Progress Report: May
Sooo… What I really want to do is leave this update until May 15, because that’s when I have to get in the final edits for Gods of the Hollow Wild. But a promise is a promise.
So here goes: I made it 35 000 words into Book 3 before I had to return to the final edits of Book 1. I wrote an entire subplot of 25 000 words, which just felt like it worked, and discovered some new characters in that part of my world that completely surprised me in the best possible way. I can’t wait to get back to them, and to the story at large in Book 3—some huge stuff will be happening there!
The May 15th deadline on Book 1 is consuming all my attention now. My editor has sent me back her edits and I’ve been working hard on the manuscript. I could have done what she required pretty quickly, but… I want this book to be as awesome as I can make it, so I’ve spent some long hours ruthlessly interrogating every aspect of my story and forcing out all the words that shouldn’t be there! Out with you, extra words! I’ve cut the first 125000 words down to 114000, just by sharpening things up. I know it seems late in the day to be doing this. Why not do it in the last eight years?
Well, something weird happened to my brain when I realised I would soon no longer be able to change anything, so I’ve gone into some kind of editing deep state. Also, I think I might be a better writer now than I was then. So I am basically working 12-14 hour days just so I can meet my deadline on my terms. Totally my fault. But I’m sort of enjoying it too, because I feel like I am discovering the essence of each chapter and making it work better.
I am super looking forward to sending it off and waiting to see the ARC’s sometime after that. Then I will curl into a ball under the covers of my bed with my Nintendo switch and play games for a week in total darkness before emerging in a dazzling new form; the Book 2 Moth! I have my 250 000 word draft waiting for my attention. I want it to be super shiny by the end of the year so that I can get back to book 3.
I want to see these books coming out every year, and I have no doubt I can nail that for the first two. Book 3, I reckon I can do too, but it’ll be a bit more of a challenge. One thing that strikes me about this writing business is that it seems to be endless weird deadlines before you ever get close to publication. There will be that moment when book 1 is typeset and in book form but then there’ll still be final corrections. So even after 15 May I won’t be done yet. But February 2027 isn’t far off, and I’m pretty close to done! See you in 2 months!
