ahaha (an easy fix). And should probably tell their partners they write. It's mostly kept as a secret throughout the book, and for good reason.

Evan primarily writes erotica, sometimes erotic romance. And they don't want that knowledge to affect their work as a (school) librarian. Granted, most of their books are written in their native French, but it's not a risk they're willing to take.

And yes, I know they don't have to reveal themselves as a writer, but it's something Evan personally feels is the right thing to do. Especially since both of their partners do read (Minnie is a bookworm like Evan, Svenja is more casual).

I wrote out a small scene of Svenja flipping through some of Evan's work, and the two of them having a discussion on preferences and the fantasy appeal of getting "dicked down" by a minotaur and other fabulous creatures.

As part of my edits (unrelated to the above), I removed a chapter I've been debating on for a good while now. It's short, mostly honestly filler, and can be reworked to include a side character I want to introduce. I also rewrote one chapter to accommodate a sex scene I was originally going to scrap (well, can you really call it a sex scene if it's tension based and ultimately fades to black?) but found new life for.

It's the chapter that convinced me that I actually want titled chapters instead of simple numbered ones—and I've decided to name it K.i.s.s.e.s., after the Bent song (more of a remix, as are all their songs, iirc—it's sampling Nana Mouskouri's Küsse süßer als Wein). I really love this song, and it's included on Svenja's playlist:

Maybe now I'll take a proper break and focus on the short story related to my WIP, but we'll see how that goes. Anyway, here's a snippet from the aforementioned chapter, one of my favorites:

“People go hiking in winter?”

“Some people. I think they do it for the…Christmassy feel?” She pulled her arm free, and for once Evan found themselves wanting. “Sleigh rides are popular, too. I’ve gone once or twice as a child, but I personally don’t see the appeal as an adult. You’re just being pulled around by a bunch of deer or horses…”

“I can. Eddie would never go for something like that, she was a runner, but I convinced her to take a paddle boat with me, out on the lake.”

“…I like to run, too. What’s there to do on a slow ride?”

“Are you kidding? You’ve never gone on a long train ride with your sweetheart?”

“No.” Svenja flipped through her notepad. “I’ve never had one.”

“How is that possible?” Ignoring her obvious flaws, Svenja had plenty of desirable traits. Outwardly, she was tall, very attractive, a smart dresser…