To my great surprise, I began writing Book 3 this weekend. That may not seem like much but I've not touched that material in five or six years because I've been struggling with the events in the first two books. Book 1 was particularly hard to get right and I've been feeling like I'm in a time loop of some sort repeating the same tasks on the same text over and over. A sort of writer's version of Hell.
But last Friday afternoon, I broke through the curse, like the 2004 Red Sox, and gained new ground. Book 2 is mostly done -- the last three chapters just need a few more reads to ensure I have no more edits-- and then I send it out for reviews. In the meantime, I can work on new material: Book 3.
So I am actually making progress. Slowly. Steadily. Pain-stakingly.
It's like driving around a very gentle spiral curve with a very gentle slope. Eventually you get there but you have to travel a long way to do it.
Book 2, by the way, came out to be around 100,000 words, which also surprised me since Book 1 is more in the 67,000 to 68,000 word range. I have no idea how long Book 3 will be and that is really my biggest concern for the novel because I need at least 50,000 words, 70,000 would be better. But I'll be watching the word count as I go so we'll see if I've got another novel in me.
And now the reality check, which I hate paying: this does not mean the books will sell or that I'm about to become the next big thing. And obviously, when reviews on Book 2 come in, I'll be revisiting it. But it is good to finish up Book 2, at least for now and move on.
With luck I can still release Book 2 by the end of the year. If not, then as soon as I can. And let's not forget that I've still got Book 1 under consideration for publication in 2013. The good news there is if it sells, I've got the next one all set to go and the third one should be well underway by then.
Pretty cool, huh?
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