Writing Update

It's been a bit since I updated ya'll on my writing, and there's no time like a Friday to do it, right? I've finished the second draft of Tarnhelm, and it's now on my agent's iPad, officially in his To Be Read pile. Once I hear back from him, I'll likely need to do another thorough draft or two before it's ready to get sent out to editors. (Or at least, that's what I hope will be the case. This is the first time I'm doing this since I got my book deal with Vodnik, and there's no small level of self-doubt involved. What if this next one is no good? What if I can't get it to the right level for publication? What if what if what if. In the end, a guy's gotta have confidence that no matter how crappy the second draft is, he can and will make it better in the third draft. That's how this works.)



In other news, Vodnik has now gone off to the printer's for getting the Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) printed, which means that at some point in the not too distant future, I should be looking at real live printed versions of my novel. If that doesn't excite you, then you live in a drab, grey world, and I don't want to talk to you.



The electronic version of the ARC was looking fantastic when it was sent off. The maps turned out great, the interior graphics are solid, the cover's super. Really a lot to be excited about. I'm hoping to do some giveaways when they come, so keep an eye out for that. Just this morning, I've got a bit of a back and forth going with my editor as we refine the jacket copy (what's on the inside of the front jacket). Exciting!



In the meantime, I'm getting my annual Christmas Newsletter ready. For those of you who don't know, I take the whole "Newsletter" thing quite literally. I write up fake news stories, include pictures--the whole shebang. It's actually fun to do something with my writing time that's so drastically different than the writing I usually do. I'll post it here once it's done.



After that's over, it's on to the next book. What's the next one? That's a secret. Let's just say I'm thinking of it as Mission: Impossible meets Mistborn, with a YA twist. Lots of work to be done on it, though--I need to revisit the plot and the setting, check the characters, and then start writing writing writing. It's the first book I've really thought of from the ground up as a series. Never hurts to have lofty goals, right?



And that about sums up my writing efforts to date. Happy weekend, all!