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…