Its been exactly one month since my last Corrosive Knights update.

First off, in that previous update I was guilty of being overly optimistic when I stated that I was about one draft away from finishing the fifth book in the Corrosive Knights saga.

Sometimes, writing a novel is like preparing a meal.  Every time you go over your work, its like a taste test.  Continuing on that metaphor, in my eyes I could feel the book’s second and climactic half was missing an ingredient.

The frustrating thing was that I wasn’t sure what that ingredient was.

I finished the 8 1/2 draft -really draft #9- and went into draft 10.  I finished that up just before going on a trip to England.  I left on my trip annoyed (you could even say pissed) that the book wasn’t finished, but that frustration about flying off for eight days turned out to be Godsend.

In brief, with my mind no longer focused nearly 24/7 on the book and able to relax and unwind, a few days passed before, out of left field, I had a brainstorm.  I discovered the novel’s “missing ingredient” and, in my head, the book’s climax finally came together in totto.

When I returned home, I quickly got to work and in short order produced drafts 11a, 11b, and 11c.  These drafts involved chapters 52 through 60 of the novel (the book runs 64 chapters followed by two epilogues), which constitutes much of the novel’s reveals/explanations.

Having finished draft 11c just a few minutes ago, I am very, very optimistic about the novel now being just about done.  So much so that I intend to print the whole thing out later today and give it one more complete read through.  If all looks good, draft 12 will be the novel’s last draft.

Estimated time to get it done?  Another week to a week and a half.

Keep your fingers crossed.  You know I will!