On March 9th of 2026, I finished the first draft of the V: The Solar Queen—the sequel to IV: Aurora and Luna, the first instalment in The Sun and Moon Saga (which will be rereleased on May 1st, 2026!). And of course, I vlogged my finishing the first draft…
In the vlog, I talk about both the process of drafting V: The Solar Queen, and the plan for revising, editing, and finishing it—because, while yes, the first draft is now complete, there is still much work to be done!
The manuscript currently sits at 173,941 words. I started drafting around the Summer Solstice of 2025. I wrote all that in less than nine months!
Mostly I feel relieved to have the first draft scribbled down. I tend to do my best work during the developmental edit, so I like to sort of vomit out my first draft, but take my time with the editing. Actually, I wish I had drafted the book even faster… This is my sixth manuscript, and through all of these projects, I have learned my process: draft quickly, and then do a very thorough edit.
Going forward, the challenge will be doing that very thorough edit, without getting stuck in ‘perfectionism’ the way I did with IV: Aurora and Luna. (I put ‘perfectionism’ in quotations, because it really is procrastination in disguise!) To be blunt about it: while I don’t regret spending a decade on IV: Aurora and Luna, I don’t want V: The Solar Queen to take that long. It can’t take that long. I need to push myself to, yes, realise the book’s potential—but also, I need to push myself to realise my own potential—and to do that, I must finish and publish more books! It will be a tricky balance to strike, but I am up for the challenge.
Now that the manuscript is drafted and this vlog is up, I am going to take a well-earned week off of all things creative. I love creating, but rest is vital. Both as an artist and as a human being. I will spend the next week reading, gaming, and eating carrot cake. (A very merry Ostara to all my fellow pagans!)
It feels good to reemerge from Winter with a 173k manuscript in my hands.
Start reading The Sun and Moon Saga today!
Pick up your copy of i: The Misfit Princess!
Sincerely,
MD Luna
P.S.: I caved and bought Final Cut. (Can you tell by the fancy new effects?!) I love YouTube and will be continuing to pursue it, both as a platform for marketing my work and as a creative outlet in and of itself. I have lots of videos planned for this Spring, so be sure you’re subscribed!