SEE??? SEE??? This is what I mean!!!
My last post was on December 1, 2013 and here it is already January 26, 2014, nearly two months later! Where did it go???
OK, let's relax a bit, take a deep breath...
Too late...
OK, moving right along, even though I'm nearly a month late, let's review what went on in 2013 and where The Ardwellian Chronicles is headed in 2014. Before it's all over, too.
Blood Secret (Book Five of The Ardwellian Chronicles)
I made major progress in 2013, then looked at it and decided it wasn't what I wanted it to be. I stopped submitting in the Monday Night Writers group, because, to be frank, everyone was confused, concerned, and just a bit miffed at where this was going. I was one of them. So I set it all aside about the middle of the year and focused on other things for a while; summertime yard work, business stuff at my "real" job, etc., letting Blood Secret lay fallow. I decided later in the year I need a real editor and made contact with one. Then I started a full hard-copy edit of what I'd written, the first eight chapters and about 90,000 words. And in that, I found out it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was. More on this later.
Champions (Second Compendium to The Adwellian Chronicles)
After a false start, I settled into what I hope is going to be a real winner. Champions was originally going to be a book much like Blades of Alliance; focusing on the "good guys" from the novels, the original layout was very similar in look and tone. Then "someone" (who shall remain nameless but we all know who) chastised me severely about "doing the same thing you did before", and I put the original concept on hold. So there I was, with two projects, neither of them moving... so I went back to yard work for a couple more months.
In late (very late) November, I had the proverbial spark, and off I went; now it's late January, two months later, and I've laid out nearly 80 pages and written almost 30,000 words for Champions, gotten some major art lined up including an absolutely KILLER cover, and anticipate having the text complete by March. This year. Then it's a matter of obtaining the rights to suitable art (I've got a LOT of it picked out, and I hope my pocketbook holds up), finalizing the layouts, and getting the proof copy ordered. Timeline for that is by the end of September. I want this book out by the holiday season this year (yes, it's just around the corner, only about 200 shopping days left), because I'm just really anxious to see the reaction to it.
So it's been a real roller coaster of a year (sort of like our current weather pattern) but productive. I've promised myself as soon as the text is complete for Champions I'll get back to writing Blood Secret and have the editor take a look at what I have so far. The tentative target for completion of Blood Secret is to have proofs by March 2015. We'll see how that goes.
Still... I can't figure out where the last two months have gone. Was I hibernating?
Stay tuned...
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