Whew! Another one hit the road...

Just finished and mailed the manuscript of a new novel. En route to my publisher...

Whew! That book gave me a lot of trouble challenges!

First, a comic book project (La plume japonaise, now published) pushed back the manuscript completion by two months, adding more stress.

Then, I encountered difficulties on the science front, plus all the work on how to dispense the relevant information- minimising exposition. I passed tens of hours on the net, for factual research on science info sites. But I ended up making cuts for the good of my public.

Last, and the worst hurdle, I agonized over one character's development impacting the plot.

The first version had this character way too over-the-board evil, which would be fine for some audience or Saturday cartoons ("Bwa-ha-ha-ha!") and spectacular action scenes, but would not respect the cultural aspects of the society I'm carefully constructing.

So I decided to give this character "a running chance".

It took three agonising weeks to rebuild or retouch the whole plot, I proof-read two times, modifying, finding and correcting science flaws here and there...

I found myself more depressed, thinking: what the heck, all this work and nobody read my YA novels anyway (especially since I do SF without cute vampires)

From this tenuous work, a more nuanced character emerged, and it actually brought a new development concerning another pivotal character. And some spectacular action scenes!

Now, awaiting the word of my editor....