April's writing progress

This update is a bit later than planned too - we're in Ireland for a family wedding and a bit of a holiday, and Internet access is more patchy than I'd like.

I cut another 6,000 words from the Dragonrider sequel, and added a few along the way, so it now stands at 101,000 words. I still have 193 comments from my critique group and my earlier editing passes to address. I think I have a few gaps to fill in, where I skipped over too much time, and probably need to consider cutting some scenes that don't move the story forward enough.

Progress continues on the editing of the audiobook of Death & Magic. I'm partway through chapter 31, or about two-thirds of the way along.

Now seems as good a time as any to announce the other side project that I teased you about at the end of last year... I've written a children's story, which I hope to release some time in the next few months. Depending on what the beta readers say, it could take longer, as I've never written one before - they could advise me to rip it up and start again - or just rip it up... It currently has the very boring working title of Simon and Zac. My best guess for its final title is the slightly less boring Simon and the Birthday Wish. I'm in two minds as to what to do about illustrations. I'm tempted to do them myself, as I can draw tolerably well, but I'm badly out of practice, and I'm not sure my style is entirely suitable for a children's book. We'll see, anyway...