Defiance comes out on the 19th, at midnight. That means just a little over a day away! I can’t tell you how excited I am for this. Sal’s journey still has a ways to go, and I think you all will understand a lot better around… oh… chapter 4. And that’s all the hint you’re getting!
But, the next book in the series, Inseparable, is proving to be in a lot better shape. If you’re a follower of my blog, you might remember that I had to do a WHOLE lot of editing on Defiance. Early writing, crude foreshadowing, and some jilted dialogue all had to be cut and replaced. I think Defiance clocks in around 130,000 words, and I had to replace nearly 60,000 of those. Not quite half, but the book is a lot better for it. And while I didn’t change the plot, all of the shrapnel got cleaned up.
Inseparable is completely different. My only real flaw as a writer, this time, was skipping some detail (which I’m fixing as I go through it again) and some really juvenile dialogue tags. No, really. Even when they weren’t necessary, I stuck in a “he said” or “she said”. Everywhere! It was kinda gross. But they’re going away – and those details are taking their place.
And the story! See, I tend to be rather critical of my own work. I’m always convinced that I need a cleaner plot, or another twist. I know those things don’t really go together, but I’m convinced that if I was just a better writer, I could make it work. (Thankfully, I have a team to keep me in line, but that’s a WHOLE other post). Inseparable, however, is non-stop something. There’s action, there’s emotion, there’s conflict upon conflict. Just when you think you know what’s going on, you realize you don’t, and that something else important is happening. And the end! AH!
Well, I won’t spoil it for you, but trust me, the ending is worth it.
Right now, I’m waiting on proofs for the cover. As soon as I finish this pass on the book, it goes to the editor. After that? We’ll start working toward a release. If I wanted to be like some authors, I could hold it for 90 days to generate hype, but I prefer to let my readers enjoy the story. I’m hoping you’ll all see it around early October.
With Rise of the Iliri #5 right on its heels! Yep, that book should be even easier to clean up and finalize. You see, my beta readers kicked it back once, claiming a plot hole that needed to be fixed. It’s already gone through four re-writes, so the final clean up and polish will hopefully go fast. But, I still have to wait on a cover, so don’t expect it too soon. Sadly, making a book requires an entire team to complete.
So, that’s where we’re at. In the middle of all of this, I’ll be moving. My cute little cottage is almost done! The better half has a few more details to completely, and then I’ll finally have a quiet space to lose myself in my writing. For all of my fans, that means more books! So, if you haven’t already, consider clicking the link above to join my mailing list and get early notices about pre-orders and keep up with my quarterly sales.
And if I’m quiet for the next couple of weeks, don’t worry. It just means I’m lost in a book.