Hi all, with the release of my debut novel on the horizon, and the steampunk work I am teasing on my books page, I wanted to post a quick update on what I’m working on.
After much consideration, I have decided that the second book in the Crowned series is due for a major re-write, and I have more or less started from scratch even though I have a full book written. That being said, all is not lost. This is pretty common for me–as my writing skill improves I tend to find it takes much more effort to repurpose older content than just re-write it. And there are a few scenes I particularly love that will probably make the final cut and be used in the re-write. The end result will be a much better book that will be up to the quality standards of the first one.
Now, regarding my steampunk novel, The Gate Jumper, here are the details: I have had a story idea brewing for the last several years, and my first few attempts at writing it were pretty weak. Everything always devolved into something that didn’t make sense and was (quite frankly) pretty boring.
But thanks to some writer’s block (on my fantasy series) and good advice from my wife, I set aside Crowned 2 for a few months and finally wrote The Gate Jumper. It was the fastest I had ever written anything, followed up with 2 rounds of major editing on my part.
So, what’s next?
For the Crowned 2, writing the book itself will be my main goal this year so I can keep a decent release schedule. I’ve cut my teeth on the first book, and the second one will go much faster.
For The Gate Jumper, I will be attending a writer’s conference in July and will be pitching it to a literary agent. This is taking a completely different direction than the indie publishing I did with the Crowned of Nightingale, but I want to give it a shot and at least get a little feedback from a professional. There is of course the possibility he will want to take the book on, but it’s always a longshot even with a good book. I’ve learned its best when pitching books to agents to set achievable goals, which are: practice pitching, and receiving feedback.
Meanwhile, I need time to save the funds to hire my editor not only for The Gate Jumper, but Crowned 2, so even though The Gate Jumper is “finished” it still has a ways to go.
That’s a pretty good update for now, I plan to post again with more details on the Gate Jumper but I might table that until I have an idea of a release date. Thanks for reading, have a merry day!
