In short: Expect the next Inverted Frontier novel this summer.

The long version:
Back in February, I sent the third volume of the Inverted Frontier series to my intrepid editor, Judith Tarr. She returned it to me, along with her comments, a couple of weeks ago. Much to my relief, her general assessment was very positive! In summary: “I loved this one.”

Whew!

There are revisions to do, of course. But nothing huge, nothing structural. And I’ve put many hours into them already. My goal is to be done by mid-May, at which point the manuscript will go off to the copy editor, and possibly to a small number of beta readers.

My next challenge is to pick a publication date — one far enough in the future to ensure I have time to both revise the manuscript and to do some pre-publication publicity. But I also want to get the novel out this summer, when people are hopefully taking time out of busy lives to read.

I was originally looking at June 23rd as a potential publication date, but that may not allow enough time. So I’m going to work on the manuscript for another couple of weeks, see where I am, and then decide.

I plan to announce a publication date and to do a cover reveal in my next newsletter. So if you’re not already subscribed, now’s the time. Click here to reach the newsletter signup form.

With some tips on revising a novel
September was an incredibly busy month, entirely focused on finishing the revisions to Silver. I addressed almost all of the comments made by my freelance editor, Judith Tarr, which I think has helped significantly to clarify the story. I rejected a few suggestions for various reasons.

For those of you who are writers, you don’t have to follow every bit of advice your editor gives you. It’s your story. You know what you’re trying to achieve, and it’s your name that goes on the work. So weigh the advice, but if it doesn’t feel right to you, move on. (And don’t argue with your editor about it. 🙂 )

Silver is a fairly complex story. There’s a lot of world-building, along with unusual concepts. It’s not a book you can pick up and understand, without having read Edges first. That said, “complex” should not also mean “confusing” or “redundant.” Part of the revision process involves working toward that goal.

So after finishing the suggested revisions, I began a “read through” aimed at looking at the story as a whole. Starting from page one, I read the entire novel out loud to myself, going through it as quickly as I could while still making corrections. The idea behind a quick read is that I’m more likely to perceive the inconsistencies, while reading aloud lets me hear awkward wording and repeated words. And yes, I found a number of inconsistencies and awkward passages, so that exercise was definitely worth it. I’ll read it at least one more time before calling it “final.”

Several times, when pondering how to deal with an awkward passage, I found the best solution was to shorten it — simply cut back on the explanation. Sometimes, less is more — or anyway, it’s less confusing. 😉

Other than my freelance editor, no one has read Silver. Judy described the novel as “an immersive and absorbing read,” which was wonderful to hear, but doubt is always near the surface for most writers. I needed more feedback. So I recruited three “proofreaders” and sent the manuscript off to them on October 2. I’m anxiously awaiting their thoughts. I don’t see myself doing major revisions at this point — the story is what it is — but if there are tweaks that will further improve the storytelling, I’d like to undertake them. Presuming the feedback is mostly positive, I want to try to publish Silver before the end of November. Wish me luck!

Oh, and sign up for my newsletter if you haven’t already. The signup form is over there in the right-hand column. You’ll receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription. (You won’t be subscribed until you confirm.) If you don’t receive that email, check your spam/promotion folder — and whitelist me!

Whoops. I see it’s been nearly a month since I posted here, but that’s because I’ve been working hard…

Here’s a quick update on Silver:
I received the editorial letter on it at the start of the month, and I just finished my first pass through the edits. Only the hard stuff is left! 🙂 🤔🚀

September 5 Newsletter
My latest newsletter went out last Thursday. If you haven’t subscribed to it yet, please do! Use that form over there in the righthand column of this blog.

Here’s one of the items included in the newsletter:

A Ring-Shaped World

I’ll speak cautiously to avoid any significant spoiler, but towards the end of Edges there is mention of a ring-shaped world, planetary in scale. A few of my longtime readers have already made the connection. This world is the same world featured in my novel Memory.

When I wrote Memory, I thought of it as being apart from the Nanotech books – a separate story world. But as I worked on the new Inverted Frontier series, I realized these two story worlds could overlap in a very interesting way.

Silver is a direct sequel to Edges, but it also works as a sequel to Memory. You don’t need to read Memory to enjoy Silver, but if you like the idea of exploring in this evolving story world, you can drop by my website to learn more about this earlier novel.

In response to my last progress report, Tasha, over at Goodreads, asked “Does this mean that the series concludes with Silver?”

Maybe? Though I hope not!

Silver gives a proper conclusion to the initial story arc of what might still become a longer series. From the beginning I planned to do two books in the Inverted Frontier series, and then switch to something else. If book sales are enough to support a third or even fourth book in the series, I’d like to come back to it in a year or two — and I do have a few notes on where to go next.

If you’re waiting for the whole series to be out before reading Edges…well, don’t! Because the length of the series is still to be determined. Right now I see it as open-ended. How long it goes on is up to the collective-you. 😉

Just a quick update this time…

Over the weekend, I sent the manuscript for Silver (sequel to Edges) to my freelance editor for her input. So it’s out of my hands for now.

As I wait for feedback, I’m using the time to catch up on chores and tasks, and to start thinking seriously about what to do next. I’ve got ideas for potential novels, but I’m not at all sure what direction to take. I don’t want to chase the market, but I don’t want to ignore it either.

Anyway, do keep in touch by signing up for my newsletter! I’m going to try to make the newsletter a regular thing, sending it out every three weeks. It’ll include news of new publications, discounts, cover reveals, and reading recommendations, along with other writing news. It only takes a name and email address. (You’ll also have to respond to the confirmation email. If you don’t get that email, check your spam folder. And be sure to whitelist me!)

More soon…

In my last progress report I mentioned I needed to add additional scenes for a couple of characters. I finished the last one today! Whew! It’s such a relief to get that done.

The manuscript is now just under 123,000 words — making it about 3,000 words longer than Edges.

The next step is to finish going through my notes and to run some checks to make sure certain aspects are handled consistently throughout.

I’ll probably give the story a quick read-through. After that, it’s off to my freelance editor.

Once again, if you’re not signed up for my newsletter, please sign up! You’ll get news of new publications, discounts, cover reveals, and reading recommendations, along with other writing news. It only takes a name and email address. (You’ll also have to respond to the confirmation email. If you don’t get that email, check your spam folder. And be sure to whitelist me!)

More soon…

So far, July has been a highly productive month for me. On June 30, I reported on this blog that I’d finished a first draft of Silver, the sequel to Edges. Today I finished my first revision. There’s a lot left to do! But at this point, I feel like I’ve got a solid, coherent story.

There are two characters who need a few more scenes, and I’ve got a list of notes to consider, but Silver feels like a real book to me now. My plan going forward is to create the scenes I still need and address the notes. After that I’ll send it off to my freelance editor with fingers crossed!

If you’re not signed up for my newsletter, please sign up! You’ll get news of new publications, discounts, cover reveals, and reading recommendations, along with other writing news. It only takes a name and email address. (You’ll also have to respond to the confirmation email. If you don’t get that email, check your spam folder.)

Once again, thank you to everyone who’s purchased a copy of Edges (or any of my books!), or borrowed copies from a library. I couldn’t (and I wouldn’t) do it without you. 😉

More soon…

If you’ve read my newest novel, Edges, you know there’s a sequel on the way. Silver is the title of Book #2 in the Inverted Frontier series.

I’m pleased to announce that today I finished the first draft of Silver. It’s a rough draft. There’s a lot of work still to do, but right now I’m telling myself the hard parts are done. Figuring out how to convey things that are not remotely part of our general human experience got to be seriously challenging. Figuring out the particulars of the plot was no easy thing either. But now that the structure exists, I can start filling in the holes and addressing all the notes I’ve left myself. This is my usual procedure for putting a novel together.

Once I’ve got a solid second draft, the manuscript goes off to my freelance editor. A few weeks ago, I told her to expect it around the end of July. As I write this tonight, that deadline feels absurdly short, but maybe it’ll happen.

Oddly enough, I’m feeling a bit dejected over this whole project — not because of any deficiency in the books. Honestly, they’ve turned out better than I’d hoped. Rather, because it’s taken me so long to get to this point.

No doubt I’ll feel better tomorrow.

THANK YOU, to everyone who’s purchased a copy of Edges, or borrowed it from a library (assuming it can be found in any libraries…?) THANK YOU as well to all of you who’ve been inspired to check out my earlier books. I really appreciate it. There’s no point in doing any of this without readers… or listeners. For those of you waiting for an audiobook version of Edges, I’m hoping to have news very soon.

I haven’t posted much on the blog lately. I’m guessing most of you would prefer that I work on the next novel, instead of the next blog post — and that’s what I’ve been doing.

My focus has been on completing a rough-draft of Silver, the sequel to Edges. Yesterday the manuscript finally reached the 100,000-word mark. A novel-sized novel! The draft isn’t quite done yet, but I’m hoping (desperately) that it won’t be much longer.

Once I have a complete draft, I’ll go back to the beginning, fill in the holes, address the notes I made along the way, do the continuity checks, and re-read the whole thing. At that point, it should be ready to send to my freelance editor. (Cue ominous music.)

More soon…

First, a progress report on the novel…
The manuscript for my next novel is now in the hands of beta readers and editors. I’d originally planned to re-read and do a light edit before sending it out, but decided against it. Better to hear the criticisms first, address those, and then do the final polish.

In the meantime… that short story I’ve mentioned before still needs to be written. I’ve got all the elements — characters, story world, plot, theme, emotional arc — I just need to sit down and do it.

I’m stepping back from short fiction.
This story will be the last short story I’m planning to write for the foreseeable future. I think I’ve done some good short fiction over the past several years, but I’ve reached the point where the creative effort needed for each story far exceeds the returns — both emotional and financial.

Despite the short length, every story is a lot of work. Two fairly recent ones — “Diamond and the Worldbreaker” and “Longing For Earth” — plus the one I’m working on now, have led me to create entirely new future worlds.

Three new story worlds, that I may never write in again! That doesn’t seem very efficient.

I may get one more story out of the “Longing For Earth” story world, since I have a 9,000-word draft sitting on my computer that I may finish someday. That was my first attempt to write something for the Infinity’s End anthology, but the story grew too long, so I had to start over.

Anyway, even though I’ve been writing only one or two stories a year, it still feels like a distraction when I’m trying to get the next novel done — and of course the income from it isn’t much.

All of this would still be okay if short story sales helped me to sell more novels, but in my experience and that of other writers I’ve talked to, that is not the case. Many of you who read my novels like to read the short stories too, but very few of those who meet me through the short stories go on to look for the novels. I think short story readers are mostly a separate audience without a lot of crossover.

Given that I’m so far behind with the novels I want to write — the two I’m working on now, a military novella, and another near-future epic that’s hardly more than a vague thought balloon drifting on the horizon of my writerly ambition — I need to get serious about focusing my efforts. Once I get this next story done, it’s going to be all long-form, all the time.

Hey, unless maybe I decide to write that screenplay. 😉

Wish me luck!