January Writing Update

Today we have the January writing update that I had promised for last week. And just in the nick of time. I'm a mite superstitious, so I don't like announcing birds in the bush, no matter how close my hand is to them. But now, having put an hour's work on a novel nearly everyday since the first of October, I can announce that the bird is in hand. I am, as always, delighted to say that the first draft of my 2024 novel is complete.

While it is only the first draft, it represents a major milestone, since, for me, the first draft accounts for something like 85% of the work involved in the writing of a novel. Filling the empty white page with words is the hard part of writing. Once I have words on the page I can move along much faster. The second draft is all about punching up what I wrote, playing with the words I've written; adding a bit more description here and there, touching up the dialog. I don't usually edit out much. Instead I add the descriptive stuff that I wasn't thinking about when I was writing the scene. Thus my manuscript grows instead of shrinks as it "should" if you listen to the experts. I usually get a second draft done in a month or two. As for the third draft, I read the story on an ebook reader so as to get a feel as to how it reads in "real life", hopefully, only having to tweak a word or sentence here and there. With all that in mind, wind and tide permitting, I hope to release this book by the end of May at the latest.

You may have noticed that so far, I've not mentioned the work's title or what it's about and I don't intend to today. All the cool kid authors make "cover reveals" a big deal these days, and so I'll reveal my cover next week, along with a very brief blurb. Hey, I have this slot to fill each week, so I need to spread this out. But never fear, I always have a lot to say about my books, and I'll be talking more about it over the next month or two.

As for other news, only one of my books, The Secret of the Tzarista Moon has so far been made it as Apple audiobook. I think that I got the voice I wanted. However why that book, and why not more of them have made it into audiobooks? I have no idea. Hopefully I can make an announcement soon that they're all available.

So - drum roll - next week the cover of my 2024 novel and a bit of background on it! Stay turned.