The Rest of the Interview (and News)

You can read the rest of my interview on Book of Shadows here.  In it, I talk about everything from religion to age gaps to dating in the Victorian era.  It’s the first part in what will be, eventually, a (published) companion volume to the series.  Why am I working on a companion volume?  Because, amazingly, people seem interested in the idea.

I’m sort of working on it, simultaneously, as I edit; pulling things as I go.  Which provides, among other things, a great opportunity to check my own continuity.  You think you’ll never forget your own characters’ birthdays, or middle names…but then you do.  Although, seeing as I can barely keep the biographical facts of my own family in my head, I don’t know why I have such high standards for fiction.  What I’ve learned–and what I still fail to do–is write it all down.  At the time.

When not editing (I have a manuscript deadline of July 29 for all three books), I’m painting.  You can, if you’re interested, see some of my art here.  Eventually, I’d like to have cool things like a website.  I’m officially launching my Patreon in September.  My current project is drawing all the various characters from Book of Shadows.  Well, not all of them.  The interesting ones.  Having multiple projects going is great, too, because it keeps me busy without letting me get burned out.  Doing nothing but editing, I’ve learned the hard way, leads to boredom…and mistakes.

I’m currently about 75% of the way through my first pass of Book of Shadows.  Then, once I’ve finished, I’ll do another pass.  Two is usually my limit.  I’ve been enjoying editing this book, though, more than I think I’ve ever enjoyed editing–or maybe even writing–anything.  I have a lot of hope for this series; this is blatantly self-aggrandizing of me, but I think it’s pretty good.  With both my first and my second passes, I tend to make–sometimes dozens on each page–tiny corrections.  It’s like being killed with paper cuts.  The big changes, the “throw this paragraph out”-type changes, I tend to make during the writing process itself.  Which is why some chapters take me so long to produce.

I promise, I’m going to write a more interesting post soon.  I have a whole list of topics.  But I’ve been so inundated with, first finishing Blood to Drink and then painting and editing and, of course, caring for my family that I honestly haven’t had time.  Or, every time I’ve sat down, after dinner, to write something I’ve fallen asleep.