A Short Note From An Exhausted Author

As some of you will already know, I finally finished this rewrite of book two! I’m feeling incredibly optimistic about this one, and I think it will probably be the one to make it through the editing process.

I sent it out to my Alpha Reader (all hail the Alpha Reader, for she is patient and wise) and a few Betas, and so far the feedback has been encouraging. I’m incredibly relieved right now, because as much as I love the story, eight drafts is a bit much. Nine drafts? Well. I was getting ready to chop off my fingers, wrap them in bacon, drizzle them in olive oil and cook on a medium heat until crispy.

It does still need some work, of course, but I can’t see another massive rewrite on the horizon, at least, and that’s no small victory. There’s still a few people I have to contact in regards to getting as wide a variety of feedback as possible, then once I’m all straight in my own mind and the manuscript is as tight as I can make it, I’ll send it off to be looked at by a professional editor.

I have a tentative launch date circled on my calendar at the moment, but it looks like it definitely won’t be this October now. Instead I’m aiming for early February 2017, but I’ll be sure to post when I have something more solid to go on.

In the meantime, I’ll start work on the first draft of book three, and the whole process can start all over again!

As difficult as “The Royal Sentinel” has been to finish, I do feel like I learnt a lot along the way. More than learning new things, however, I feel like the most important thing I’ve taken from the experience is a reaffirmation that the best thing a writer can have is perseverance.

Thankfully I’m nothing if not pig-headed.