20 April: Write, no write, no write more, no that’s just not right.

Right, I know, I’m late. I’m late, late, and later. I’m so late and far behind that I might not ever catch up and that worries me. “Why are you so late?” you might ask… well, the problem is that after I thought I’d finished book 5 my editor looked at it. Normally that would be a good thing, but this time around she discovered a huge number of problems that I need to fix. (I’m talking huge, super big, massive, um… redo the whole thing kind of problems.) So, that’s what I’m doing. To keep things simple I’ll just say that the super massive ugly redo/re-write is not going as well as I had hoped. I’m behind my schedule, and I’m sure I’m behind the schedule that my publisher would like me to be on as well. What to do, what to do?

So, here’s the skinny. I need to try and finish this up in the next 10 to 14 days, or we might not get book 5 out to you until next year.  Next Year! That will never do. No, I don’t actually know the title of the book at this point. We had two choices on title but I’m not sure which one the publisher is planning on. (I’ll ask this week and see if they will let me tell you.) I’m afraid there’s just not time for questions and answers this time around. I just wanted to get something posted so you know what’s up and what I’m doing and why I haven’t posted for so long.

This week the plan is to write, write, and write some more. I have the story in my head, but I haven’t been able to get it into the computer for some reason. (Doesn’t Microsoft have an application for that?) Anyway, I will be sitting here at my computer for the next 10 or more days. A large, grumpy ogre will be poking me with a stick whenever it looks like I’m going to fall asleep, and a hyperactive brownie will be slapping my knuckles with a ruler when I make typing mistakes. Yes, it should be fun. Hopefully neither of my helpers will fall asleep on the job.

I’ll get you an update around the first week of May. I will also make sure to go back and collect all of the unanswered questions and find you answers then. For now… the ogre thinks I’m slacking off, so I need to get back to the real work.

Thanks for reminding me about being behind, and for holding out hopes for book 5 to come out this year.

Until next time, I remain yours in Fellowship,

Mark.

“Stop poking me with that stick… I’m still awake.”