There Was an Idea...
... and I'm still trying to work it into the story. A lot of them.
Book IV is unlike any other that I've written so far in many ways. One, it's taking longer (sorry), and two, I have a lot more ideas theme-wise that I want to layer into it. There are more, but they're a bit spoilery for a book that doesn't even have a name yet, so I'll talk about those later.
Given the circumstances of the story, and where the characters are in their lives, I've had a lot of thematic ideas bubble up that I didn't know that I wanted to get into when I started. Some are subtle, some are sledgehammers in the face, but they're all important. Things I've wanted to get into since the first one, some that didn't even occur to me until recently. Folding them in requires a lot of going back and rewriting, re-jiggering, moving things, cutting others, streamlining, overhauls, lots of new material for a second draft.
To give some kind of hint, there are themes of leadership and its attendant burdens, responsibility, the use of power and notoriety, decision-making, renewal, reunion, you know, light and airy things like that. But it all leads into reason two, which is why this one is taking so much longer.
I want to get it right.
The first three came out over a period of 14 months, or every seven months. On that schedule, Book IV would be out... this month. That, uh, won't happen. I don't know when it will be, but it will be better for the delay. These books are my legacy, and I'm not going to rush them to meet an arbitrary deadline set by my own anxiety (the double-edged sword of being an indie author), but nor can I just let it sit forever and get around to finishing it... whenever. I'm working on it every day, and some go better than others. But I've already had so many ideas that have made it better recently, I'm going to take my time and let those ideas come to fruition. It's stressful for me; I feel like I need to be getting work out, but it will be worth it in the end, which is all that matters. You don't see the crap, or the cut stuff, the plot threads that go nowhere, or any of that stuff. I have to think carefully about what I say here to keep it that way.
But for more than my own psyche and well-being, I have to make it as good as it can be for you, and the characters. You deserve the best possible story for your time and money, not to mention the emotional investment you've already made from the first three. And the characters will be around long after me. They have to be strong enough to stand the test of time, and so do the stories they are part of. I can only publish this once, so it has to be good.
It sucks that I'll only have one book out this year, and for that I apologize, but it just wasn't to be. I will have at least two out next year though, including my first non-Ashes book. Yay! I just need time, and your patience. And my own. Nobody wants these done faster or better than me, but that almost always means sacrificing one to the other.
Book IV is unlike any other that I've written so far in many ways. One, it's taking longer (sorry), and two, I have a lot more ideas theme-wise that I want to layer into it. There are more, but they're a bit spoilery for a book that doesn't even have a name yet, so I'll talk about those later.
Given the circumstances of the story, and where the characters are in their lives, I've had a lot of thematic ideas bubble up that I didn't know that I wanted to get into when I started. Some are subtle, some are sledgehammers in the face, but they're all important. Things I've wanted to get into since the first one, some that didn't even occur to me until recently. Folding them in requires a lot of going back and rewriting, re-jiggering, moving things, cutting others, streamlining, overhauls, lots of new material for a second draft.
To give some kind of hint, there are themes of leadership and its attendant burdens, responsibility, the use of power and notoriety, decision-making, renewal, reunion, you know, light and airy things like that. But it all leads into reason two, which is why this one is taking so much longer.
I want to get it right.
The first three came out over a period of 14 months, or every seven months. On that schedule, Book IV would be out... this month. That, uh, won't happen. I don't know when it will be, but it will be better for the delay. These books are my legacy, and I'm not going to rush them to meet an arbitrary deadline set by my own anxiety (the double-edged sword of being an indie author), but nor can I just let it sit forever and get around to finishing it... whenever. I'm working on it every day, and some go better than others. But I've already had so many ideas that have made it better recently, I'm going to take my time and let those ideas come to fruition. It's stressful for me; I feel like I need to be getting work out, but it will be worth it in the end, which is all that matters. You don't see the crap, or the cut stuff, the plot threads that go nowhere, or any of that stuff. I have to think carefully about what I say here to keep it that way.
But for more than my own psyche and well-being, I have to make it as good as it can be for you, and the characters. You deserve the best possible story for your time and money, not to mention the emotional investment you've already made from the first three. And the characters will be around long after me. They have to be strong enough to stand the test of time, and so do the stories they are part of. I can only publish this once, so it has to be good.
It sucks that I'll only have one book out this year, and for that I apologize, but it just wasn't to be. I will have at least two out next year though, including my first non-Ashes book. Yay! I just need time, and your patience. And my own. Nobody wants these done faster or better than me, but that almost always means sacrificing one to the other.
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