Back in November I wrote an update on my work with Book #6 in the Corrosive Knights series (you can read the update here).  Re-reading it today, I urge anyone who has read some/all the books in the series thus far look at what I wrote there as I get into the series’ wonky chronology.

One thing I also said back in that November update was that I was hoping Book #6 would be ready by February.  Well, we’re in early February and I can say without any doubt and with not an inconsiderable amount of frustration that I won’t have it ready this month.

This, however, is not an entirely new thing.  In January I provided another update (you can read that here) and noted my hope was to have the book ready by May.  While I still hope to get it done in and around that date, I will further note I was hoping to finish the current draft I was working on by January but it looks like I’ll be finishing it by next week, ie the middle of February.

Having said all this, despite the frustrations and time spent on the revision process, I’m optimistic I’m very near the point where I switch from rewriting/reworking the book to having all the story elements in place and focusing on grammatical/spelling issues.

This is significant because once I get to that stage, things move very quickly and we’re rapidly approaching the end.  Will it be May?  I really hope so!  I just have to make sure I get all the parts together into a very coherent whole.

Speaking of which…

I hope what I write doesn’t sound like a boast, but my stories/novels tend to be not unlike the pieces of a machine.  If you want a more poetic description, my novels and the stories I tell are not unlike the components of a watch.  When looked at individually, the parts may not seem to come together (at first!) but when all is said and done, they do.  If I’m on top of my game, it is my hope there isn’t a wasted page or event presented and every word and paragraph is necessary to tell the story I’m giving you.

I probably mentioned this before so forgive me if I’m repeating myself:

Back when I was in College I took a Literature course and while I don’t remember much about it, there was one particular lesson regarding author Henry James’ view of a novel that really, really stuck with me.  I’ll let Mr. James’ words speak for themselves:

A novel is a living thing, all one and continuous, like any other organism, and in proportion as it lives will it be found, that in each of the parts there is something of each of the other parts.

Mr. James’ ideas, often referred to as the view that a good/great novel presents an “organic whole”, urges authors to not waste a single word or create any scene(s) within their work that is superfluous and doesn’t contribute to the entirety of the work/story you are telling.

Thus in the “perfect” novel a reader is given a work wherein not even one single word is wasted.  Each and every one of the words and sentences and paragraphs and chapters, etc. move the story forward until it reaches its end.

I took this lesson very much to heart.

So whether you like, hate, or are indifferent to any/all of my works, it is my intention to never waste your time as a reader.  I try my best to make sure every element I insert into a novel has a reason for being there and ties into the larger story I’m telling.

And it is indeed a large story and one I couldn’t be prouder of.