I hit 25k on book 5, The Rivalry of Renegade X! Which just also happens to be the 25% mark, assuming this book ends up being the 100k I have planned. It’ll be a bit shorter than the last few books, but all my books have been coming out a bit shorter these days, so I thought I’d roll with it.

But I’ve already had my freak out where I get to about 1/4 – 1/3 of the way through the book and decide I need to delete everything and completely start over, only to realize a few days later that I’m insane and everything I had was great and exactly what it needed to be (and also hilarious), and then put everything back to normal and move on. This happens every freaking time with Renegade X books, and I have no idea why! Sometimes at this point in the book, I really do need to reassess where it’s going moving forward, and sometimes that means going back and adding things in, but I rarely end up cutting anything, and certainly not the whole thing. Geez.

I do remember in book 2 having to rewrite that scene where Damien goes over to Sarah’s and they’re working on the personality enhancer, like, a million times. It was originally about something completely different! I’m pretty sure Riley wasn’t even there! I hadn’t figured out what the book was really about yet or, more importantly, what the characters really wanted from each other, and once I did, it all clicked into place.

Anyway, I’m loving working on book 5. It’s hilarious and fun and full of crazy hijinx!

After ruining the annual Tines family barbecue by retaliating against one of his stuck-up superhero cousins—who totally deserved it, no matter what anyone says—Damien just wants an easy summer. One that involves him and his friends hanging out and going on the occasional superhero mission. He doesn’t need his “good twin” from another dimension where he was raised by Gordon showing up and making a mess of everything, and he sure as hell doesn’t need him living at his house, doing chores without being asked, and generally being the perfect superhero son his family’s always wanted.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, his good twin refuses to lie low. He’s obsessed with doing good deeds and even volunteers to be his dad’s sidekick on his lame kids show. Damien soon has his hands full just trying to stop this guy from making him look like one of the stereotypical douchey heroes he’s always hated. And when his good twin starts to win over all his friends, it’s the last straw. Damien knows there’s only room for one of him in Golden City, and he’s more than ready to get rid of this guy.

But when Damien’s attempts to send him back home backfire and an “evil” version of his half brother Xavier shows up—as if Xavier could get any worse—the two Damiens will have to find a way to work together despite their differences. That is, if they want to stop Xavier’s evil plans and make sure there’s still another dimension to go back to.

Newsletter subscribers got a sneak peek at this last week, and now, as promised, I am proud to present the description for The Trials of Renegade X:

 Can a half villain ever be a full hero? Damien Locke didn’t choose for his supervillain mom to disown him—just because he sort of defied her and ruined her evil plans to take over Golden City—and he didn’t choose for his superpower to be flying, a superhero ability that involves his least favorite thing: heights. But now that he’s living with his dad’s superhero family and enrolling at Heroesworth Academy, he’s ready to embrace his new life, get his H, and finally belong somewhere. But belonging isn’t as easy as signing up for classes, and Damien finds himself struggling to fit in more than ever. Of course, it doesn’t help that his sidekick Sarah has a new hero boyfriend—not that he’s jealous or anything—or that, just when he’s sure his fate as a hero has been decided, he gets a new villain power he can’t control. And it’s so easy to slip into his old ways when he catches his supervillain girlfriend Kat committing a crime at Heroesworth and covers for her, charming his way out of trouble. But as Damien’s attempts to lead a purely hero life continue to backfire, he’ll have to learn to embrace both his hero and villain sides, or else risk pushing away everyone he cares about and losing any chance he has of ever finding his place in the world.

And there it is!  I’ve tried to keep it exciting but not too spoilery.   I’ve got about a week left on the current WIP, and then I’ll be back to working on Trials full time!

P.S.  Today is coincidentally the four year anniversary of the day I got the offer for The Rise of Renegade X.  Crazy how time flies!