As I and my esteemed colleague, Will, have said over and over: if you want to actually complete a project, set a deadline; preferably an irrational one.
Yesterday afternoon I uploaded the pdf of my second novel to CreateSpace. I had set Easter as my goal. Just like NaNoWriMo, I beat the clock by three days. At a 6″x9″ paperback format, it’s about 214 pages. Longer than “The Fourth Law,” but then I’ve got two plot lines to manage, rather than just one. I know I could have written more (the Pine Bluff, AR scene! dammit!) but Will has always warned me about my tendency to lecture.
This blog post title is ‘a partial victory.’ That’s because my intent was to actually publish by Easter. That was my fault: I wanted Will to do the front/back covers again, but he’s busy with other projects and I did spring all this on him rather suddenly. I’m hoping to have the artwork in 1-2 weeks.
Aside: two nights ago, in the basement with my wife, watching anime, I mentioned that I’d finished and didn’t know what to do next. After a few minutes, out of the blue, she said, “Your next book should be about Henge.” Henge (pronounced “hen-geh”) is the youngest of Machine Civilization; a quiet, reserved little girl AI (yes: they hate that term). I chewed on that idea – and drank more wine – and had the wild idea of making a 20-page illustrated children’s book, with Henge as the narrator. Interesting.
Below the fold is another excerpt from “Echoes of Family Lost.” I’ll let you know when I actually publish it. Thanks for y’all’s support! Oh: spoiler warning, and all that.
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